Powering a Generation of Change is a project to document the restructuring of electrical power in North America as it occurs over the coming years. The project is being conducted by the Division of Information, Technology and Society at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History . The project has been funded by a Founders Committee, comprised of executives of leading power producers in North America.
Electricity is the principal force that powers modern society.
It lights buildings and streets, runs computers and telephones, drives trains and subways, and operates all variety of motors and machines. Yet most people, despite their great dependence on electrical power, hardly give it a thought. They flip a switch, turn a key, or pick up a phone and expect the power to be there without fail. Stability in electrical power has traditionally depended on a system highly regulated by federal and state government. In recent years, however, many leaders in government and industry alike have pushed for deregulating the system to make it more responsive to changes in business and technology, and more open to the forces of free-market competition.