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

本博士论文改进基金由科学、技术与社会计划和地理与空间科学计划共同支持。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服务的电力供应商拼凑而成的。这些电力公用事业可以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什么出现的。它是由两个相互关联的假设指导的。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的资本投资；增加电力销售收入的必要性；以及阻止固定资产贬值的持续努力。其次，发展中的电力公司既塑造了当地和区域的社会、经济和政治地理，也受其影响。随着电力公司开始在北卡罗莱纳东部运营，各种联盟和组织都在努力损害非裔美国人和工人阶级的利益。本研究采用地理方法来研究电力公用事业，包括档案研究、GIS制图和对关键线人的采访，以考虑不同电力公用事业的所有权和融资模式是如何与进步时代的意识形态和吉姆·克劳种族隔离发展起来的。它还考虑了电力在美国南部的发展，这是一个以前没有被电力历史学家研究过的地区。更广泛的影响该项目提供了对电力基础设施如何发展以及它们如何影响其供电城市发展的见解。这将为当前有关行业、州和基础设施之间关系的辩论提供信息，而在北卡罗来纳州东部，这将为正在进行的有关电价的辩论提供信息。项目产出包括一个历史发电厂信息的地理数据库，以及一个交互式在线地图工具，使用户可以探索北卡罗来纳州几个城镇的电力发展情况。

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.