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Buy the "Great Projects" videos and companion book at ShopPBS. |
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Insull's Great Insight As his empire grew, Insull struggled with how to bring rates down for homeowners and small businesses. Then, inspiration struck: he would issue each customer a two-part bill. The first charge would be for the customer's share of peak demand; with this charge they would pay for their share of financing Insull's high capital costs of plants and equipment. The second charge—much lower—would be for the kilowatts the customer used during off-peak hours. In short, the more electricity a customer used, the cheaper the electricity would be. This deceptively simple notion lit the fuse that electrified the nation. |
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  How engineers contained and controlled the Colorado and Mississippi rivers. Thomas Edison lights up New York City; Sam Insull brings power to Chicago; and TVA electrifies rural America Constructing the George Washington Bridge Putting a major highway under Boston  |
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