Electric Bond and Share Company
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The Electric Bond and Share Company (Ebasco) was a United States electric utility
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
organized by
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
. It was forced to divest its holding companies and reorganize due to the passage of the
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a US federal law giving the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to regulate, license, and break up electric utility holding companies. It l ...
. Following the passage of the Act, the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
(SEC) selected the largest of the U.S. holding companies, Ebasco to be the test case of the law before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court case known as Securities and Exchange Commission v. Electric Bond and Share company was settled in favor of the SEC on March 28, 1938. It took twenty-five years of legal action by the SEC to break up Ebasco and the other major U.S. electric holding companies until they conformed with the 1935 act. It was allowed to retain control of its foreign electric power holding company known as the American & Foreign Power Company (A&FP). After its reorganization, it became an investment company, but soon turned into a major designer and engineer of both fossil fuel and
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
electric generation facilities. Its involvement in the 1983 financial collapse of the
Washington Public Power Supply System Energy Northwest (formerly Washington Public Power Supply System) is a public power joint operating agency in the northwest United States, formed in 1957 by Washington state law to produce at-cost power for Northwest utilities. Headquartered in ...
's five nuclear reactors led to Ebasco's demise because of the suspension of nuclear power orders and lawsuits that included numerous asbestos claims. The U.S. nuclear industry stopped all construction of new facilities following the 1979 nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, going into decline because of radiation safety concerns and major construction cost overruns.


