Technology and Transformation in the American Electric Utility Industry by Richard F. Hirsh

1126 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE even a long essay bringing out a dozen examples and treating them as themes or exemplars of mainstream issues for historians and policy analysts. The book is badly copyedited. Minor mistakes of translation or transcription might have been caught (p. 65), one fuzzy photograph is apparently printed upside down (p. 87), and commas seem to be used randomly. Its contribution, however, is clear, and even if it is used only to add weight to someone’s argument about the “not invented here” syndrome, or to illustrate a strangejuxtaposition such as that between electronic circuitry and the production of musical scores, Eisler’s story is well worth consulting. Jonathan Liebenau Dr. Liebenau teaches social studies of technology in the Department of Information Systems of the London School of Economics and Political Science. His most recent books are Understanding Information: An Introduction (with James Backhouse) (London: Macmillan, 1990) and an edited collection of essays, The Challenge of New Technology: Innovation in British Business since 1850 (Aldershot: Gower, 1988). Technology and Transformation in the American Electric Utility Industry. By Richard F. Hirsh. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Pp. xiv + 274; figures, notes, appendixes, bibliography, index. $37.50. In the 1960s, managers of American electric utilities congratulated themselves on the progress of the industry and predicted evercontinuing growth. Over the years, they had lowered rates and gained approval from customers, investors, and regulatory commissions. Yet by the 1970s the industry was declining: its performance was unreli­ able, costs rose, and regulators and consumers turned to criticism and suspicion. At the root of this transformation, Richard F. Hirsh contends, was “technological stasis,” in which a mature technology reaches its limits and further improvement is impossible. Emphasizing that stasis occurs within “a social system of engineers, business managers, regulators, financiers, and the general public” (p. 3), Hirsh traces the earlier expansion of the industry as, following a “grow-and-build” strategy, the utilities adopted technologies that allowed them to serve increasing numbers of customers as they prodded man­ ufacturers to supply larger and more efficient equipment. While much of this history has been covered by others (as the author acknowledges), he contributes an analysis of the outlook of the engineer-managers who “valued technological efficiency for its own sake” (p. 74) and prided themselves on providing better lives for the people. The book focuses on the 1970s and 1980s, a period of “maelstrom and malaise” in the industry. While noting such problems as inflation and environmental regulations, the author explains in detail the limits to thermal efficiency and to the size of power plants, the elements of TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 1127 technological stasis. He sharply criticizes managers who clung to previous belief in “growth” as progress and ignored the fact that “the technological structure of their industry had been radically trans­ formed” (p. 130). It will be difficult for them to abandon the assumption of endless growth, to encourage conservation of energy, to seek innovative technology, and to understand the reasons for public mistrust. But Hirsh does find indications that certain compa­ nies are beginning to adjust to conditions, to promote conservation, and to utilize load-management techniques. He suggests that cogen­ eration and solar energy may lead to decentralization and possible deregulation; the industry “appears to have lost the technological imperative for remaining a monopoly” (p. 167). The book seems original in its discussion of stasis as cause of decline and as related to the culture of engineer-managers. To a nonengi­ neer, the explanation of stasis is convincing. The author’s interviews with more than a hundred engineers, managers, and regulators furnished a key source of insights, especially, he wryly notes, about events of the “distant past” (p. 199). Other than a list of these persons, there is no formal bibliography, but Hirsh has examined a wide range of technical articles, industry periodicals, and historical studies. As one might expect, only occasional internal company documents appear in the notes. Graphs and appendixes clarify the author’s statements. Although the book is logically organized and written in straightforward, though uninspired, style, it is marred by awkward constructions and slightly imprecise use of words. Hirsh discusses, almost

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