Indeed, as Christopher J. Mangianello has
argued, by 1924, Duke’s company was part of a “southeastern Super Power grid
that relayed electric power over 3,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines and
served some 6 million people in a 120,000-square-mile region encompassing a half
dozen states.”20
The course of regulating public energy in North Carolina introduces a paradox.
Liberal reformers often implemented, advocated, or enacted the same reforms
that would undermine a significant portion of their own agenda. Consequently,
as Clark pushed for public ownership, his own success in ending price discrimination
and strengthening the North Carolina Corporation Commission undermined
his more radical plans for public ownership.