History

The Electric Bond and Share Group was organized in 1905 as a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
for electric utility company securities by
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
using its employees' retirement investment fund. Morgan used his control of General Electric and his position as the country's most powerful financier to set in motion a plan to monopolize the entire country's electric industry via the Electric Bond and Share Group. Until his death in 1913, Morgan was opposed to any form of government regulation. His firing of Samuel Insull resulted with Insull moving to Chicago, where he organized the second-largest holding company in the country, the Middle West Utilities Company or what is known today as
Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American Fortune 100 energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and incorporated in Pennsylvania. It generates revenues of approximately $33.5 billion and employs approximately 33,400 people. Exelon is the largest ...
. Insull would actively promote the idea of a regulated
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
because of the high cost of electrical infrastructure. About the same time as Teddy Roosevelt's trust busting campaign against Morgan, Rockefeller and other elites was gaining national attention, the
National Civic Federation The National Civic Federation (NCF) was an American economic organization founded in 1900 which brought together chosen representatives of big business and organized labor, as well as consumer advocates in an attempt to ameliorate labor disputes. I ...
(NCF) was formed. It carried out extensive investigations and debates among prominent business men and organized labor over the issue of public vs. private ownership of electric power. Insull's public support for regulation helped popularize NCF's model legislation that quickly spread nationwide after the state of New York adopted its own variation. Morgan's son J. P. Morgan Jr. carried on with the House of Morgan, including his father's goal of a national electric monopoly but was up against the reformist progressive era. By 1925, General Electric's Electric Bond & Share Group was the largest owner of U.S. and foreign electric companies holding over 10% of the country's companies as subsidiaries organized into five major holding companies. General Electric made a purely symbolic gesture to reduce growing public anger by divesting control of the company leaving Morgan still in financial control. The
Commonwealth & Southern Corporation The Commonwealth & Southern Corporation was a New York City-based United States electric utility holding company. The company was incorporated in 1929, and it initially contained three other electric utility holding companies: the Commonwealth Power ...
, which owned several utility operating companies in the Midwest and the South, some of which became part of the
Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is the second largest ...
, and the reorganized Electric Bond And Share Company (EBASCo) were both part of J. P Morgan's
syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...
via his J.P. Morgan & Co. In 1926, its headquarters in New York City had over 1,000 employees, and controlled companies in 33 states worth $1.25 billion. As public concern continued to mount by ratepayers of private electric power companies, the Federal Trade Commission carried out extensive investigations between 1928 and 1935. The commission's 48,000-page report included entire volumes for each of the country's major utility companies. The FTC valued EBASCo and its five holding companies at $3.5 billion, along with major investments in dozens of other major U.S. companies. Within the five main holding companies were 121 U.S. subsidiaries, along with a foreign holding company that operated in 16 countries and had 70 subsidies. Because he was a strong proponent of public power,
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
used the collapse of Samuel Insull's Middle West Utilities electric empire in June 1932 as one of his most important election campaign issues. The failed assassination attempt on his life in February 1933 later became part of U.S. Marine Corps General
Smedley Butler Major general (United States), Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881June 21, 1940), nicknamed the "Maverick Marine", was a senior United States Marine Corps Officer (armed forces), officer who fought in the Philippine–American ...
's claim of a
Business Plot The Business Plot (also called the Wall Street Putsch and The White House Putsch) was an alleged political conspiracy in 1933, in the United States to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as di ...
against Roosevelt by J. P. Morgan. On Roosevelt's first day in office, following his inauguration, he ordered the closure of the nation's banks, known as the bank holiday of 1933. In a joint session of the House and Senate, he pushed through the
Emergency Banking Act __NOTOC__ The Emergency Banking Act (EBA) (the official title of which was the Emergency Banking Relief Act), Public Law 73-1, 48 Stat. 1 (March 9, 1933), was an act passed by the United States Congress in March 1933 in an attempt to stabilize t ...
along with
Executive Order 6102 Executive Order 6102 is an executive order signed on April 5, 1933, by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt "forbidding the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States." The executive order w ...
that blocked the hoarding of gold and stopped the major New York banks from taking gold supplies out of the country. Roosevelt then selected Ferdinand Pecora to investigate Morgan and the country's other major banks. Both
Pecora Pecora is an infraorder of even-toed hoofed mammals with ruminant digestion. Most members of Pecora have cranial appendages projecting from their frontal bones; only two extant genera lack them, ''Hydropotes'' and '' Moschus''. The name “Pec ...
and the Federal Trade Commission investigations exposed the fact that the electric industry was the most capital intensive industry. The May 24th, 1933 Pecora hearings rocked the country, focusing on J.P. Morgan and his financial empire, whose top lieutenants paid no taxes. In his 1939 book Wall Street Under Oath: The Story of Our Modern Money Changers,
Ferdinand Pecora Ferdinand Pecora (January 6, 1882 – December 7, 1971) was an American lawyer and New York State Supreme Court judge who became famous in the 1930s as Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency during its investi ...
stated that "Undoubtedly, this small group of highly placed financiers, controlling the very springs of economic activity, holds more real power than any similar group in the United States." The 1933
Pecora Commission The Pecora Investigation was an inquiry begun on March 4, 1932, by the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The name refers to the fourth and final chief counsel for th ...
hearings identified the National City Company, known today as Citibank, as the location where Morgan conducted EBASCo's investment operations, which played a prominent role in the passage of the Glass–Steagall legislation. The Pecaro investigation along with the findings from the seven-year Federal Trade Commission investigation into electric holding companies nationwide led to the passage of the
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a US federal law giving the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to regulate, license, and break up electric utility holding companies. It l ...
. which some historians say was "the fiercest congressional battle in history." Following the act's passage, Ebasco sued the United States government claiming it was unconstitutional, but lost the case before the Supreme Court in 1938.
Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...
, who was the president of one of J.P. Morgan and Ebasco's biggest investments, known as the
Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is the second largest ...
, ran against
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
in the 1940 presidential race, but lost. EBASCo, known on Wall Street as (EBS) was included in the
Dow Jones Utility Average The Dow Jones Utility Average (DJUA, also known as the "Dow Jones Utilities") is a stock index from S&P Dow Jones Indices that tracks the performance of 15 prominent utility companies traded in the United States. Components , the current comp ...
from 1938 to 1947.


