More than two years ago my wife, Lynnda, got the news. “You have breast cancer.” Not the news we wanted to hear.

The doctor added, “We caught it early thanks to your breast exam.” They called it “stage zero.” Lynnda was given options.

She chose a lumpectomy. After surgery we were told the margins are clear, meaning they think they got it all. Lynnda was given another choice to get a series of radiation treatments just to make sure they got it all. She was told radiation would reduce the chance of reoccurrence by 50%. Lynnda asked, “What is my chance of reoccurrence now?” The doctor said, “About 8%.” “So, radiation would reduce my reoccurrence chances to 4%? Radiation has risks and side effects?” Doc added, “Yes. We have to give you all of your options.” Lynnda responded, “I choose not to have the radiation treatments.”

Two years later, Lynnda still gets regular breast exams and CT scans. She takes a hormone blocker she doesn’t like but is a necessary evil. Lynnda remains cancer free. The doctors gave her the available facts so she could make the best decisions possible.

Since sharing her story, we were surprised by the many people who had breast cancer and reached out to us with words of encouragement. Some had it over 20 years ago. Breast cancer is far more common than we thought, more important, people beat it!

Facts are important. Lynnda’s doctors did a great job of obtaining and giving her the facts she needed to make the best possible decisions. Making decisions based on emotions and what we want to hear or the way we think things should be is dangerous. After the initial biopsy Lynnda wanted to hear, “It’s benign.” That would have been a lie. She got truth and facts needed to save her life.

I recently was a speaker at The Ohio Energy Conferece in Columbus. A speaker from PJM (our regional power grid) told attendees power blackouts and brownouts are possible before 2030. There is a gap between rising electric demand, retirement of existing power plants and new baseload power coming on line. PJM is forecasting potential power shortages as early as 2027.

Large electricity demand is driven by rapid growth of data centers, AI and widespread electrification of buildings and vehicles. The USA is also seeing an increase in manufacturing. Most new power coming onto the grid in recent years was intermittent renewables. PJM is forecasting peak load to increase by 32 GW. (The equivalent of over 16 Guernsey natural gas power plants.) Baseload, 24/7/365 power is needed to meet this demand. Data centers can’t work without electricity. Consumers need electricity most during extreme heat and cold weather. These are facts.

People are concerned with rising electric rates. A panel before mine talked about installing solar panels on rooftops of low-income housing. A panelist was very proud of the electrification of low-income housing. An engineer friend sitting next to me remarked, “I guess he never took thermodynamics.” Meaning, using electricity to produce heat is inefficient and expensive. The facts are, fuels like natural gas and coal directly produce heat when burned. When burned to generate electricity, the power must be transported by wires with line loss. Then through resistance at our homes, electricity produces heat. Every conversion takes power and reduces efficiency. It takes more power to produce resistance heat than the typical roof top solar installation can provide, especially at night.

Lynnda and I have lived in an all-electric home for over 40 years. We live on top of a large natural gas storage field but have no natural gas in our subdivision. In winter when temperatures drop into the low 20s, the red light for “emergency heat” on our heat pump comes on, skyrocketing electric use. The last two winters our typical power bill was over $1,000 a month. Our youngest son in Maryland has four kids and heats a larger space. He said his highest combined natural gas and electric bill is just over $300 a month. It is about thermal efficiency, a basic fact.

Ignorance of facts will give low-income people in all electric homes, who can least afford it, high utility bills. The people electrifying homes never studied thermodynamics or understand thermal efficiency. My dad was a simple carpenter but understood electric heat is expensive. He installed a natural gas furnace, water tank and stove when he built our house. We loved the warm gas heat. With six boys, keeping utility costs down was important.

Our panel discussed “The Future of Natural Gas.” I was asked, “What is the potential for increased use of cheap, plentiful, reliable natural gas for power generation in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia?” Some in the audience probably didn’t like my truthful response, “The fact is, natural gas is the only fuel with a chance to meet the 32 GW baseload power demand PJM needs in the next five years. Other fuels like small modular nuclear power or geothermal may someday contribute, but not in the short term.”

“The challenge isn’t producing the natural gas but building the infrastructure like pipelines.”

Public safety is at risk. Professional engineers and others who know have a responsibility to tell the truth. In Europe their large cathedrals weren’t built for ordinary Sunday services. They were built to handle Christmas and Easter attendance. We need to think of our electric grid the same way. Facts are important.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.