Some common misconceptions with regard to the flow of  electrical energy  in a conductor:

                       It  is convenient to try and explain the conduction of electrical energy in a conductor  by trying to attribute the propagation of energy as being due to electrons colliding with one another and so transmitting energy. This is not a true picture of how electrical energy is propagated through a conductor. We have seen that the average drift velocity of an electron under the influence of an electrical potential of 100 V is about 10^-8 m/sec .  The electrons are spaced at about a distance of  10 ^-8m. If the electrons themselves have a diameter of about  10^-13m.  This means that the distance between electrons in the atom is about  10 ^-8 / 10^-13  = about 100 000 atomic radii. If this were applied to a billiard ball of a diameter of about  6 cms. it would mean that the billiard balls were placed about 6 Kms. apart. The chances of one electron colliding with  another are slight.
              If instead of the unlikely situation of  electrons colliding and thereby propagating energy we substitute the emission and absorption of photons  , things begin to make more sense , the suggested wave-length of conduction photons of 10^-6 m. means that the wave-length is long enough to navigate the crystal lattice without undue difficulty and at the same time the width of the photon which might be about  1Angstrom or less makes  the probability of a photon electron encounter more likely .  If this theory is adopted it would be more in keeping with quantum theory since it represents definite quanta of energy for the field instead of the action at a distance explanation of the field in a conductor which at present has wide-spread acceptance.