Though oil prices have been on a downward trajectory in recent months, that doesn't obscure the fact that fossil fuels are finite, and we will eventually have to grapple with the end of their dominance. At the same time, however, skepticism about the alternatives remains: we've never quite achieved the promised 'too cheap to meter' power of the future, be it nuclear, solar, or wind. And hydrogen and bio-based fuels are thus far a disappointment. So what does the future of energy look like? The Tesla Revolution has the answers. In clear, unsensational style, Willem Middelkoop and Rembrandt Koppelaar offer a layman's tour of the energy landscape, now and to come. They show how rapid technological advances in batteries and solar technologies are already driving large-scale transformations in power supply, while economic and geopolitical changes, combined with a growing political awareness that there are alternatives to fossil fuels will combine in the coming years to bring an energy revolution ever closer. Within in our lifetimes, the authors argue, we will see changes that will reshape economics, the balance of political power, and even the most mundane aspects of our daily lives. Determinedly forward-looking and optimistic, though never straying from hard facts, The Tesla Revolution paints a striking picture of our global energy future.

What will electricity and heat demand look like in a low-carbon world? Ambitious environmental targets will modify the shape of the electricity sector in the twenty-first century. 'Smart' technologies and demand-side management will be some of the key features of the future of electricity systems in a low-carbon world. Meanwhile, the social and behavioural dimensions will complement and interact with new technologies and policies. Electricity demand in the future will increasingly be tied up with the demand for heat and for transport. The Future of Electricity Demand looks into the features of the future electricity demand in light of the challenges posed by climate change. Written by a team of leading academics and industry experts, the book investigates the economics, technology, social aspects, and policies and regulations which are likely to characterize energy demand in a low-carbon world. It provides a comprehensive and analytical perspective on the future of electricity demand.

This book examines how multinational enterprises and international finance influenced the course of electrification around the world. Multinational enterprises played a crucial role in the spread of electric light and power from the 1870s through the first three decades of the twentieth century. However, their role did not persist, and by 1978 multinational enterprises in this sector had all but disappeared, replaced by electrical utility providers with national business structures. Yet, in recent years, there has been a vigorous revival. This book, a co-operative effort by the three authors and a group of experts from many countries, offers an analysis of the history of multinational enterprise. The authors take an integrated approach, not simply comparing national electrification experiences, but supplying a truly global account.

Despite several decades of reform, India's electricity sector remains marked by the twin problems of financial indebtedness and inability to provide universal, high quality electricity for all. Although political obstacles to reform are frequently invoked in electricity policy debates, Mapping Power provides the first thorough analysis of the political economy of electricity in Indian states. Through narratives of the electricity sectors in fifteen major states, this book argues that a historically-rooted political economy analysis provides the most useful means to understand the past and identify reforms for the future. The book begins with an analytic framework to understand how the political economy of power both shapes and is shaped by a given state's larger political economy. The book concludes with a synthetic account of the political economy of electricity that is animated by insights from the state-level empirical materials. The volume shows that attempts to depoliticize the sector are misplaced. Instead, successful reform efforts should aim at a positive dynamic between electricity reform and electoral success.

Formally, Plunkett's Energy Industry Almanac, this in-depth reference tool to the energy industry covers everything from major oil companies to independents, utilities, pipelines, coal, LNG, oil field services, refiners and more. It features our famous trends and technologies analysis, and includes statistical tables, a glossary and our unique profiles of The Energy 500 Firms. The energy industry is boiling over with changes. Deregulation, new opportunities in foreign fields and markets, as well as environmental challenges are rushing together head-on to shape the energy and utilities business of the future. Meanwhile China has become a major energy importer and Russia has become a major exporter. Renewable and alternative energy sources are developing quickly, including big investments in wind power and solar power. This exciting new reference book covers everything from major oil companies to electric and gas utilities, plus pipelines, regulatory issues, investments, finance, research and development, refiners, retailers, oil field services and engineering. Petroleum topics include upstream and downstream. Additional topics include coal, natural gas and LNG. Statistical tables cover everything from energy consumption, production and reserves to imports, exports and prices. Next, our unique profiles of the Energy 500 Firms are also included, with such vital details as executive contacts by title, revenues, profits, types of business, Internet addresses, growth plans and more. You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package.

