Simmons Bank Tower is a 40-story skyscraper located at 425 West Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas . At 547 feet (167 m) high, it is the tallest building in Arkansas .
71-404: The new tower was born out of discussions between two ascending business executives, John Flake, a Little Rock real estate developer, and Jerry Maulden, president of Arkansas Power & Light (now Entergy ). Construction began in 1984 on the $ 72 million building, and in 1986 the building was completed and dubbed The Capitol Tower. Currently, the namesake tenant, Simmons Bank , is headquartered in
142-485: A 114,000-square-mile (300,000 km ) area. Entergy is the only U.S. utility to make the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) nine years in a row. The DJSI is a listing of the companies whose overall environmental, social and economic sustainability performance scores were in the top 10 percent for their sector. Entergy was named in 2008 to Forbes list of America's Most Trustworthy Companies ,
213-480: A detailed investigation of the industry's finances and propaganda war waged against publicly owned utilities. That seven-year investigation took on special meaning following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 as the early phase of the investigation showed large scale corruption hidden within the six to ten layered pyramid holding company structures that concentrated financial power in the hands of a few. In June 1932,
284-589: A ranking based on corporate governance practices and accounting transparency. On February 24, 2010, the Vermont Senate voted to prevent the Vermont Public Service Board from issuing the necessary certificate that would allow for the Vermont Yankee plant to have its license renewed for another 20 years. The vote will not affect current operation of the plant, and the issue could be revisited by
355-453: A single state , thus subjecting them to effective state regulation. It also broke up any holding companies with more than two tiers, forcing divestitures so that each became a single integrated system serving a limited geographic area. Another purpose of the PUHCA was to keep utility holding companies engaged in regulated businesses from also engaging in unregulated businesses. The act was based on
426-646: A total of six nuclear units , and provided support services to one: The company's nuclear division is headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi . Entergy operates more than 40 plants using natural gas , nuclear , coal , oil and hydroelectric power with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity to serve its 2.9 million customers in the Gulf South . Its extensive transmission system carries approximately 30,000 megawatts of power across more than 15,700 miles (25,300 km) of interconnected lines within
497-599: Is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States after Exelon Corporation . It had annual revenues of more than $ 11 billion in 2010 and approximately 15,000 employees. Entergy's main operating segments consist of the U.S. utility segment and the non-utility nuclear segment. The U.S. utility segment provides retail electricity services to approximately 2.9 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The non-utility nuclear segment owns and operates
568-460: The Electric Bond and Share Company (EBASCO, a subsidiary of General Electric ) under Sidney Z. Mitchell merged several competing streetcar and electric utilities into New Orleans Public Service . Mitchell began turning his attention to other territories, and eventually began competing with Couch. The two men ultimately decided to merge their resources. In 1925, Electric Power and Light Corporation
639-510: The Electric Bond and Share Company , which finally completed its breakup in 1961. On August 26, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill into law. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 repealed the PUHCA. The passage of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act was the climax to the thirty-year nationwide fight between public vs. private development of electricity in the United States. Other societal issues like
710-580: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law, repealing PUHCA. The repeal became effective on February 8, 2006. It was replaced by a set of laws called the "Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005", which gave the FERC a limited role in allocating the costs of multi-state electric utility holding companies to individual operating subsidiaries. There were consumer, environmental, union and credit rating agency objections to
781-577: The Tennessee Valley Authority , Bonneville Power Administration and California's Central Valley Project . These were all massive, federally funded water and power projects that put tens of thousands of people to work. The most important of these projects was the Rural Electrification Administration that finally brought electricity to rural America which was shunned by the country's urban-based electric industry as there
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#1732858609115852-413: The 48 state commissions openly sided with the electric industry during public hearings on the bill. In other words, the investigation documented that the electric industry had set up a personal relationship with the owners and editorial boards of the news industry and so were given tens of thousands of free editorial pieces monthly. In many cases, the industry's own press services distributed content, which
