DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING.
After building the transmission lines that would become the foundation of our modern electric grid, George Westinghouse, Jr. figured out that there was little profit in building and maintaining the power lines whereas there was lots of money to be made generating and selling power. Of course in order to make money selling power, he had to maintain his power lines.
Since the 1990s, in the name of free market competition, utilities in some states (New York, for example) have not been allowed to generate power. The unintended consequence is that utilities have little incentive to invest in, and maintain, their infrastructure. Their profits can come only from skimping and cutting corners. Remember the 2003 blackout? Three overgrown trees and a frozen computer screen. That's all it took.
How profitable is the generation and sale of electricity? So profitable that Westinghouse invented all sorts of appliances for the sole purpose of increasing demand for electricity. Who knew that would become its own profit center. And who knew New York's form of deregulation would lead to the fraying of the electric grid.
