By Katie Gilman and Nate Kaufman In the 19th century there was money to be made in finding new ways to create light. The inauguration of Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street power plant in 1882 marked the beginning of the commercial electricity era. Over the 130 years since, the electricity industry has changed drastically, but in many ways it has remained fairly constant: centralized power plants, high voltage transmission lines, and regulated distribution companies with service and reliability requirements have dominated the electricity landscape for decades. In the last several years, however, the industry has seen some of its most fundamental changes to date, including deregulation and restructuring, energy efficiency mandates, portfolio standards, and competition from distributed generation resources.
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