923-588: The Associated Press released a detailed story about Roosevelt's National Power Policy Committee (NPPC). Roosevelt set up the NPPC on July 29, 1934, to review and report on the FTC's massive electric industry investigation. Roosevelt picked Securities and Exchange Commissioner and former judge Robert E. Healy , who had also been in charge of the FTC's electric investigation, to lead the NPPC review. The article disclosed all of
994-675: The District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Electric Bond and Share Company and fourteen other holding companies. All other lawsuits against the SEC were dismissed except for one which was decided in favor of the SEC – in the case of Public Utility Investing Corporation. v. Utilities Power and Light Corporation. (82 F. 2d. 21, C. C. A., 4th, 1936) where the court found the act of registering did not do any irreparable damage to
1065-575: The Entergy network; until 2012, it was based on where the former Gulf States Utilities was in Beaumont. Entergy Texas has since moved its operations to The Woodlands. In May of 2018, Entergy New Orleans was embroiled in a scandal surrounding its controversial proposal for a natural gas power plant in East New Orleans. An Entergy subcontractor used Crowds on Demand to artificially lobby council support for
1136-457: The FTC released segment 73A of the 94 volume investigation to the US Senate, covering its financial recommendations on electric holding companies, the massive Associated Gas & Electric (AG&E) holding company placed its first large attack advertisement in major newspapers. The FTC on January 28 released a 200-page report that called for the elimination of "evil practices and conditions" in
1207-632: The Federal Power Commission was replaced by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)). As a result, when a state utility commission regulated a utility in a particular state, the rate payers of that state would pay only the share of any common service company expenses associated with that state's electric company allocated to it under SEC-approved formulas to prevent a holding company from double recovery of its expenses when it operates in more than one state. Because
1278-574: The House investigating committee located Hopson first and then used its subpoena to protect him from the Senate investigation but let Hopson promote the industry side. It was later disclosed that Representative Conner's brother had been given $ 25,000 by the industry, and the other members of the committee were eventually able to block the chair's attempt to protect Hopson by putting him under house arrest and then immediately releasing him, which would have by law blocked
1349-415: The House of Representatives pulled the dreaded Section 2 of the house bill. The campaign rhetoric against the law became so extreme that lobbyists were even claiming that Roosevelt was planning on taking over the industry. Even bringing in opposition to the bill from the country's public utility commissioners, but there was a mistake: just a couple of towns in the country show up as the source for almost all of
1420-608: The Middle West Utility empire, one of the largest electric holding companies operating in 39 U.S. states went bankrupt, destroying the life savings of hundreds of thousands of small investors across the east and mid-west. New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt , who was a public power supporter campaigned on the issue of reforming the electric industry and won election as the country's 32nd president. His initial years in office included large public works projects such as
1491-432: The SEC strictly enforced the divestiture provision of PUHCA in its proceedings and ordered divestiture of all corporate holdings except for a single integrated electric system, the affected holding companies filed voluntary divesture plans. As a result, by 1948, holding companies had voluntarily divested themselves of assets worth approximately $ 12 billion and the number of subsidiaries controlled by affected holding companies
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#17328586091151562-430: The SEC's 1936 annual report, the agency adopted 7 new rules and 11 forms that electric companies were required to fill out when registering as all were required to do by December 31, 1935. By this June 1936, only 65 companies had registered while an additional 375 had requested exemptions. By December 7, 1935, forty-five lawsuits on behalf of more than 100 companies had been filed in 13 different U.S. District Courts across
1633-603: The SEC, which would then conduct administrative proceedings to limit each holding company to ownership of a single integrated electric system (with certain exceptions) through the divestiture of the securities of other public utility and unrelated companies. The Act also authorized the SEC to flatten the corporate structure of utilities to remove unnecessary corporate layers. Individual operating utility companies could centralize certain business operations into central Service Companies, but all Service Companies would be subject to SEC and Federal Power Commission regulation. (In 1977,
