Abstract
Presents the history of Panhandle Eastern Corporation, which spans the entire scope of the modern natural gas industry, and provides a perspective on the evolution of U.S. federal regulatory policy in the twentieth century. Based on information gathered from the company's corporate records, government documents, newspaper articles, and employee interviews. Organizes the history into three significant eras: the era when the foundations of the new gas-pipeline industry were laid, characterized by intense business development and competition with minimal regulation or antitrust activity; the era of the regulated merchant function--buying and selling gas--in which pipelines enjoyed a long period of expansion in spite of the increasingly complex regulations imposed on the firms; and the era characterized by regulatory failure, regulatory change, and a decisive reorganization of the industry as the market for corporate control developed in America and abroad. Castaneda is Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Sacramento. Smith is with First Bank Corporation in Minneapolis. Index.