The first textbook to present a comprehensive and detailed economic analysis of electricity markets, analyzing the tensions between microeconomics and political economy. The power industry is essential in our fight against climate change. This book is the first to examine in detail the microeconomics underlying power markets, stemming from peak-load pricing, by which prices are low when the installed generation capacity exceeds demand but can rise a hundred times higher when demand is equal to installed capacity. The outcome of peak-load pricing is often difficult to accept politically, and the book explores the tensions between microeconomics and political economy. Understanding peak-load pricing and its implications is essential for designing robust policies and making sound investment decisions. Thomas-Olivier Leautier presents the model in its simplest form, and introduces additional features as different issues are presented. The book covers all segments of electricity markets: electricity generation, under perfect and imperfect competition; retail competition and demand response; transmission pricing, transmission congestion management, and transmission constraints; and the current policy issues arising from the entry of renewables into the market and capacity mechanisms. Combining anecdotes and analysis of real situations with rigorous analytical modeling, each chapter analyzes one specific issue, first presenting findings in nontechnical terms accessible to policy practitioners and graduate students in management or public policy and then presenting a more mathematical analytical exposition for students and researchers specializing in the economics of electricity markets and for those who want to understand and apply the underlying models.

This handbook serves as a guide to evaluate the feasibility of microgrid systems. It also provides information on microgrids for urban and industrial applications, considering current technological pathways and power system structures. Microgrids are poised to play a big role in the electricity ecosystem of the future-with decarbonization, digitalization, decentralization, and non-wires solutions being key attributes. The handbook will assist those working in the energy sector to evaluate a microgrid systems potential to enhance power supply quality and connectivity. It will also contribute to a better understanding about on-grid microgrids in urban and industrial settings, prevailing business models, and emerging trends that could shape the future of this sector.

Formally, Plunkett's Energy Industry Almanac, this in-depth reference tool to the energy industry covers everything from major oil companies to independents, utilities, pipelines, coal, LNG, oil field services, refiners and more. It features our famous trends and technologies analysis, and includes statistical tables, a glossary and our unique profiles of The Energy 500 Firms. The energy industry is boiling over with changes. Deregulation, new opportunities in foreign fields and markets, as well as environmental challenges are rushing together head-on to shape the energy and utilities business of the future. Meanwhile China has become a major energy importer and Russia has become a major exporter. Renewable and alternative energy sources are developing quickly, including big investments in wind power and solar power. This exciting new reference book covers everything from major oil companies to electric and gas utilities, plus pipelines, regulatory issues, investments, finance, research and development, refiners, retailers, oil field services and engineering. Petroleum topics include upstream and downstream. Additional topics include coal, natural gas and LNG. Statistical tables cover everything from energy consumption, production and reserves to imports, exports and prices. Next, our unique profiles of the Energy 500 Firms are also included, with such vital details as executive contacts by title, revenues, profits, types of business, Internet addresses, growth plans and more. You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package.

Electricity shortages are among the biggest barriers to South Asia's development. Some 255 million people - more than a quarter of the world's off-grid population - live in South Asia, and millions of households and firms that are connected experience frequent and long hours of blackouts. Inefficiencies originating in every link of the electricity supply chain contribute significantly to the power deficit. Three types of distortions lead to most of the inefficiencies: institutional distortions caused by state ownership and weak governance; regulatory distortions resulting from price regulation, subsidies, and cross-subsidies; and social distortions (externalities) causing excessive environmental and health damages from energy use. Using a common analytical framework and covering all stages of power supply, In the Dark identifies and estimates how policy-induced distortions have affected South Asian economies. The book introduces two innovations. First, it goes beyond fiscal costs, evaluating the impact of distortions from a welfare perspective by measuring the impact on consumer wellbeing, producer surplus, and environmental costs. And second, the book adopts a broader definition of the sector that covers the entire power supply chain, including upstream fuel supply and downstream access and reliability. The book finds that the full cost of distortions in the power sector is far greater than previously estimated based on fiscal cost alone: The estimated total economic cost is 4-7 percent of the gross domestic product in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Some of the largest costs are upstream and downstream. Few other reforms could quickly yield the huge economic gains that power sector reform would produce. By expanding access to electricity and improving the quality of supply, power sector reform would also directly benefit poor households. The highest payoffs are likely to come from institutional reforms, expansion of reliable access, and the appropriate pricing of carbon and local air pollution emissions.

