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[A]n extraordinarily comprehensive and enjoyable historical portrait of the nation's most critical energy supply system, and its indispensable engine of progress and prosperity. This splendid book is as readable as it is rigorous in its fascinating journey through the creation and the evolution of the electricity enterprise in the 20th century. What sets Munson's work apart is his probing exploration of the powerful and diverse personalities who collectively shaped what has become the world's largest and most complex machine. -Kurt Yeager President, Electrical Power Research Institute

Munson presents a 100-year history of the electric power industry. The early history focuses on important persons--Edison, Westinghouse, Tesla, Samuel Insull, and George Norris--emphasizing technology and entrepreneurship. The later history traces a series of interrelated problems, developments, and events: public power (TVA, Boulder/Hoover Dam), blackouts, oil embargoes, Con Edison's missed dividend, Three Mile Island, increased competition, alternative energy sources, cogeneration, deregulation, California's 2000-01 crisis, regulation supporting monopoly, possibilities for greater efficiency, and problems of an aging capital stock. The author also examines the dead hand of governmental regulation: barriers to new competition, the preservation of vested interests, and the grease of political contributions. This stimulating book offers many fine and valid points....Recommended. General readers. - Choice Traces the history of the electricity industry, highlighting key individuals, technological innovations, corporate tactics, and political battles; assesses the current status of the industry; and presents an agenda for the future. - Journal of Economic Literature [A] lively and readable account of electricity in the US, starting in fact before Edison and continuing beyond the debacle of Enron. - Modern Power Systems From Thomas Edison's struggle with George Westinghouse to the pending trial of Kenneth Lay, Munson spins a timely and well-researched story. Munson addresses the most recent concerns of elevated energy prices, while expanding on many new technologies that can improve pollution and more reliable energy. Perhaps the most insightful look into this industry is the current policy barriers that hinder their implementation. Munson explores these policies, some favored by the Bush administration, to show how environmentalists and energy executives can improve this industry by changing their positions....This book is for those of you with inquiries dealing with the innovation and welfare of a more-reliable energy system, especially for boaters, where fuel concerns are present. From Edison to Enron is chock full of eye-opening information. - Great Lakes Boating Richard Munson has written a fine history of the U.S. electric industry, no mean feat. His From Edison to Enron is a good survey, with enough technical content to satisfy us geeks, but not so much as to overwhelm a good yarn. His mini-bios are particularly well done, giving a human face to a huge and often imposing, impersonal industry. His material on Edison was familiar, as it will be to many readers of this publication. But his work on George Westinghouse, Nicola Tesla and Samuel Insull will prove enlightening to many. - The Electricity Daily

Author Information

Richard Munson is Director of the Northeast-Midwest Institute, a non-partisan policy research center in Washington, D.C. Having founded the National Solar Lobby and Center for Renewable Resources in the 1970s, he has spent the last 25 years spearheading innovative public policy approaches to help meet America's energy needs. He frequently testifies before Congress, collaborates with regional energy and power providers, briefs local and state governments on their energy options, and provides consumer information on energy choices. His articles on the business and politics of the electricity industry have appeared in publications ranging from The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to the journals of the National Academy of Sciences, environmental organizations and utility associations. He is the author of The Power Makers, Cousteau: The Captain and His World, and The Cardinals of Capitol Hill.

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