For the better part of a century, governments the world over have been running the power business as a command-and-control monopoly. Even in free-market America, most people have been getting their power from stodgy local utilities unencumbered by competition. This method has its merits: most of the rich world is now wired up. But it conspicuously failed in the developing countries, where over 2 billion people still have no access to electricity. And now, as concerns about the reliability and cleanliness of grid power grow, its limitations are becoming more apparent in the industrial world, too.
展开▼
