Abstract
This essay is divided into two parts. The first is a factual description of the Washington Public Power Supply System’s history. The second is an analysis of why things went wrong. There is no attempt made to find scapegoats: the purpose is to place the Supply System in a larger economic and institutional context. Nor does this work attempt to analyze the very complex legal problems associated with the WPPSS default, this is a major topic in itself.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bernstein, Peter W. 1982. “A Nuclear Fiasco Shakes the Bond Market.” Fortune (22 February), p. 106.
Bischak, Gregory Allen. 1988. State-Induced Technological Change in the United States Nuclear Power Industry, 1947–1987. Ann Arbor: UMI.
Blumm, Michael C. 1982–83. “The Northwest’s Hydroelectric Heritage: Prologue to the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act.” Washington Law Review 58.
Brimelow, Peter. 1983. “Shock Waves from Whoops Roll East.” Fortune (25 July), p. 46.
Dorf, Richard C. 1981. The Energy Fact Book. New York: McGraw Hill.
Goodwin, Craufurd D. 1981. Energy Policy in Perspective: Today’s Problems, Yesterday’s Solutions. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.
Hughes, Thomas P. 1983. Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lee, Kai N., and Klemka, Donna Lee (with Marion E. Marts). 1980. Electric Power and the Future of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
McCraw, Thomas K. 1971. TVA and the Public Power Fight 1933–1939. Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincott.
NUKEM. 1988. Special Report 3.
Passer, Harold. 1953. The Electrical Manufacturers: 1875–1900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Pillsbury, Anne B. 1981. “The Fortune Directory of the Largest Non-Industrial Companies: The 50s.” Fortune (13 July), pp. 124, 126.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. 1938. The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vol. 1. New York: Random House.
Shapley, Deborah. 1977. “Nuclear Power Plants: Why Do Some Work Better Than Others?” Science (25 March), pp. 1311–13.
Science Policy Research Division Congressional Research Service. 1973. Energy Facts, Prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy of the Committee of Science and Astronautics, 93rd Congress, 1st sess. Library of Congress Serial H (November).
Tamietti, Robert L. 1984. “Chemical Bank v. WPPSS: A Case of Judicial Melt-down.” Journal of Energy Law and Policy 5: 278.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Salsbury, S. (1991). Facing the Collapse of the Washington Public Power Supply System. In: La Porte, T.R. (eds) Social Responses to Large Technical Systems. NATO ASI Series, vol 58. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3400-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3400-2_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5504-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-3400-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive