This viewpoint was shared the
capitalists running the electrical utility industry.V-13
his friend and financier, Henry Villard, that was "not worth
the attention practical men"— meaning that had no
commercial potential.
. His evaluation all
electrical systems was based primarily commercial
considerations— the best designed central station system was
the one that returned the highest profits the smallest
. 29
possible investment. Edison believed that the large scale
of alternating current systems would cost too much money to
construct and that interest charges the investment would
eliminate any operating profit