The 2016 Electricity Profiles contains electricity profiles for about 230 countries and territories, providing detailed information on production, trade and consumption of electricity, net installed capacity and thermal power plant input and efficiency for most countries, on an internationally comparable basis. It is published by the United Nations Statistics Division with the aim of providing an overall picture of the electricity sector of such countries and areas. Electricity production and electric installed capacity are disaggregated by source, as coming from Combustible fuels, Hydro, Nuclear and Other sources; and by type of producer, whether from main activity producers or autoproducers.

The Smart Grid is a modern electricity grid allowing for distributed, renewable intermittent generation, partly owned by consumers. This requires advanced control and communication technologies in order to provide high quality power supply and secure generation, transmission and distribution. This book outlines these emerging technologies. Topics covered include an introduction to smart grid architecture; smart grid communications and standards; measurement and sensing devices for smart grids; smart transmission and wide area monitoring system; bad data detection in smart grids; optimal energy management in smart grids; communication and control for the smart grid; smart consumer systems; importance of energy storage systems in smart grids; control and optimization for integration of plug-in vehicles in smart grids; multi-agent based control of smart grids; compressive sensing for smart grid security and reliability; optimum placement of FACTS devices in smart grids; security analysis of smart grid; and smart grid security policies and regulations. With contributions from prominent researchers in the fields of computer, communication, and power engineering this book is essential reading for researchers in power grids, as well as for advanced students and practitioners.

Central American countries spend approximately one percent of their aggregate gross domestic product subsidizing residential electricity consumption. This amount is comparable with what these countries spend on education and social assistance. The pressure that electricity subsidies exert on government budgets is particularly high when international energy prices rise. Electricity subsidies also provide perverse incentives for the overconsumption of electricity as households do not pay the true cost of their consumption, which in turn reduces incentives to increase energy efficiency. This book answers key questions regarding residential electricity subsidies in Central America. In particular: How do the subsidy mechanisms function in each country? What are their fiscal costs? Are these subsidies good value for the money? How efficient are subsidies in reaching households in need, and what drives this efficiency? What are the reform options? The main message of this book is that there is considerable scope for improving the efficiency of electricity subsidies in Central America by better targeting them to low-income households. The book shows that electricity subsidies help reduce the burden of electricity costs on the lowest-income groups. However, the existing electricity subsidy schemes are very inefficient at targeting resources to low-income households, with the majority of government spending going to higher-income households. Indeed, most countries in the region have the opportunity to significantly reduce the fiscal costs of electricity subsidies without imposing significant costs on households, particularly poor households. Given the limited fiscal space in the region and the major needs of the countries in terms of social services and physical infrastructure, this study seeks to provide Central American policymakers with the analytical foundations necessary to assess the costs and benefits of their electricity subsidy mechanisms, and design effective reform strategies that reflect their unique circumstances and policy priorities.

If you're lucky enough to be employed today in the United States, there's about a one-in-ten chance that you're in a labor union. And even if you re part of that unionized 10 percent, chances are your union doesn't carry much economic or political clout. But this was not always the case, as historian and activist James Young shows in this vibrant story of the United Electrical Workers Union. The UE, built by hundreds of rank-and-file worker-activists in the quintessentially industrial town of Erie, Pennsylvania, was able to transform the conditions of the working class largely because it went beyond the standard call for living wages to demand quantum leaps in worker control over workplaces, community institutions, and the policies of the federal government itself. James Young's book is a richly empowering history told from below, showing that the collective efforts of the many can challenge the supremacy of the few. Erie's two UE locals confronted a daunting array of obstacles: the corporate superpower General Electric; ferocious red baiting; and later, the debilitating impact of globalization. Yet, by working through and across ethnic, gender, and racial divides, communities of people built a viable working-class base powered by real democracy. While the union's victories could not be sustained completely, the UE is still alive and fighting in Erie. This book is an exuberant and eloquent testament to this fight, and a reminder to every worker employed or unemployed; in a union or out that an injury to one is an injury to all."

