The automatic control of electric power in the United States

In reviewing the state of the automatic control art in a given field of application, it seems appropriate first to take note of progress in the field itself. Changes in process techniques or objectives define new requirements and opportunities for advances in control concepts and equipment. Accordingly, this survey article will endeavor to “close the gap” between theory and practice by doing three things: (1) review in brief the growth and progress of the power industry itself; (2) make some comments on recent significant trends and innovations in its processes insofar as they relate to major areas of automatic control application; (3) discuss the state of the art in these applications.