In 1879, the California Electric Light Company in San Francisco became the first American company to sell electricity generated from a centralized power station. That same year, Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lightbulb. The following year, he opened his own electric power company in New York City. His company, Edison Electric Illuminating Co., was the first large electric company to supply power to thousands of businesses and homes. By the end of the 19th century, more than 3,600 electric utilities had sprung up across the United States. Some were privately owned, while others were publicly funded and built.

The growth of the automobile industry in the early 20th century created a demand for oil, and in 1916, the U.S. government began …show more content…
economy and, in many ways, came to define the decade. In 1973, OPEC imposed an oil embargo on the United States and several other Western nations as punishment for supporting Israel in its war against Egypt and other Arab nations. The embargo caused an oil shortage in the United States, prompting long lines for gasoline and sending prices soaring. The U.S. economy, heavily based on oil-fueled manufacturing industries, suffered devastating effects.

Although OPEC lifted the oil embargo in 1974, its repercussions lasted for the rest of the decade, and the government implemented various measures to reduce fuel prices and conserve energy. In 1975, for example, Congress enacted legislation requiring automobile manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency, setting one standard for cars and another for …show more content…
While nuclear power offers some benefits over energy generated from fossil fuels—it does not emit greenhouse gases, is not a limited resource, and, according to some observers, is less expensive to produce—it also poses the danger of catastrophic nuclear meltdowns. In 1979, a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania partially melted down, emitting radiation that reached about 2 million people. The meltdown caused no direct injuries, however, and according to an account of the incident on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission website, the amount of radiation absorbed by people in the area was largely harmless—less than the effects of receiving a chest X-ray. Nevertheless, the Three Mile Island incident revealed the potential dangers of nuclear power and the severe health problems that could result from an accident. It also prompted a flurry of new regulations on nuclear power plants to ensure their safety. These new regulations proved costly, leading many nuclear energy companies to limit their operations and abandon plans to build new plants in the United States.

The same year that Three Mile Island partially melted down in 1979, gasoline prices returned to the forefront of national discussion when civil unrest and revolution in Iran, a major oil exporter, sent energy prices soaring. That July, President Jimmy Carter (D, 1977–81) addressed the nation, arguing that the United