How the interplay between government regulation and the private sector has shaped the electric industry, from its nineteenth-century origins to twenty-first-century market restructuring. For more than a century, the interplay between private, investor-owned electric utilities and government regulators has shaped the electric power industry in the United States. Provision of an essential service to largely dependent consumers invited government oversight and ever more sophisticated market intervention. The industry has sought to manage, co-opt, and profit from government regulation. In The Power Brokers, Jeremiah Lambert maps this complex interaction from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Lambert's narrative focuses on seven important industry players: Samuel Insull, the principal industry architect and prime mover; David Lilienthal, chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), who waged a desperate battle for market share; Don Hodel, who presided over the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in its failed attempt to launch a multi-plant nuclear power program; Paul Joskow, the MIT economics professor who foresaw a restructured and competitive electric power industry; Enron's Ken Lay, master of political influence and market-rigging; Amory Lovins, a pioneer proponent of sustainable power; and Jim Rogers, head of Duke Energy, a giant coal-fired utility threatened by decarbonization. Lambert tells how Insull built an empire in a regulatory vacuum, and how the government entered the electricity marketplace by making cheap hydropower available through the TVA. He describes the failed overreach of the BPA, the rise of competitive electricity markets, Enron's market manipulation, Lovins's radical vision of a decentralized industry powered by renewables, and Rogers's remarkable effort to influence cap-and-trade legislation. Lambert shows how the power industry has sought to use regulatory change to preserve or secure market dominance and how rogue players have gamed imperfectly restructured electricity markets. Integrating regulation and competition in this industry has proven a difficult experiment.

The Electrification of Russia, 1880-1926 is the first full account of the widespread adoption of electricity in Russia, from the beginning in the 1880s to its early years as a state technology under Soviet rule. Jonathan Coopersmith has mined the archives for both the tsarist and the Soviet periods to examine a crucial element in the modernization of Russia. Coopersmith shows how the Communist Party forged an alliance with engineers to harness the socially transformative power of this science-based enterprise. A centralized plan of electrification triumphed, to the benefit of the Communist Party and the detriment of local governments and the electrical engineers. Coopersmith's narrative of how this came to be elucidates the deep-seated and chronic conflict between the utopianism of Soviet ideology and the reality of Soviet politics and economics.

In the highly capital-intensive electricity supply industry, it is essential that both engineers and managers understand the methodologies of project evaluation in order to comprehend and analyse investment proposals and decisions. This updated and expanded edition of Economic Evaluation of Projects in the Electricity Supply Industry takes a broad introductory approach, covering planning and investment, financial analysis and evaluation, risk management, electricity trading, and strategies, technologies, national requirements and global agreements for electricity generation in a carbon-constrained world. Developments covered by this new edition include the changing mix of fuels in the power generation sector, greater involvement of the private sector in power generation investments through independent power producers, the important role of regulations, the growing interest in clean electricity generation, the economics of investing in renewables, the introduction of smart grids and intelligent meters and networks, and cyber security. Economic Evaluation of Projects in the Electricity Supply Industry, 3rd Edition is essential reading for academic and industrial engineers and economists concerned with energy supply, students of energy economics and planning, industry planners and project managers, and government and regulatory officials.

Wolfgang Schivelbusch tells the story of the development of artificial light in the nineteenth century. Not simply a history of a technology, Disenchanted Night reveals the ways that the technology of artificial illumination helped forge modern consciousness. In his strikingly illustrated and lively narrative, Schivelbusch discusses a range of subject including the political symbolism of street lamps, the rise of night-life and the shop-window, and the importance of the salon in bourgeois culture.

The acute energy problems facing China today are characterized by their own histories and realities. Some have come about because of China's energy endowment and stage of development, while others have been created by a combination of domestic and global factors. Some are the results of an accumulation of longstanding contradictions, while others are new challenges posed by the new order. There are no "miracle cures" to solve these problems instantly. What is needed is a tireless enquiry, with goals, planning and procedures, guided by a clear energy strategy. With China's increasing dependence on foreign energy sources, and the global energy situation and greenhouse gas issue exerting an increasingly prohibiting effect on China's energy development, energy diplomacy has become an important component of Chinese diplomatic affairs. Based on a "broad energy outlook", this book studies and analyzes China's energy issues and energy strategies from the perspective of electric power. * Discusses a variety of issues, including energy transportation and allocation, end-user consumption, markets, early warning and emergency, technical innovation * As a leading player in the power and energy area, China s strategies attracts global attention * Proposes the innovative idea of "Macro Energy Perspective" * As a key player in China's energy industrial circle, the author's perspective can help global audiences to understand China's energy strategies better Electric Power and Energy in China is ideal for government energy policy makers, engineers, scientists and enterprise managers to understand China s strategy in electric power and energy. It is also a good reference for energy economics researchers, consultants and university students.