Securities and Exchange Commission breakup of EBASCo

Following the passage of the
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a US federal law giving the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to regulate, license, and break up electric utility holding companies. It l ...
, the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
(SEC) oversaw the closure, re-organization or divestment of EBASCo's holding companies except for its American & Foreign Power Co., making annual reports on its monumental legal breakup case between 1936 and 1961. The act was used to break up the country's electric industry into regions confined by state boundaries so that state agencies could properly regulate each company. Each year, the SEC reported on the compliance status of the industry. As of 1949, 210 holding companies affecting 918 of the country's electric companies had come under the SEC's legal jurisdiction and procedures, with 46 holding companies still active. In its 1949 annual report, the SEC documented the history of their order for EBASCo to break up its five major holding companies' combined assets worth $3.5 billion. In 1940, congressional investigations of brokerage firms, insurance companies and their relationship to the electric industry exposed that Middle South Utilities, the Southern Group and Ebasco were all financed by Morgan Stanley, with Wall Street having financial influence over nearly 80% of the country's electric industry. Following the passage of the 1935 Act, Ebasco went into the U.S. court system in an attempt overturn the act but failed (see external links for major court cases). Ebasco was then required to register its holding companies and comply with SEC orders. On August 23, 1941, its holding company known as the National Power & Light Co. was ordered to break up its 27 subsidiaries. On March 22, 1949, the SEC signed off on the final breakup of National that included major holdings in Pennsylvania PPL Corporation, the Carolinas and Alabama (see subsidiary list). On August 22, 1942, the SEC ordered the breakup of Ebasco's holding companies known as American Power & Light Corp. that included 35 subsidiaries and the Electric Power & Light Corporation with its 24 subsidiaries. American appealed the ruling but lost before the U.S. Supreme Court on November 25, 1946. As of 1949, all but one of American's subsidiaries were in compliance. Electric Power and its sub-holding company United Gas Corporation finally agreed to its breakup on March 2, 1949. Electric Power was then re-organized as Middle South Utilities Inc. and is known today as
Entergy Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and gene ...
. In 1939, proceedings before the SEC were initiated to break up EBASCo's American Gas & Electric Company. On December 28, 1945, the agency agreed to allow it to retain control of its central region of subsidiaries in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, if it let go of its companies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 1946, it attempted to acquire the Continental Gas & Electric Corp. but was denied. American Gas & Electric Company was finally spun off in 1958 to become
American Electric Power American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest g ...
(AEP). As part of a national campaign to deregulate the electric industry, the Bush administration and Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that repealed the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act.


EBASCo holding companies prior to 1935

The following EBASCo holding companies, which includes some of its subsidiaries came under enforcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission with the passage of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935.


American Gas & Electric Company

Incorporated in 1906, and controlled by EBASCo., American Gas & Electric Company was finally spun off in 1958 and became
American Electric Power American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest g ...
. AEP currently serves over 5 million electricity customers in eleven states. It is currently the 6th largest gas & electric company in the United States. Check the reference here for a recent list of AEP's subsidiaries. * Appalachian Electric Power Co. - Known today as Appalachian Power * Ohio Power Co. - Known today as AEP Ohio * Indiana & Michigan Electric Co. - known today as Indiana Michigan Power * The Scranton Electric Co. was sold to PPL Corporation in 1956 * Atlantic City Elec. Co. - Is currently a subsidiary of
Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American Fortune 100 energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and incorporated in Pennsylvania. It generates revenues of approximately $33.5 billion and employs approximately 33,400 people. Exelon is the largest ...
* Ky. & W. Va. Power Co. - known today as Kentucky Power * Wheeling Electric Co. - is currently a subsidiary of AEP * Indiana General Service Co. * Kingsport Utilities, Inc. - known today as Kingsport Power Company


American Power & Light Company

American Power & Light had over 35 subsidiaries prior to 1935. In 1942, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the holding company to be broken up, which was completed by 1951. Many of these companies are still in existence today. * Citizens Power & Light Co., Council Bluffs, Iowa. * Central Arizona Light & Power Co., Phoenix, Arizona, merged with Arizona Edison in 1952 to form
Arizona Public Service Arizona Public Service (APS) is the largest electric utility in Arizona, United States. Since 1985, it has been the principal subsidiary of publicly traded S&P 500 member Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, known as AZP Group until 1987. Pinnacl ...
*
Florida Power & Light Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. (formerly FPL Group, Inc.), is the largest power utility in Florida. It is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility company serving roughly 5 million customers ...
Co., Miami, Florida. It is a subsidiary of
NextEra Energy Resources NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NEER) is a wholesale electricity supplier based in Juno Beach, Florida. NEER is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy (), a Fortune 200 company. Prior to 2009, NextEra Energy Resources was known as FPL Energy. NextEra ...
* Fort Worth Power & Light Co., Fort Worth, Texas. Became part of TU Electric in 1984. * Helena Gas & Electric Co., Helena, Montana. * Kansas Gas & Electric Co., general office, Wichita, Kansas, merged with Kansas Power and Light of Topeka in 1992 to form
Westar Energy Evergy, Inc. is an American investor-owned utility (IOU) with publicly traded stock that has its headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, and in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was formed from a merger of Westar Energy of Topeka and Great Plains En ...
* Minnesota Power & Light Co., general office, Duluth, Minnesota. * Missoula Public Service Co., Missoula, Montana, acquired by Montana Power Company in 1929 * Montana Power Company, Butte, Montana. is still operating today. * Nebraska Power Co., Omaha, Nebraska. * Northern Power Co., Superior, Wisconsin. * Northwestern Electric Co., Portland, Oregon. * Pacific Power & Light Co., Portland, Oregon. is known today as
PacifiCorp PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States. PacifiCorp has two business units: # Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington. ...
and owned by
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Berkshire Hathaway Energy (previously known as MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company until 2014) is a holding company that is 92% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire has owned a controlling stake since 1999. The company also controls power dist ...
. * Portland Gas & Coke Co., Portland, Oregon. * St. Augustine Co., St. Augustine, Florida. * Superior Water, Light & Power Co., Superior, Wisconsin. * Texas Electric Service Co., Dallas, Texas. Became part of TU Electric in 1984. * Texas Power & Light Co., Dallas, Texas. Became part of TU Electric in 1984. * Texas Public Utilities Corp., Dallas, Texas. Became part of TU Electric. * Washington Water Power Co. (The), group, Spokane, Washington is known today as
Avista Avista Corporation is an American energy company which generates and transmits electricity and distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Approximately 1,550 employees provide electricity, natural gas, and other ...
.


