The Insull Group owned a large proportion of the U.S. electric utility industry in 1932, when the historical document given to us recently by retiring Alliant Energy CEO Pat Kampling was drawn by the Federal Trade Commission. The government was trying to figure out all the utilities that Samuel Insull had a piece of, and how much of a piece he had.
It's going to take a while for the PUF team to chase down the history of the hundreds of utilities in this family tree-like poster. Though we can already see that Insull is in the ancestry of a majority perhaps of today's investor-owned utilities, and apparently a number of today's rural electric cooperatives.
For example, Central & Southwest Utilities, Kentucky Power, Public Service of Oklahoma and Southwestern Gas & Electric were in the Insull Group and all four now part of AEP. Wisconsin Power & Light was as well and is now part of Alliant Energy.
Add in all these utilities. Central Illinois Public Service, now part of Ameren. Central Maine Power, now part of Avangrid. Public Service of Indiana and Florida Power, now part of Duke Energy. Public Service of New Hampshire, now part of Eversource.
Plus, Commonwealth Edison, now part of Exelon. Jersey Central Power & Light, now part of First Energy. Central Vermont Public Service, now part of Gaz Metro. Northern Indiana Public Service, now part of Nisource. Lake Superior District Power, now part of Xcel Energy.
More to come, as our research continues. It's possible your utility was in the Insull Group too.