1704-452: The Senate from getting him. The scandal gave Roosevelt and other supporters of the bill the power to sway the House back into a revote, which finally passed by a vote of 222–112 on August 24. Hopson was eventually convicted of stealing $ 20 million from Associated Gas & Electric ratepayers. The so-called "Death Sentence" clause survived – the most expensive lobbying campaigns of the 20th century had failed. Talk of legal challenges were in
1775-559: The Southern Group and the Electric Bond and Share Company were all financed by Morgan Stanley, with Wall Street having financial influence over nearly 80% of the country's electric industry. The Act required the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a holding company engaging in a non-utility business and such businesses to be kept separate from the utility's regulated business. Holding companies were required to register with
1846-524: The administration's legislative plan two months before the NPPC or the FTC had released their reports or recommendations on the electric industry. On January 4, 1935, Roosevelt announced his plan to regulate the electric industry in his Second State of the Union Address . The FTC's investigation was still a year from being completed, with ongoing financial studies and work on the natural gas industry still incomplete. However, on January 25, three days before
1917-491: The bitterest legislative fights in history. Senator Wheeler's version of the legislation was submitted to the Senate's Interstate Commerce Committee, which held public hearings were held, and amendments were voted on and passed by a vote of 14–2 on May 13. The bill passed the full Senate by a vote of 56 to 32 on June 11. However, Representative Rayburn faced a full-scale war. Representatives were being blasted by millions of letters and hundreds of thousands of telegrams demanding
1988-554: The city of New Orleans in August 2005, Entergy temporarily relocated the 1,500 employees and contractors who worked at the headquarters to other cities, including Clinton, Mississippi , Little Rock, Arkansas , and The Woodlands, Texas . In April 2006, the company began moving back into its New Orleans headquarters. In 2011, Entergy and Coulomb Technologies , an electric vehicle charging station maker, began to donate free electric vehicle charging stations at 16 sites at college campuses in
2059-518: The company. On March 28, 1938, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the SEC and the Public Utilities Act of 1935, giving it full authority to enforce the Act. Within 3 months 142 holding companies had registered with the SEC that made up 51 separate public utility systems, comprising 524 individual holding and 1,524 sub-holding and operating companies. An example of the dramatic impacts the law had
2130-577: The conclusions and recommendations of the 1928-35 Federal Trade Commission investigation of the electric industry. On March 12, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt released a report he commissioned by the National Power Policy Committee . This report became the template for the PUHCA. The political battle over its passage was one of the bitterest of the New Deal , and was followed by eleven years of legal appeals by holding companies led by
2201-579: The control of a new holding company, Middle South Utilities. It changed its name to Entergy in 1989, and merged/bought Gulf States Utilities, based in Beaumont, Texas , as of 12:00 midnight, January 1, 1994. In the late 1990s, Entergy pursued a strategy of global expansion into unregulated markets, acquiring substantial facilities in Australia, Argentina, and the United Kingdom. Shareholder dissatisfaction with
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2272-416: The country's electric industry successfully enlisted the support of the press across the country with its strategy of dangling advertising dollars and submitted vast quantities of anonymous materials to it for publication. The country's mostly conservative press had become allies with the industry in its goal to stigmatize the municipal ownership community as un-American. Going back to the 1907-13 period when
2343-477: The country. On this same day, the U.S. Attorney General and the SEC's General Counsel made a motion before the U.S. Supreme Court to stay all of the above lawsuits until the Supreme Court could determine the validity of PUHCA with the case Securities and Exchange Commission v, Electric Bond and Share Company. On November 26, 1935, the SEC, pursuant to its express authority under Section 18 of the Act, brought suit in
2414-414: The defeat of the legislation, and the industry lined up allies that produced many expert witnesses during hearings. At the same time, an army of unregistered lobbyists stormed the doors of representatives as the country's print media was bombarded with major ads and editorials opposing the legislation. On July 2, newspaper headlines across the country blared that Roosevelt and his "Death Clause" had lost as
2485-587: The divestiture was the General Motors nationwide streetcar dismantlement . Through the years, the utility industry and would-be owners of utilities lobbied Congress heavily to repeal PUHCA, claiming that it was outdated. For example, in 1989, Standley H. Hoch, CEO of General Public Utilities (GPU) had two mandates as leader: trim management and lower costs, and fight to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. On August 8, 2005,
