Utilities have long been essential for societies, supplying basic services for nations, organizations and households alike. The proper functioning and regulation of utilities is therefore critical for the economy, society and security. History provides an invaluable insight into important issues of the economic and social regulation of utilities and offers guidance for future debates. However, the history of utility regulation – which speaks of changing, diverse and complex experiences around the world – was sidelined or marginalised when economists and policy-makers enthusiastically embraced the question of how to reform the utilities from the 1970s. This book examines in depth the complex regulation and deregulation of energy, communications, transportation and water utilities across Western Europe, the United States, Australia, Brazil, China and India. In each case, attention is drawn to the changing roles of the state, the market and firms in the regulation, organization and delivery of utility services. This book was originally published as a special issue of Business History.

A coherent argument in favor of regulating utilities

Organizing a century of legal principles to help the U.S. public utility industry resolve tensions created by the current legal boundaries of legal regulation and fashion new policies for the future. Its mix of case narratives and doctrine, drawn from all legal sources, is geared to lawyers and non-lawyers, veterans and novices, practitioners and decision-makers, academics and the media--anyone seeking to use the law to serve the public interest. Topics covered include market structure, pricing, and jurisdictional issues.