Electric Power & Light Corporation

Incorporated in 1925 as a holding company for various Electric Bond & Shares Co. subsidiaries. The SEC ordered it sold off, a process that was completed in 1949, when it was renamed as Mid South Utilities, Inc. Today, it is known as
Entergy Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and gene ...
. * Arkansas Power & Light Co., Little Rock, Arkansas. * Dallas Power & Light Cd. Dallas, Texas. * Idaho Power Co., Boise, Idaho. * Louisiana Gas & Fuel Co., Shreveport, Louisiana. * Louisiana Power & Light Co., New Orleans, Louisiana. * Mississippi Central Power Co., Jackson, Mississippi. * Mississippi Power & Light Co., Jackson, Mississippi. * Nevada Power Co., Boise, Idaho. * New Orleans Public Service Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana. * Salmon River Power & Light Co., Boise, Idaho. * Utah Light & Traction Co., Salt Lake City, Utah. * Utah Power & Light Co., Salt Lake City, Utah. * Western Colorado Power Co., Durango, Colorado.


National Power & Light Company

Incorporated 1925 as new holding company for various Electric Bond & Shares Co. subsidiaries. As part of the SEC's order, National Power was combined with Lehigh Power Securities with most of its other companies broken up. Today, National Power is known today as PPL Corporation * Birmingham Electric Co., Birmingham, Alabama. * Carolina Power & Light Co., Raleigh, North Carolina * Holston River Electric Corporation, Rogersville, Tennessee. * Houston Lighting & Power Co., Houston, Texas. * Knoxville Power & Light Co., Knoxville, Tennessee. * Memphis Power & Light Co., Memphis, Tennessee. * South Texas Utilities Co., Houston, Texas. * Tennessee Public Service Co., Newport, Tennessee. * West Tennessee Power & Light Co., Jackson, Tennessee.


Lehigh Power Securities Corporation

The Lehigh Power Securities Company was merged with EBASCo's National Power & Light Company. * Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., Allentown, Pennsylvania. - PPL Corporation today. * Lancaster Group, Edison Electric Co., Lancaster, Pennsylvania. * Transit Group, Lehigh Valley Transit Co., Allentown, Pennsylvania.