2556-524: The electric utilities were regulated. By investing directly in transit firms, the electric companies were " cash cows " even in the Great Depression and were able to increase the basis of their limited return on investment. The result of the provision was the divestiture of utility-owned electric streetcar companies, which were then acquired by various parties and very often dismantled to be replaced by buses or trackless trolleys . The largest fallout of
2627-484: The ensuing Great Depression . By 1932, eight of the largest utility holding companies controlled 73 percent of the investor-owned electric industry. Their complex, highly leveraged , corporate structures were very difficult for individual states to regulate. The New Deal 's agenda would face its biggest legislative fight over the passage of the PUHCA. Since March 1928, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
2698-425: The entire country shifted from municipal to state regulation of the electric industry with the creation of state agencies known as Public utilities commissions , this shift that favored private companies should have been framed as a regressive shift in favor of the "power trust" as big electric companies were commonly referred to or "city vs. state" power politics. However, that was not how the conservative press framed
2769-540: The fake telegrams, which had been partially burned. Other major issues from claims by senators that their phones had been wired tapped by electric companies, the FTC's report of extensive tax evasion even to bribery surfaced during the Black Committee lobbying investigation. The Black Committee's aggressive use of tactics often used against less powerful citizens is still used as an historic example by conservatives of government abuse. In an even more dramatic fashion,
2840-539: The formation of Arkansas Power Company. Founder Harvey C. Couch used sawdust from a lumber company to bring electricity to rural Arkansas. In the 1920s, Couch set his sights on buying electric companies in other states. In 1923, he merged four independent companies in Mississippi into Mississippi Power and Light. Two years later, he formed Louisiana Power and Light to provide power to his Mississippi customers from northern Louisiana's natural gas fields. Meanwhile, in 1922,
2911-537: The gas plant. The New Orleans City Council ended up fining Entergy New Orleans $ 5 million for this paid actors scandal. 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 limited holding company operations to
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2982-871: The ground floor. 34°44′38″N 92°16′32″W / 34.74389°N 92.27556°W / 34.74389; -92.27556 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 generates and distributes electric power to 3 million customers in Arkansas , Louisiana , Mississippi and Texas . Entergy has annual revenues of $ 11 billion and employs more than 13,000 people. Entergy traces its history to November 13, 1913, with
3053-480: The industry that its investigation had uncovered. In its November 1934 summary, the FTC documented the "propaganda" war waged against the public power movement dating back at least to 1919. In fact, the industry's own annual proceedings clearly document that its campaign against public power had been active since the 1890s. In 1906, the National Electric Light Association's "co-operation" campaign
3124-592: The legislation. AG&E was found to be behind an estimated 250,000 fake telegrams that impersonated citizens who had no knowledge that their names had been attached to telegrams. Hearings documented the destruction of electric companies data in a desperate attempt to cover up the fake movement's millions of letters and telegrams in which even the Western Union offices that had launched the tens of thousands of telegrams accidentally had its records deleted against company policy. Western Union eventually tracked down 97,000 of
3195-535: The legislature in either a special session later in 2010 or in its next regular session in 2011. Entergy Texas operates as a wholly owned subsidiary. This was done to prepare the Texas side for de-regulation under Texas law, but Entergy later notified the Public Utility Commission of Texas that it would not split off the Texas side as a de-regulated operation. Because of this, the Texas side remains connected to
3266-597: The local and national newspapers then reprinted without acknowledging the source. The same relationship with the press would then be used to frame the battle to stop the bill by terrifying the country's small investors with their "death sentence" clause, which the press repeated from then onward. On February 6, 1935, 9 days after the Federal Trade Commission released its conclusions and recommendations from its six-year probe, Senator Wheeler (SB 1725) and Rep. Rayburn (HR 5423) introduced legislation that became one of
3337-618: The manipulation of the nation's textbook and radio industries. For example, MH Aylesworth, the first president of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was also the executive director of the National Electric Light Association from 1921 to 1926. It was General Electric that founded the Radio Corporation of America , which purchased the country's first radio network from AT&T and became NBC in 1926. The FTC investigation produced thousands of pages of testimony on how
3408-702: The news the day congress passed the Wheeler-Rayburn legislation. On September 24, the Edison Electric Institute went into court challenging PUHCA's constitutionality. According to the Associated Press, on October 2 The Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint charging the National Electrical Manufacturers Association of New York and 16 member manufacturers with “unlawful combination, conspiracy and agreement to restrain competition.” The same day, another suit against PUHCA
