Energy Follies: Missteps, Fiascos, and Successes of America's Energy Policy, by Robert Nordhaus and Sam Kalen.

• Author: Zowam, Samuel

Energy Follies: Missteps, Fiascos, and Successes of America's Energy Policy, by Robert Nordhaus and Sam Kalen (Cambridge University Press, 2018), 246 pages, ISBN 9781108423977.

Energy policies are the actions taken by governments that influence the demand and supply of energy. In crafting an efficient energy policy, the struggle is always how to positively respond to the needs of society rather than cause negative disruptions, bearing in mind that society changes rapidly. This book chronicles major aspects of the United States energy policy's past, and records in a factual and detailed way the struggle towards crafting an ever-changing energy policy - one that integrates and effectively responds to environmental and economic concerns.

Chapter 2 portrays the evolution of federal control over the energy space and the enactment of the Federal Water Power Act (FWPA) by Congress in 1920. The original purpose of the act was to more effectively coordinate the development of hydroelectric power projects, which by 1928 supplied roughly 40% of the energy generated by private electric utilities. The authors also highlight a major environmental drawback affecting future hydroelectric power development - as an area's recreational and scenic values would become important factors considered by the Federal Power Commission (FPC) in deciding whether to license a project or not.

One confusing aspect of this chapter, however, is the use of "FWPA" and "FPA" with the reader having to wait (until the next two chapters) to understand what the FPA would be about.

In chapter 3, the authors depict the increasing need to regulate interstate transmission and sale of electricity since state public utility commissions were incapable for two reasons. First, holding companies defied effective regulation and secondly, the U.S. Constitution did not give states authority to regulate interstate wholesale sales of electric power. The FWPA, on the other hand, only regulated hydroelectric power generation. As an economist, I found this chapter the most difficult to read because of the many resulting Supreme Court Cases, which the authors outlined. For the interested reader, however, it provides a good starting point to explore other sources for more legal detail. More than a dozen of these cases with disputes between states and companies over states right to regulate interstate commerce culminated in the notable "Attleboro Case" of 1927. This court case was about a breach of agreement between Attleboro Steam and Electric Co, a Massachusetts-based utility, and Narragansett, a utility...