Technological innovation analysis needs case histories of strategically important industries, which are those which stimulate global economic growth and set new standards for judging equipment and introduce new ways of analysing, organising and managing industry. Utilitarian philosophy of technology provides definitions of engineering methods, and uses the concepts of technomorphology to classify the distinct phases in the life cycle of a technology. The econometric theories of Mensch, Kuznets and Schumpeter relate global economic performance to the development of strategic industries during innovative phases separating distinct periods of prosperity, recession, depression and recovery, known as Kondratiev cycles. During the third Kondratieff cycle, 1897–1953, electrotechnology, in general, and the electric power industry, in particular, were of strategic importance. The paper examines the role of the electric power industry in fostering new methods for analysing technological systems and for conducting energy analysis and thermodynamic (second law) analysis. It reviews the role of electricity as the most efficient means of transmitting easily controlled power over long distance. The growth of the grid stimulated improvements to planning theory, and improved network analysis (after Kron), and made extended electrification economically attractive. By the mid-1920s, electrification was recognised as an agent for modernising Britain. There is a great need for Britain to identify the next ‘wave’ of strategic technologies and to divert resources into them.