American & Foreign Power Company

Following the failed merger negotiations with Canada's Royal Securities Corporation, American & Foreign Power Co. was created as a wholly owned EBASCo holding company in 1923 that had the goal of owning electric companies worldwide. With its agenda of enforcing patents, General Electric (GE) had been buying up electric stocks worldwide, but also started taking control of companies via its equipment sales and other services formerly performed by its holding company, the Electric Bond and Share Group. In 1917, Electric Bond and Share Group's first major foreign electric acquisition, at the request of the U.S. government, to take control of electric production for two cities near the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
as a counter strategy against nearby German interests. In 1920, Electric Bond obtained control of Guatemalan electric facilities that the U.S. government had seized from Germany during the war. This was followed in 1922 by a dramatic burst of purchasing across central and South America that was followed the next year by the formation of the American & Foreign Power Company. In 1925, GE would dispose of its Ebasco stocks because of negative public opinion, however GE's chairman continued to sit on American & Foreign Power's board of directors while its founding president Sydney Z. Mitchell also stayed as president. In 1929 American & Foreign Power claimed to have worldwide assets of $750 million. By 1931 the holding company was supplying power to just under 1,000 communities around the world. Following the passage of the
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a US federal law giving the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to regulate, license, and break up electric utility holding companies. It l ...
, Ebasco was allowed to retain control of American & Foreign Power Company as the law only applied to U.S. based electric utility companies. Electric development in
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
is of unique historic concern. Following the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...
in 1898 the country was forced into an exclusive relationship with the United States. The U. S. allowed Cuba to be independent, but required it to operate under the
Platt Amendment On March 2, 1901, the Platt Amendment was passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill.Scientific racism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies ...
and Scientific management practices that left the country exclusively in the hands of American companies. It started in 1922 with GE's representative, Henry Catlin purchasing General Gerardo Machado's electric company and then donating $500,000 to the general's successful bid to become Cuba's president in 1924. GE would spend $100 million to purchase control of Cuba's entire electric infrastructure. This led to 40 years of societal stresses, years of military dictatorships, the infamous U.S. Mafia operations in Havana and the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
which allowed Cuba to nationalize American & Foreign Power's control of the country's electric utilities. American & Foreign Power Company also had operations in the following countries: * Argentina - 100 different electric companies * Brazil * Canada - British Columbia Power Corporation * Chile - all major electric utilities * China - 1929 Shanghai Power Company purchased for $32 million * Colombia * Costa Rica * Cuba - Cuba Electric Co. taken public by Cuba in 1960 * Ecuador * Guatemala * India * Italy - Italian Superpower Corporation * Japan - Two Companies * Mexico * Panama - 1917 purchased two companies at the request of the U.S. around the Panama Canal * Venezuela


Dixon-Yates Affair

With the election of President Eisenhower in 1952 as the first republican to hold office in 20 years, a major policy shift called "no new starts" began. All federal water and power projects that had been closely tied to local, state or federal ownership were ended. The scale of this policy shift was exposed with the Dixon-Yates affair, identifying the plan's source as the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. PG&E was known for getting conservative politicians to kill all funding to the massive
Central Valley Project The Central Valley Project (CVP) is a federal power and water management project in the U.S. state of California under the supervision of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). It was devised in 1933 in order to provide irrigation an ...
's
grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News ...
, forcing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to rely on the company to deliver the electricity. As a result, cooperatives in communities across northern California that were set up to get the low cost surplus power collapsed. In 1954, President Eisenhower ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to buy 600,000 kilowatts of electricity for its
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...
from two private electric companies rather than purchase power from the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
in what is known as the Dixon-Yates contract. The attempt to bypass TVA's public power system next door to Oak Ridge stirred a national scandal following the testimony of James D Stietenroth, who was the secretary-treasurer of Mississippi Power Company who said that Middle South Utilities was still dominated by Ebasco Services. Stietenroth was fired the next day. Following the release of a secret report by industry insiders meant only for the president's eyes, Eisenhower was forced to cancel the contract on July 11, 1955. In 1961, after 26 years of legal cases, Electric Bond and Share had complied with the SEC's orders and was no longer listed as an electric power holding company. In 1967, Electric Bond and Share merged with its former holding company, the American & Foreign Power Co. and was renamed Ebasco Industries the following year. Ebasco Industries held onto Ebasco Services Inc. as a subsidiary.


