In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the state’s Democratic party hindered
numerous political reforms in North Carolina—from the enactment of
women’s suffrage to the regulation of electrical rates charged by energy companies.
Nevertheless, during the second decade of the twentieth century, North
Carolina saw significant reform to its public energy policy as the state’s water
power resources shifted from a laissez-faire public energy market to a corporate
monopoly that was held in check—at least in theory—by the Corporation Commission