3479-400: The one hand while promoting the rapid consolidation of the private sector into a few giant multi-tiered holding companies. The nearly 2,000 cities that had public systems, led by Nebraska Senator George W. Norris , Montana Senator Thomas J. Walsh and Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot were able to pass the 1928 Senate Resolution 83 which directed the Federal Trade Commission to conduct
3550-446: The postal service, public roads, schools, social security, national health insurance, and public ownership of electric generation were part of a global phenomenon with most of Europe and regions of the United States in support of mixed economies . The National Electric Light Association and its member companies organized the largest U.S. Public Relations campaign of the 1920s. The campaign had two goals: to stigmatize public ownership on
3621-499: The remainder of the transmission organization , which reduces flow of cheaper electricity into the area. With a integrated power utility business model, Entergy makes money by constructing power plants, reducing the company's incentive to build transmission connecting it to other regions. Experts state these capacity contraints result in higher profits for the company at the expense of customers and lower reliability, such as rolling blackouts during Winter Storm Uri in 2021. Prior to
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#17328586091153692-496: The results of this strategy led to a shakeup of management, culminating with the ouster of longtime CEO Ed Lupberger in 1998. Lupberger was replaced by Wayne Leonard, formerly of Cinergy , who supervised the company's disinvestment from overseas holdings. Since its inception, Entergy has been headquartered in New Orleans. That city had also been home to Entergy's various corporate predecessors since 1925. After Hurricane Katrina hit
3763-516: The roof that are used for radio and cell phone communication as well as by local network affiliates. Timothy McVeigh scouted out the building as a possible bombing location prior to bombing the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. He said in his authorized biography that he wanted to minimize non-governmental casualties, and decided against bombing the building after spotting a florist's shop on
3834-401: The sides of the tower along with LED lights that can be programmed to any color and are used to commemorate national holidays. Simmons Bank purchased Metropolitan National Bank in 2014 and renamed the tower. The building has a 952-car parking garage across the street with a connecting skywalk to the tower lobby. Simmons Tower has 17 elevators and is equipped with antennas and satellite dishes on
3905-551: The southeast corner of Louisiana and the cities of Lafayette and Baton Rouge, the eastern three-fourths of Arkansas and the western half of Mississippi . It also includes part of southeastern Texas , including the Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange and Conroe-Woodlands-Kingwood areas. A member of the Fortune 500 , Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it
3976-645: The southern U.S. Its first installation was at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge , and is free to use for faculty and students. In 2013, Entergy joined the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) as is southern region following an Department of Justice investigation into the company's anti-competitive behavior. By joining MISO rather than the Southwest Power Pool , Entergy's service areas have limited interconnection to
4047-424: The struggle or what its advertising client the electric industry wanted. The shift from municipal to state regulatory oversight also represents one of the largest examples of regulatory capture known as the complexity of the electricity industry combined with the model laws passed between 1907 and 1913 resulted in commissions made up almost entirely of former industry professionals. That bias became evident when 46 of
4118-511: The tallest building in Arkansas, taking the record by 92 feet (28 m) from its neighbor the Regions Center (formerly First National Bank Building) located across the street. The tower has held this record ever since. Little Rock–founded international frozen yogurt chain TCBY moved into the tower and gained naming rights in 1991 and the building became known as TCBY Tower. TCBY would later move out of
4189-403: The telegrams sent to Congress. The same day that the clause was pulled, the Senate organized a new committee to look into the lobbying. Alabama Senator Hugo Black was placed in charge of the investigating committee, and the House also opened a special committee, which was led by an industry supporter who used his time to attack the president. The Black Committee quickly got to the bottom of what
4260-413: The tower after the company was sold in 2000, leaving the three floors they occupied vacant. The name was changed again in August 2004 when Metropolitan National Bank bought naming rights to the tower and moved its headquarters in the building, and it was renamed Metropolitan Tower. Metropolitan Bank added exterior lighting to the facade of the tower in 2005 which includes 400-watt flood lights that illuminate
