Overload by Arthur Hailey

should remove any traces of
    Ardytbe's perfume, then climbed into his own twin bed. Moments later,
    surrendering to exhaustion from the pressures of the day, he was asleep
    himself.
    6
    "We are agreed, then," J. Eric Humphrey said. His inquiring gaze swept
    over the nine men and two women seated with him around the conference room
    table. "We are agreed we should accept Nim's planning report in toto and
    press at the highest level for immediate, urgent approval of the three
    projects-Tunipah coal-burning plant, Devil's Gate pumped storage, and
    opening the Fincastle geothermal field."
    As nods and murmured assent greeted the chairman's summation, Nim Goldman
    leaned back, for the moment relaxed. His presentation of future plans-the
    product of intense work by himself and many otbers-had been a grueling
    one.
    The group, GSP&L's management committee, included all officers reporting
    directly to the chairman. Officially, it rated second in authority to the
    Board of Directors. In fact, it was the real fount of policy decisions
    and power.
    31
     

It was Monday afternoon and the meeting, which bad carried over from the
    morning, had worked its way through a long agenda. A few around the table
    showed signs of weariness.
    Five days had passed since the disastrous explosion at La Mission and the
    subsequent power failure. In the meantime there had been intensive studying
    of entrails-the cause and effect of what had happened, along with
    prognostications for the future. The inquisitions had continued late into
    every night and over the weekend. Also, since last Wednesday, because of
    cooler weather and some luck, no further blackouts had occurred. But one
    conclusion was inescapable. There would be other blackouts, far more
    serious, unless GSP & L began building more generating capacity soon.
    "Soon" meant within the next year. Even then there could still be serious
    shortages ahead since a conventional fossil-fueled power plant took five
    years to design and build, a nuclear plant six-preceded, in each case, by
    the four to six years it took to obtain the needed licenses.
    "As well as those three projects we've been talking about," Oscar O'Brien,
    the utility's general counsel, said, "I assume we will still press on with
    our nuclear license applications." O'Brien was a former government lawyer
    from Washington, a burly man, shaped like a bass fiddle, who smoked cigars
    continuously.
    Across the table from him, Ray Paulsen, executive vice president of power
    supply, growled, "We goddam well better."
    Next to Paulsen, Nim Goldman doodled thoughtfully on a pad. He reflected:
    Despite their mutual dislike, and disputes in many areas, the one thing he
    and Paulsen agreed on was a need for more power generation.
    "Naturally," Eric Humphrey said, "we shall continue our nuclear program.
    But in terms of public psychology we'll be better off, I believe, to let
    nuclear stand alone and not be linked with the other plans. The route to
    nuclear is strewn with hazards." He added hastily, "I mean hazards of
    opposition."
    The chairman continued, "Anticipating our decision here, I have already
    arranged a meeting with the Governor-in Sacramento, the day after tomorrow.
    I intend to urge him to bring pressure on all regulatory agencies to move
    swiftly. I shall also suggest, for each of the three pro:ects, combined
    hearings before all regulatory bodies from whom we require approval,
    perhaps starting as early as next month."
    "It's never been done that way, Eric," Stewart Ino, a senior vice president
    in charge of rates and valuation, objected. Ino was an old-timer at GSP &
    L; he had a chubby yeoman's face and with the addition of a ruff and velvet
    hat could have been a British beefeater. An expert on licensing procedures,
    he liked to follow them precisely. "Separate hearings have always been the
    rule," he added. "To combine them would create complications."
    32
     

"Let the lousy bureaucrats worry about that," Ray Paulsen told him.