Chapter 2
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ELECTRIC UTILITIES INDUSTRY
The spread of electric power has, without a doubt, been one of the hallmarks of the last century. Since Thomas Edison turned on the first light bulb nearly 130 years ago, electric power has proliferated around the world, and today, more than three-quarters of the world’s population have access to electricity.1
To successfully invest in the Utilities sector, you don’t need to be an expert on the history of electric power. But understanding how the Electric Utilities industry evolved from a single power plant in Manhattan to an industry now serving over 5 billion people can give you a sense of where the industry has been—and perhaps even an idea of where it might be going.
This chapter briefly documents the early development of the Electric Utilities industry in the US, its rapid global growth during the twentieth century, and the forces of change that have begun to transform the industry over the past 25 years.
EARLY DEVELOPMENT IN THE US (1882–1935)
The Electric Utilities industry’s history famously began with Thomas Edison’s invention of the first practical incandescent electric light bulb in 1879—and a system of powering it in 1882. Now, it might be hard to appreciate the transformative effect of electric light, but for nineteenth-century citizens, it was the “sun’s only rival.”2 Illumination and, subsequently, the electric streetcar were the first major sources of demand for electricity, which led to a massive and ...
