Electrifying Democracy

By 1935, Roosevelt was ready for more aggressive action to stimulate the still-languishing economy, including a full-scale push for federal intervention in the electricity sector. In his State of the Union address, he made it clear that he planned to bust the public utility holding companies, saying it was time for the “restoration of sound conditions in the public utilities field through abolition of the evil features of holding companies.”
I’m recounting this history today, July 4, because rural electrification is the single most important infrastructure achievement in American history. Yes, the United States has built canals, dams, roads, bridges, and the interstate highway system. But rural electrification fundamentally changed the face and history of America.