[dhdc]

> If wikipedia is to be believed, DC is better in terms of conductor material costs and transmission losses than AC, at least for long distance high-power high-voltage transmission lines.

This is correct. DC is a much better choice for long distance transmissions. You don't need to worry about reactive power, skin effect, reactive elements of the line, whether the generators and the grid are synced or not etc. The problem with DC voltage conversion are mostly solved as well.