4331-563: The tower with presence in various markets of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee . Kelley Commercial Partners, the current name of the development firm of the tower, performs the management and leasing of the tower, and the Doyle Rogers Company is the special asset manager. The building was renamed Simmons Tower in April 2014. Once construction finished in 1986, the building was opened and named Capitol Tower. Upon completion it became
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#17328586091154402-486: The use of the current Entergy logo, each subsidiary had its own distinctive logo. Upon the renaming of the company from Middle South Utilities System to Entergy, the present logo was adopted. Louisiana Power and Light Company, for example (today's Entergy Louisiana) used the logo shown at right extensively from about 1967 to 1989, on buildings equipment, and advertising. Each of Middle South Utilities' subsidiaries used similar-styled logos Entergy's service territory includes
4473-492: Was a fake nationwide campaign orchestrated by the electric industry to make it look like there was real public opposition to the legislation. On August 8, Black went on nationwide radio prime time to describe the $ 5 million (now the equivalent of $ 93 million) war mounted against the legislation. He also pointed the finger at the head of AG&E, Howard C. Hopson , who was subpoenaed by the committee but had yet to be found. His nearly-bankrupt company had spent over $ 700,000 opposing
4544-482: Was documented with the Columbia Gas & Electric Corporation case where the capital represented by the common stock was reduced from $ 194,349,005.62 to $ 12,304,282.00 a total of $ 182,044,723.62 by the elimination of the corrupting holding company structures. In 1940, congressional investigations of brokerage firms, insurance companies and their relationship to the electric industry exposed that Middle South Utilities,
4615-461: Was established in part to monitor and counter the nationwide public ownership movement. An integral part of the industry's co-operation campaign was its friendly public relations strategy with the nation's press. The result was that the FTC investigation did not appear to be newsworthy. The FTC exposed the industry's nationwide propaganda campaign in the industry's own words to censor any negative coverage or history related to its activities, including
4686-619: Was filed in United States District Court of Maryland for trustees of the American States Public Service Co. With the President Roosevelt signing Wheeler-Rayburn bill into law on August 26, 1935, the Securities and Exchange Commission began the process of preparing for carrying out the two main parts (Title I & II) of the law now called the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935. As stated in
4757-689: Was formed, an EBASCO subsidiary headquartered in New Orleans, with Couch as its president. It was the parent company for Mississippi Power and Light, Louisiana Power and Light, New Orleans Public Service, and Arkansas Power and Light. EBASCO fought the constitutionality of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 , losing a Supreme Court case in 1938 , and was ordered dissolved under the provisions of that act in 1949. Mississippi Power and Light, Louisiana Power and Light, New Orleans Public Service and Arkansas Power and Light were deemed to be an integrated system, and were reorganized under
4828-433: Was made up of federal agencies, led by Robert E. Healy who oversaw the 1928-35 Federal Trade Commission 's 63,000-page electric investigation . On February 6, 1935, the Wheeler-Rayburn bill was introduced by Senator Wheeler (S 1725) and Representative Rayburn (HR 5423). It was one of several New Deal trust-busting and securities regulation initiatives that were enacted following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and
4899-400: Was no profit to be made. As the Federal Trade Commission's seven-year investigation was starting to wind up, Roosevelt formed the National Power Policy Committee (NPPC) to make sense of the investigation and its recommendations. The PUHCA was originally requested by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his Second State of the Union Address and was based on the work done by the NPPC. The committee
4970-587: Was reduced from 1,983 to 303. An important provision prohibited sales of goods or services between holding company affiliates at a profit. These rules prevented the utilities from increasing their cost-based regulated rates by artificially marking up the prices paid by the utility operating companies above what the central purchasing affiliate paid. One noticeable impact of this provision was on electric streetcars . Most electric streetcar companies were private companies, owned by electric utility holding companies. The streetcar companies were generally unregulated while
5041-488: Was releasing monthly reports to the Senate on its investigation of the electric industry. On November 15, 1934, the FTC released segment 71A of its 94-volume investigation that summarized the decades-old "propaganda" war against the general public and supporters of municipal ownership of electric facilities. There was little coverage of the FTC's ongoing public hearings or monthly reports by the country's conservative news media, but that would soon change. On November 20, 1934,
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