IN 1890s America, the electricity generators wanted to promote off-peak demand to balance the load at power stations. For this, they had to identify off-peak customers. The breakthrough came by chance when Samuel Insull, Thomas Edison’s right-hand man, visited Brighton in the UK, where he found that one Arthur Wright had invented a meter that monitored not only how much power people used but also when they used it. With this and many similar tales, Maury Klein offers a fascinating insight into the way steam power and electricity transformed America.
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