And he continually worked to lower prices for customers. Hughes contrasts the European approach, where “products were priced and designed as luxury goods,” to Insull’s “democratic” approach:
Unlike European utility magnates, he stressed, in a democratic spirit, the supplying of electricity to masses of people in Chicago in the form of light, transportation, and home appliances. In Germany, by contrast, the Berlin utility stressed supply to large industrial enterprises and transportation, but was relatively indifferent to domestic supply to the lower-income groups. In London, utilities supplied at a high profit luxury light to hotels, public buildings, and wealthy consumers. Fully aware that the cost of supplying electricity stemmed more from investment in equipment than from labor costs, Insull concentrated on spreading the equipment costs, or interest charges, over as many kilowatt hours, or units of production, as possible.
That doesn’t seem be indicative of ‘any democratic spirit’, but indicative of greater competition in the US forcing nascent electricity grids to target lower profit customers. Whereas more limited competition in Europe gave their grids the luxury of lack of competitive pressure enabling them to focus on more profitable customers.
That doesn’t seem be indicative of ‘any democratic spirit’, but indicative of greater competition in the US forcing nascent electricity grids to target lower profit customers. Whereas more limited competition in Europe gave their grids the luxury of lack of competitive pressure enabling them to focus on more profitable customers.