Ebasco Services

On November 27, 1935, the Electric Bond & Share Company setup Ebasco Services to manage its holding company empire, the day after the SEC filed a lawsuit ordering the company to register as a holding company as required by the passage of the Public Utility Company Holding Company Act. According to the asbestos legal case of FENICLE v. BOISE CASCADE COMPANY,
Boise Cascade Boise Cascade Company (), which uses the trade name Boise Cascade, is a North American manufacturer of wood products and wholesale distributor of building materials, headquartered in Boise, Idaho. with sales over $7.9 billion in 2021, it is trad ...
purchased control of Ebasco Industries and its subsidiary Ebasco Services in 1969. The Plaintiff's suit was countered by a legal maneuver called
Piercing the corporate veil Piercing the corporate veil or lifting the corporate veil is a legal decision to treat the rights or duties of a corporation as the rights or liabilities of its shareholders. Usually a corporation is treated as a separate legal person, which is s ...
. In 1973 Halliburton purchased Ebasco Services from Boise Cascade, but the Justice Department reversed the sale over concerns that it gave Halliburton control over too much of the industry's engineering expertise. By the mid-1970s, Ebasco had stepped beyond its 1961 filing with the SEC, claiming its intention of becoming an investment company. It was now actively involved with the construction of nuclear and fossil fuel power facilities. In 1976, according to Encyclopedia.com a Texas oil company named Ensearch acquired Ebasco. Ensearch was originally known as Texas Power & Light Co. and had been one of Ebasco's original subsidiaries prior to 1935, that is now
TXU Energy TXU Energy is an American retail electricity provider headquartered in Irving, Texas, serving residential and business customers in deregulated regions of Texas since the deregulation of the Texas electricity market in 2002. A subsidiary of Vis ...
. By 1980, EBASCO had three divisions: A/E Ebasco Services, Ebasco Environmental, which provided environmental services, and Ebasco Engineering and Construction. On November 16, 1982, according to a filing made with the Texas Secretary of state, Ebasco Engineering and Construction filed as a foreign for-profit company. Ebasco Environmental was sold to Foster Wheeler, Inc., becoming Foster Wheeler Environmental. Ebasco had become one of the major US architect-engineers, coordinating the design of many nuclear power plants both in the US and abroad. On May 22, 1956, Ebasco's subsidiary, American & Foreign Power Co. announced plans to build two nuclear power facilities in Latin America, very likely in Cuba since they held 100% of the country's electric production. Other major nuclear construction plans included the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant The is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The ...
(units 1, 2 and 6). "Fukushima Daiichi 1 .. Fukushima Daiichi 2 .. Fukushima Daiichi 6 ... Architecture: Ebasco". It also had the original contract to design and build the Bataan Nuclear station in the Philippines, but was replaced by Westinghouse. Ebasco's involvement with the financial collapse of the Washington Public Power Supply System's (WPPSS) massive five nuclear reactors led to a lawsuit against the company in 1992 over asbestos contamination. Raytheon acquired Ebasco in 1994 and was known as Raytheon Ebasco Overseas Ltd. At this time, Ebasco was known to have subsidiaries in 11 foreign countries. The Raytheon subsidiary, Raytheon Engineers & Constructors that owned Ebasco Services was later sold to Morrison Knudsen Corporation where the combined company was named the Washington Group International, Inc., a firm with more than $5 billion in annual revenues and a backlog of some $6.6 billion, marking it one of the largest in the engineering and construction industry at that time with more than 38,000 employees at work in more than 40 countries.
Washington Group International Washington Group International was an American corporation which provided integrated engineering, construction, and management services to businesses and governments around the world. Based in Boise, Idaho, WGI had approximately 25,000 employees ...
, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001. At the time of the filing, there were four known Ebasco entities involved in the bankruptcy that included the Delaware-based Ebasco International Corporation. The Washington Group's headquarters were at the World Trade Center in 2001. Ebasco had been at the WTC since 1980 and at one point was its largest tenant with over 2,000 employees, leasing over 600,000 sq. ft. There were less than 20 employees of the 180 still at the World Trade Center on 911. In 2007 Washington Group was purchased by
URS Corporation URS Corporation (formerly United Research Services) was an engineering, design, and construction firm and a U.S. federal government contractor. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, URS was a full-service, global organization with office ...
, which was purchased by
AECOM AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm. AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. The company's official name from 1990 t ...
in 2014 that is now one of the largest engineering firms in the world. Following the 2007 takeover of TXU Corp., which included plans to construct two new next generation nuclear power stations at Commanche Peak, the company eventually ran into further financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy in 2014. On February 27, 2018, Energy Futures Holdings (EFH), formerly known as TXU Corp., which was one of Ebasco's pre-1935 subsidiaries came out of bankruptcy reorganization as
TXU Energy TXU Energy is an American retail electricity provider headquartered in Irving, Texas, serving residential and business customers in deregulated regions of Texas since the deregulation of the Texas electricity market in 2002. A subsidiary of Vis ...
. EFH had a subsidiary known as EEC Holdings which owned Ebasco Canada Ltd. that was incorporated in Delaware. Ebasco Canada was shut down on April 29, 2014, as part of the EFH bankruptcy process. According to a 2015 Sun Sentinel news story, Ebasco's American and Foreign Power Company is owned by another company - Office Depot. The article says that when Boise Cascade sold off Ebasco Services to Raytheon, it held onto American & Foreign Power Co.'s foreign investments. Boise Cascade purchased
OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. It is now a subsidiary of The ODP Corporation, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of December 2012, OfficeMax operated 941 stores in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the U ...
and took its name in 2003. According to the article, OfficeMax was then purchased by Office Depot in 2013, and was proposing to merge with Staples in 2015. One of the subsidiaries of American & Foreign Power Co. was the former Cuban Power Co. that has filed a $267.5 million claim against Cuba with the
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States (FCSC) is a quasi-judicial, independent agency within the U.S. Department of Justice which adjudicates claims of U.S. nationals against foreign governments, either under specific jurisdi ...
that still has thousands of investors holding stock in the nationalized company. The Office Depot and Staples merger was abandoned in 2016 after a judge blocked the plan. In 2016, The Indian subsidiary Raytheon Ebasco Overseas Ltd. appeared in an Indian court over Tax problems. Meanwhile, the Dutch registered CT Corporation is listing itself as the agent for Ebasco in 43 states and the District of Columbia. See Boise Cascade v. United States for more background on the activities of Ebasco Industries. In addition, The law firm of Reid and Priest used to be part of the army of lawyers that failed to stop Ebasco from being dismantled. It became part of Reid, Priest and Thelen LLP which also just dissolved. Today there is a company Named Ebasco Trading Co. listed in Dubai. Its unknown what its relationship is to the original company. See Ebasco Services for its whistle-blowing problems. See External links for a list of major legal cases Ebasco has been involved in. Note that this list is no where exhaustive since the company was constantly caught up in legal cases against its own employees, insurance companies and regulatory oversight agencies nationwide. The Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935 was repealed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005


