You might also add whomever convinced quite a few private utilities to offer energy conservation programs for their customers. In Boston, for example, compact fluorescents were available at significant savings from utilities in the mid-1990s (before they got cheap everywhere). If you chose to go CFL, great, if not, your choice.

These programs have sometimes been pushed by regulators, but sometimes initiated by utilities themselves when they calculated that paying for end-user efficiency improvements would be cheaper than building new power plants. Do think tanks and advocacy groups who promoted these programs count as "activists"?

For that matter, do tax credits for hybrids count as "massive centralized control"? Weren't there some activists pushing for such credits?

You did say not one, not ever, not even once, after all.