This is an excellent, broad overview of the US electric industry for readers who have little or no prior experience. It is actually a very fun book to read, either skipping among topics, or from cover to cover.

On one page, you will be reading about how a combined-cycle power plant works. On an other is a sketch explaining all the hardware you see on top of the utility pole outside your house. A few pages later, there are biographies of early pioneers, including Edison. There is information on the history, structure and regulation of the power industry. An entire chapter looks at environmental issues.

The author is a journalist who has covered the industry for many years. This means she is knowledgeable and a great writer. If I have a criticism of the book, it is its brevity. Over, a third of its 294 pages are devoted to appendices. These include an excellent glossary, but this leaves only 182 pages for the actual text. Given the book's breadth, there just isn't space for a whole lot of depth. Topics are touched on, not delved into.