I guess it's a matter of opinion whether losses of 5% to 10% or so count as "lots of power" or not, but consider: In a production/consumption chain that includes a fossil-fuel or nuclear power plant, the electrical grid, and my air conditioner, the electrical grid is probably the most efficient component, and the power plant itself the least.
"Not a lot of attention is given to the fact that lots of power is lost when it is transmitted over distance."
As a practical matter, the electrical grid delivers over 90% of the power put into it. Here's Wikipedia's take:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission#Losses
And new systems are making it more and more efficient to transport large amounts of power over long distances:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current#Advantages_of_HVDC_over_AC_transmission
I guess it's a matter of opinion whether losses of 5% to 10% or so count as "lots of power" or not, but consider: In a production/consumption chain that includes a fossil-fuel or nuclear power plant, the electrical grid, and my air conditioner, the electrical grid is probably the most efficient component, and the power plant itself the least.