References


External links


Smithsonian Institution: Ferdinand Pecora: The Man Who Busted the ‘Banksters’

Wall Street Under Oath by Ferdinand Pecora

SEC Historical Society: Chasing the Devil Around the Stump: Securities Regulation, the SEC and the Courts

1932 - Franklin Roosevelt's Campaign Speech on Electric Monopolies and Public Ownership

1932-34 - Pecora Hearings: Congressional bank investigation transcripts

1933 - Audio & Transcript: FDR First Inaugural Address - The Money Changers

1933 - Audio & Transcript: FDR Fireside Radio Chat on Banking Crisis
*
1928-35 - Federal Trade Commission: Report to Congress: #92/1-97 Investigation of Utility Companies, Pt. 1-84D - Vol. 8855-8858


*[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SoSc19350328.2.27&srpos=15&e=------193-en--20--1--txt-txIN-national+electric+light+association-ARTICLE------ 1935 FTC Report that NELA and utilities spend $25-30 million a year on advertising and Propaganda Campaign]
1937 - Securities and Exchange Commission v. Electric Bond & Share Co.

1937 - Appeal & Counterclaim: Electric Bond & Share Co v. Securities & Exchange Commission

1938 - Supreme Court Appeal & Counterclaim: EBASCo vs SEC

1943 - American Gas & Electric Co. v. Security and Exchange Commission

1944 - U.S. District Court of Delaware: United Gas Corp.

1945 - American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission

1946 - American Power & Light Co. v. Securities and Exchange Commission



1949 - U.S. Supreme Court - Electric Power & Light Co.

1952 - Kantor v. American & Foreign Power Co.

1953 - U.S. N.Y. District Court - Electric Bond and Share Co.


* ttps://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2612155/ebasco-services-inc-v-arizona-state-tax-comn/ 1969 - Ebasco Services Inc. v. Arizona State Tax Commission
1982 - U.S. v. Tex-la Electric Coop., & Northeast Texas Electric Coop., Shift of authority to DOE


* ttps://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/762559/joseph-j-macktal-jr-v-united-states-department-of-labor/ 1999 - Ebasco Whistleblower case: Joseph J. Macktal Jr. v. United States Department of Labor
1999 - Ebasco Constructors Trademark Expiration




* ttps://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20151014824 2015 - Fenicle v. Boise Cascade Company {{General Electric Electric power monopolies Electric power companies of the United States Nuclear power companies of the United States Holding companies established in 1905 Holding companies of the United States Defunct energy companies of the United States Defunct financial services companies of the United States Holding companies disestablished in 1935 American companies established in 1905 Historical revisionism American companies disestablished in 1935 1905 establishments in New York City 1935 disestablishments in New York (state)