The electricity industry plays an important role in the US economy. Electricity is used in the vast majority of economic activity and consumption. The business is very capital intensive and is a significant part of the economy. In addition the characteristics of the industry illustrate many important concepts in economics. This book is designed to provide information about the industry to students and the wider public. The student audience includes those studying business, economics, public policy and the engineering disciplines required by the electricity industry. Public policy makers, investors, regulators and electricity industry employees will also benefit from this book. This book will allow readers to be able to develop informed opinions about the current status and future directions of the electricity industry. It begins by describing how the industry operates by converting fuels into electricity, transporting it to the place of use and designing retail products that provide the electricity to end use customers. These activities are conducted by organizations that can differ in ownership type (profit making or non-profit public organizations) and by the part of the industry value chain that they specialize in. Regulation plays a huge role in the electric industry. Since many industry functions are considered natural monopolies the companies are often granted a monopoly franchise to provide services under regulated prices. The industry has undergone a significant amount of technical, economic and regulatory change during its history. Looking forward the electricity industry will likely see even greater change as problems such as new technologies, climate change and increased demand for electricity use create significant challenges. The success of the industry will depend on identifying and managing the opportunities to mitigate the risks associated with these challenges.

Power theft causes a substantial loss of revenue to power utilities. Despite their efforts to crack down on power thieves and use of improved detection technology, power utilities have not been fully able to contain the unscrupulous ways used to steal power. This book, now in its Second Edition, discusses some of the startling methods used to commit power theft, and describes ways to identify, control and combat such power pilferage problems. The book provides a graphic description of the modus operandi of the power thieves and uncovers their ingenuity and imagination in pilfering electricity. To fight this menace of electricity theft, the book presents a vivid account of technical solutions that can go a long way in nipping the problem in the bud. The most striking feature of the book is that it uses suitable photographs to analyse the problems from several angles. In this edition, a new chapter containing major judgements of the Supreme Court as well as High Courts relating to power theft, and a new section on smart grid are included. The book will be of principal interest to professionals engaged in electricity boards, power utilities, power training institutes, and energy auditors and the law enforcement authorities. It will also be of practical interest to the students of Electrical Engineering to understand the metering technology, measuring principles and, above all, the methods used to analyse the causes of power theft.

Discover cutting-edge developments in electric power systems

Stemming from cutting-edge research and education activities in the field of electric power systems, this book brings together the knowledge of a panel of experts in economics, the social sciences, and electric power systems. In ten concise and comprehensible chapters, the book provides unprecedented coverage of the operation, control, planning, and design of electric power systems. It also discusses:

A framework for interdisciplinary research and education

Modeling electricity markets

Alternative economic criteria and proactive planning for transmission investment in deregulated power systems

Payment cost minimization with demand bids and partial capacity cost compensations for day-ahead electricity auctions

Dynamic oligopolistic competition in an electric power network and impacts of infrastructure disruptions

Reliability in monopolies and duopolies

Building an efficient, reliable, and sustainable power system

Risk-based power system planning integrating social and economic direct and indirect costs

Models for transmission expansion planning based on reconfiguration capacitor switching

Next-generation optimization for electric power systems

Most chapters end with a bibliography, closing remarks, conclusions, or future work. "Economic Market Design and Planning for Electric Power Systems" is an indispensable reference for policy-makers, executives and engineers of electric utilities, university faculty members, and graduate students and researchers in control theory, electric power systems, economics, and the social sciences.

It is now almost twenty years since liberalisation and the introduction of competition was proposed for electricity utilities. Some form of restructuring has been widely adopted around the world to suit local objectives. The industry now faces new challenges associated with global warming, rising prices and escalating energy demand from developing countries like China and India. The industry will have to cope with; managing emissions; managing variable energy sources like wind, dev eloping clean coal technology; accommodating distributed generation and new nuclear stations and managing the impact of these developments on the distribution and transmission networks. It is now necessary to consider how the various market structures that were adopted have performed and how they will address some of these new issues and what further changes might be necessary.

This volume presents an all-inclusive analysis of the electricity market structures that have been adopted around the world and how they are performing. It provides an up-to-date analysis of the cost of competing technologies, the operation of energy and ancillary service markets and the impact of renewable sources and emission restrictions. It takes a forward look at likely future developments necessary to cope with the new emerging issues.

Part One introduces industry infrastructure, analysing state utilities, the motives behind liberalisation and the resulting structures.

Part Two considers generation costs, including renewable generation costs, and investigates the cost of restricting emissions as well as transmission and distribution costs.

