The Wired Northwest: The History of Electric Power, 1870s-1970s

by Paul W. Hirt

The Pacific Northwest holds an abundance of resources for energy production, from hydroelectric power to coal, nuclear power, wind turbines, and even solar panels. But hydropower is king. Dams on the Columbia, Snake, Fraser, Kootenay, and dozens of other rivers provided the foundation for an expanding, regionally integrated power system in the U.S. Northwest and British Columbia. A broad historical synthesis chronicling the region's first century of electrification, Paul Hirt's new study reveals how the region's citizens struggled to build a power system that was technologically efficient, financially profitable, and socially and environmentally responsible.

Hirt shows that every energy source comes with its share of costs and benefits. Because Northwest energy development meant river development, the electric power industry collided with the salmon fishing industry and the treaty rights of Northwest indigenous peoples from the 1890s to the present. Because U.S. federal agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built many of the large dams in the region, a significant portion of the power supply is publicly owned, initiating contentious debates over how that power should best serve the citizens of the region. Hirt dissects these ongoing battles, evaluating the successes and failures of regional efforts to craft an efficient yet socially just power system.

Focusing on the dynamics of problem-solving, governance, and the tense relationship between profit-seeking and the public interest, Hirt's narrative takes in a wide range of players-not only on the consumer side, where electricity transformed mills, mines, households, commercial districts, urban transit, factories, and farms, but also power companies operating at the local and regional level, and investment companies that financed and in some cases parasitized the operators. His study also straddles the international border. It is the first book to compare energy development in the U.S. Northwest and British Columbia.

Both engaging and balanced in its treatment of all the actors on this expansive stage, The Wired Northwest helps us better understand the challenges of the twenty-first century, as we try to learn from past mistakes and re-design an energy grid for a more sustainable future.

472 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Earl Ecklund III · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Paul Hirt covers the history of the growth of electricity in the Pacific Northwest covering British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Hirt focuses largely on the policies of the private utility companies, the local governments and the public agencies responsible for providing electricity to the region. As a result many of the people involved don't get much mention or focus.

Early on hydroelectric power became the source for many of the utilities to supply electricity in the area. In British Columbia the provincial government didn't get involved in overseeing the industry until the late 1930s whereas the U.S states had begun much earlier.

It was during the New Deal that the development of hydroelectric power projects and the electrication of the rural communities that was primarily powered by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Overall a interesting look at the growth of electric power in the region at the state & provincial level.

[Krysti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so dry. The author used the term "movers and shakers" three times in less than 20 pages. I had to put it down after reading the first two chapters, then skipping to a later chapter and still was not interested.