  An effective field theoretic description of $\nu=1$ bilayer electron systems
stabilized by Coulomb repulsion in a single wide quantum well is examined using
renormalization group techniques. The system is found to undergo a crossover
from a low temperature strongly correlated quantum Hall state to a high
temperature compressible state. This picture is used to account for the recent
experimental observation of an anomalous transition in bilayer electron systems
(T. S. Lay, {\em et al.} Phys. Rev. B {\bf 50}, 17725 (1994)). An estimate for
the crossover temperature is provided, and it is shown that its dependence on
electron density is in reasonable agreement with i the experiment.