Part Three discusses market operation, describing how costs affect the organisation of power generation. It covers trading arrangements, ancillary services, international trading and investment.

Part Four looks to future markets and technological developments that will shape the industry through the next twenty years. This includes the appraisal of investment opportunities for global power companies and implications for market performance.

Written by an internationally renowned consultant engineer, this book is full of expert insight and balances fundamental methodology and academic theory with practical information and diverse worked examples.

This is an excellent reference on the topic for power system engineers, regulators, banks, investors, and government energy agencies. With its many worked examples, it is also a brilliant tutorial accessible for postgraduates and senior undergraduates in electrical and power engineering.

The authors are providing information on (1) federal funding DOE receives for electricity-related R&D, including funding by type of fuel; (2) tax expenditures the federal government provides to subsidise electricity production, including expenditures by type of fuel; and (3) other ways the federal government subsidises electricity. The authors examined federal electricity-related subsidies over a 6-year period, from fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2007. This is an excerpted and indexed version.

While billions have been provided to rebuild Iraq's oil and electricity sectors, Iraq's future needs are significant and sources of funding uncertain. For fiscal years 2003 through 2006, the United States made available about $7.4 billion and spent about $5.1 billion to rebuild the oil and electricity sectors. The United States spent an additional $3.8 billion in Iraqi funds on the two sectors, primarily on oil and electricity sector contracts administered by U.S. agencies. However, according to various estimates and officials, Iraq will need billions of additional dollars to rebuild, maintain, and secure Iraq's oil and electricity sectors. The Ministry of Electricity estimates that about $27 billion will be needed to meet the sector's future rebuilding requirements; a comparable estimate has not been developed by the Ministry of Oil. Since the majority (about 70 percent) of U.S. funds has been spent, the Iraqi government and the international donor community represent important sources of potential funding. However, prospects of such funding are uncertain. First, the Oil and Electricity Ministries have encountered difficulties spending capital improvement budgets because of weaknesses in budgeting, procurement, and financial management. As of November 2006, the Ministry of Oil had spent less than 3 percent of its $3.5 billion 2006 capital budget to improve Iraq's oil facilities. Second, Iraq has not made full use of potential international contributions and it is unclear what additional financial commitments, if any, will be provided to Iraq's oil and electricity sectors as part of a new international compact (agreement), according to U.S. officials. As of March 2007, donors had committed $580 million in grants for the electricity sector and had offered loans for oil and electricity projects; however, Iraq has not accessed these loans in part due to concerns about its high debt burden.

The blackout of 2003 illuminated just how dependent America is on electricity. It was not just that some 50 million people in eight states and Ontario were cut off from their televisions, microwaves, ATMs, and email. Without the electrical juice to keep their sockets alive, factory managers were forced to close production lines, city managers shut down water deliveries, grocery store clerks watched their frozen inventory slowly melt away. Economists estimated that the blackout cost Americans $5 billion even as energy analysts were predicting that a similar blackout could happen again. The catastrophe forced us to marvel at the unusual ability of sub-microscopic particles to move like waves inside a wire and cause bulbs to glow. It highlighted the complex requirements for managing the massive generators, transformers, transmission lines, and switch boxes needed to tap and deliver flowing electrons. It encouraged us to recognize the profound impact of electricity on all aspects of commerce and culture.

Such events as the blackout, the Enron debacle, and the California brownouts also reveal the cracks in a 100-year-old industry structure that have been building ever since Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and their contemporaries first managed to harness electricity and make it available to the masses, and tycoons, such as Sam Insull and George Norris, began to concentrate financial control and political influence. "From Edison to Enron" traces the controversial history of this $210 billion industry--the nation's largest--showcasing the key individuals, technological innovations, corporate machinations, and political battles that have been waged over its domination. Munson maintains that today's technological and regulatory infrastructure, as a function of its history, is a relic that has long outlived its usefulness; he points out that two-thirds of the fuel burned to generate electricity is lost, that Americans pay roughly $100 billion too much each year for heat and power, and that environmentally unfriendly generators are the nation's largest polluters. Meanwhile, innovations in technology and business models are being blocked by entrenched monopolies. Ultimately, Munson argues that current policies and practices, including those favored by the Bush Administration, are preventing entrepreneurs from producing more efficient, healthy, and sustainable power supplies. Moreover, he presents an agenda for business and policy reforms that will stimulate economic development in the United States and around the world.