The Evolution of Government Policy and the Structure of the U.S. Electric Power Industry

Few U.S. industries have been as directly affected by public policy as has electric power. From its beginning, the industry that provides us with electric energy has been at the center of shifting public debates over its structure and the form of its ownership. New policies drastically affecting the industry have been adopted in response to serious problems. Those policies, however, either failed to address other problems that became more severe or created new unintended problems. New policies were then adopted to again restructure the industry, and the cycle repeated.