Pacific Northwest. Some industry will undoubtedly find a way to use cheap power during troughs in conventional demand patterns. Nevertheless, it may also be necessary (especially if the costs of developing the system are to be outweighed by revenues in a reasonable amount of time) for the government to stimulate the use of SPS power through industrial relocation subsidies, tax incentives, loan guarantees, or other programs such as electric price discounts to initial users.* Regardless of what mechanisms are ultimately used, locational shifts of industry and population will undoubtedly depend upon how the capital costs of SPS power transmission and/or industrial relocation are distributed. Before the consequences for industrial and population agglomeration can be studied seriously, scenarios that bound the costs associated with transmission and industrial location must be developed. Just as important, alternatives for the payment of these costs must be established as the basis for further study. Another economic and demographic issue directly related to SPS rectennae siting is the effect on labor. The large rectenna size means that population will be displaced and that varying degrees of economic disruption and job dislocations will be realized at different sites that are selected. New jobs will be created by construction of the rectenna as well as construction of industries moving into the region to be near the power source. However, the extent to which local populations can assume the new jobs will depend upon the skills needed for the new activities and the size and skill mix of the indigenous labor pool. If significant numbers of the rectennae are sited in developed regions of the country, as suggested in the NASA study,4 the impact on population displacement may be substantial but the impacts of relocation may be minimal given the proximity of rectenna sites to loads. Conversely, if significant numbers of the rectennae are sited in undeveloped regions of the country as suggested by the Arthur D. Little (ADL) study,5 population displacement may be minimal but the impacts of relocation and economic development may be substantial. Study of the economic and demographic impacts from SPS requires *It should be emphasized that current law (e.g., the Rural Development Act) and existing political structure of the country would prevent the implementation of any growth policy that would give economic advantages to develop new areas at the expense of encouraging dislocations from existing centers of economic activity. Given this legal and political atmosphere, the appropriateness and consequences of government incentives must be carefully examined before they can be seriously considered as policy suggestions.
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