The Grid


The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World
by Phillip F Schewe

Main Points:
  • The development of the American grid follows the stories of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Samuel Insull, and David Lilienthal. Edison pioneered direct current, while Tesla promoted alternate current with his polyphase induction motor. The companies they spurred (General Electric and Westinghouse) became major utilities that shaped our landscape. Samuel Insull was one of the founders of Commonwealth Edison and built one of the largest empires from Chicago to the East Coast. David Lilienthal was the founder of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a New Deal welfare program turned utility, that was unique by design and provided electricity access to the Tennessee region. 
  • The book also explores the impact of deregulation on the electricity markets through a case study of the California deregulatory acts of the 1990's and early 2000's. This puts into play the counteracting and sometimes opposing forces of regulatory agencies like FERC and the CPUC.
  • The book ends with a case study of several nations: India (2001 blackout in Uttar Pradesh), China (Three Gorges Dam), the Great Lakes region in East Africa (Ugandan Electricity Board), and the pros/cons of a distributed microgrid system vs. centralized grid we have today. 


Paul Grant, visiting scholar at Stanford, has an excellent review of Phillip Schewe's book. He dives into the nuances of the grid's history and key players.


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