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The early days of the electricity-generating industry were dominated by several problems Insull deftly resolved. One was competition from the gas industry, which at the turn of the century produced light as cheaply and effectively as did electricity. Another problem concerned the virtues of decentralized versus centralized power generation. Initially bankers and investors would only fund decentralized power generators, building by building, localizing power use. Centralized power required enormous sums of capital up front, and the returns were not certain: central plants, for example, continued operating during the day when usage was low, wasting electricity, whereas power plants located in individual buildings could tailor their electricity generation to specific uses. These factors combined to lead most observers to guess that electricity would be a luxury item, of limited use in the future. Insull's vision was far grander. He was among the first to postulate the idea of...
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This section contains 327 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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