Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Historical Geography of Electricity in Eastern North Carolina

博士论文研究：北卡罗来纳州东部电力历史地理

• 批准号: 1302739
• 负责人: Scott Kirsch
• 金额: $ 1.24万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-05-01 至 2014-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1302739&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Historical; Geography

IntroductionThis doctoral dissertation improvement grant is jointly supported by the Science, Technology, and Society program and the Geography and Spatial Sciences program.In eastern North Carolina, some towns charge electricity rates nearly double those in nearby towns. These differences result from the patchwork of electricity providers that serve the region. These electric utilities can be grouped into three ownership types: investor owned, municipally owned, and cooperatively owned. The proposed research seeks to understand how and why this patchwork of electric utilities and varying prices emerged. It is guided by two interlocking hypotheses. First, electric utilities were compelled to overcome a series of obstacles, including difficulty obtaining capital investment for infrastructure; a necessity to increase revenues from electricity sales; and ongoing attempts to stave off the devaluation of fixed assets. Second, the developing electric utilities both shaped, and were shaped by, local and regional social, economic and political geographies. As electric utilities began operating in eastern North Carolina, varying alliances and configurations worked to undermine the interests of African Americans and the working classes. Intellectual meritThis research employs geographic approaches to research electric utilities, including archival research, GIS mapping, and interviews with key informants, to consider how the ownership and financing models of the different electric utilities developed in relation to the ideologies of the Progressive Era and Jim Crow segregation. It also considers electricity's development in the American South, a region previously unexamined by historians of electricity.Broader ImpactsThis project provides insights into how electricity infrastructures are developed, and how they influence the development of the cities they power. This will inform current debates over the relations between the industry, the state, and infrastructure, and in eastern North Carolina will inform ongoing debates over electricity prices. Project outputs include a geodatabase of historic power plant information, and an interactive online mapping tool that allows users to explore the development of electricity in several North Carolina towns.

简介这项博士论文改进补助金由科学、技术和社会计划以及地理和空间科学计划联合资助。在北卡罗来纳州东部，一些城镇的电费几乎是附近城镇的两倍。这些差异是由为该地区提供服务的电力供应商的拼凑造成的。这些电力公司可分为三种所有权类型：投资者所有、市政所有和合作所有。拟议的研究旨在了解这种电力公用事业和不同价格的拼凑是如何以及为何出现的。 它以两个相互关联的假设为指导。首先，电力公司被迫克服一系列障碍，包括难以获得基础设施资本投资；有必要增加售电收入；以及持续努力避免固定资产贬值。其次，发展中的电力设施既塑造了当地和区域的社会、经济和政治地理，又被当地和区域的社会、经济和政治地理所塑造。 随着电力公司开始在北卡罗来纳州东部运营，不同的联盟和配置损害了非裔美国人和工人阶级的利益。学术价值本研究采用地理方法来研究电力公司，包括档案研究、地理信息系统制图和关键知情人访谈，以考虑不同电力公司的所有权和融资模式如何与进步时代和吉姆·克劳种族隔离的意识形态相关。它还考虑了美国南部的电力发展，该地区以前从未受到电力历史学家的研究。更广泛的影响该项目提供了有关电力基础设施如何开发以及它们如何影响其供电城市的发展的见解。 这将为当前有关行业、国家和基础设施之间关系的辩论提供信息，并且在北卡罗来纳州东部还将为正在进行的电价辩论提供信息。 项目成果包括历史发电厂信息的地理数据库，以及交互式在线绘图工具，使用户能够探索北卡罗来纳州几个城镇的电力发展情况。