Strategic Adaptations: Lessons from U.S. Electricity Industry in the 20 Century

Several patterns emerge from a review of historical developments in the electricity industry: (1) conflicts arise from a number of sources; (2) responses to events and perceived crises tend to involve national (and state) legislation; (3) a lack of broad public (and political) consensus regarding the appropriate role of market mechanisms vs. government regulations; (4) absence of significant changes in response to events—changes appear to be incremental rather than transformational. The article provides an overview of developments in the past half century—placing current debates in a broader context. JEL Codes: K23, L12, L51, L94 1 The author is Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Economics, Warrington College of Business Administration. He is also Director of Water Studies, Public Utility Research Center, University of Florida. He would like to thank Lynne Holt, Mark Jamison, and Colin Knapp, for comments. Ted Kury added helpful examples in Section V. The author is solely responsible for the content.