Blame it on Samuel Insull Jr., the London-born assistant to Thomas Edison credited with pioneering the "centralized" electrical generation and grid system that today struggles under the weight of ever-growing demand for power across America.

Some renewable energy advocates believe that perhaps if Edison had listened to his rival Nikola Tesla, who asserted that windmills ought to be fixed upon roofs and nonrenewable resources be conserved, American consumers might not find themselves at the mercy of big, lobby-savvy corporations for their energy.

"The first power plant was over 50 percent efficient. Now, our best power plants are only 30 percent efficient. Where we went wrong can be very easily identified; it started with Samuel Insull," said Daniel L. Lipschits, director of operations for Artecoop.

Artecoop is a group of artists, architects and ecologists that invests in technologies aimed at building more sustainable ways of living. Lipschits, and others with Artecoop, were in the region this week to tour the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center's Teapot Dome facility and to tout some of the innovative tools that might help individuals unplug from the national grid.

A set of 20 or so "micro-turbines," or hamster wheel-like cylinders, can easily power a home with just a slight breeze or even a Casper gale, according to Lipschits. And the biodegradable plastic units are easily replaced at less than $20 a piece.

Whether it's a water vortex device about the size of a large Jacuzzi or photovoltaic arrays attached to a string of helium-filled balloons, there are an endless number of ways consumers can become more energy self-sufficient.

But rather than salivate over the rapidly expanding "sustainable" forms of small-scale energy schemes, Lipschits and his colleagues laid out their argument before a crowd of about 40 about why societies should move away from "centralized" energy grids and move toward smaller, community-sized power systems.

The first reason, Lipschits suggested, is efficiency. Only about 30 percent of the energy generated from a typical fossil fuel-based power plant ever reaches the homes it serves hundreds of miles away, Lipschits said. Once energy is delivered to the home, about a third is wasted because homes are poorly designed to retain temperatures and appliances are inefficient.

"This is a much larger problem than the burning of fossil fuels," said Lipschits.

So what's Insull guilty of? Municipally owned power systems were beginning to flourish when Insull convinced his fellow power industry executives that by submitting to a state regulatory regime, utilities could avoid building duplicate transmission systems and deliver power at lower costs, despite energy loss through miles of transmission.

The current system is capital intensive, and difficult for renewable energy entrepreneurs to enter - just ask any wind energy developer. With cheap power, Insull helped launch the industrial revolution. But he also helped create a system that discouraged customers from becoming energy self-sufficient.

Today, Lipschits said moving toward "distributive generation" is not only a matter of getting more out of our fossil fuels, it is also a matter of security and reliability.

Lipschits said he and his colleagues don't expect to switch away from fossil fuels or the national grid overnight. But it doesn't take a Hurricane Katrina or Gustav to understand the nation's centralized system of energy delivery is extremely vulnerable to natural calamities.

"We are vulnerable, we are wasting too much, and it's time to change things," said Lipschits.

That vulnerability ties back to the centralized electrical generation and delivery system that Insull helped design in the late 1800s. It's a very lucrative system for energy companies and the many citizens that invest in them, Lipschits said. But it's not an efficient use of precious resources.

In fact, the cost of delivery is expected only to rise, especially this winter when home heating bills could more than double, according to local energy officials.

David A. Carry, creative director for Artecoop, said the biggest challenge for consumers perhaps isn't coming up with innovative ways to generate and save electricity at home and in their communities.

"Legislation is being pushed to prevent the decentralization of electrical infrastructure," Carry said. "(Decentralization) requires that we motivate ourselves and lobby and campaign that we be able to own our own infrastructure."

State Rep. Tom Lockhart, R-Casper, said he knows of no effort to prevent decentralization described by Artecoop.

Lockhart is chairman of the Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, and is a member of the University of Wyoming Energy Resource Council, which governs the university's new School of Energy Resources. He is also on the board of Arch Coal Inc., which delivers coal to many U.S. utilities.

"I think there's a place for (distributive generation)," Lockhart said. "There have been efforts in the past to have various standby sources to augment the system."

It's the cost per kilowatt hour that determines which energy systems are put to use, Lockhart added.

Jim Nations, public relations director for RMOTC, said his agency is in discussions with Artecoop about what technologies might be tested at its facilities.

"Being a (U.S. Department of Energy) facility, we want to showcase our capabilities as a testing center so people realize we don't just do oilfield types of testing," Nations said.

Nations said RMOTC has helped test geothermal and solar technologies, and will soon test new wind technologies.

Holly Turner, executive director of the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, said she took notice of the statistic that only 30 percent of the energy generated at a fossil fuel-based power plant actually reaches customers.

"I'm very interested in alternative energy forms here at the Nic," Turner said. "I think Casper could be the contemporary city in Wyoming. Why not be a leader of energy and a leader of innovation here in Casper?"

Contact Dustin Bleizeffer at (307) 577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com.