Even though the modern electric utility industry didn't begin until the late 1800s, we have been fascinated by electricity since our

1. Electricity Innovations
Even though the modern electric utility industry didn't begin until the late 1800s, we have been fascinated
by electricity since our ancestors first witnessed lightning. The ancient Greeks discovered that rubbing
amber produced an electric charge. Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely
used forms of energy. It is a secondary energy source that we get from the conversion of primary sources
such as natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear power. Many cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls
that turned water wheels to perform work. Before the beginning of the electricity generation, kerosene
lamps lit houses, iceboxes were used to keep food cold, and rooms were warmed by stoves. The
"necessities" of today such as light bulbs, fans, air conditioners and refrigerators stem from the ideas of
inventors that lived over 100 years ago. Many of us are familiar with Benjamin Franklin's famous kite
experiment and Thomas Edison's electrical light bulb, but there were many other inventors that
contributed greatly to our modern uses of electricity. Some of these inventors simply sought to improve
upon old ideas and others saw a need and let their curiosity run wild with each experiment until they
discovered something new. Each invention paved the way for the next. Visit us now
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In the mid-1600s Otto von Guericke, a German physicist, started experimenting with generating
electricity. In 1670 he invented the first machine to produce electricity in large amounts using a ball of
sulfur which he rotated and he held his hand against the ball, charging it with electricity. Others, such as
Isaac Newton, later used this machine using a ball of glass instead of sulfur, and then later a cylinder, and
then a glass plate.
In 1747 Benjamin Franklin started to experiment with electricity and proposed the notion of positive and
negative charge. He performed his famous kite experiment to prove that lightning was a form of electrical
discharge in 1752. During a thunderstorm he flew a kite with a stiff wire pointing up attached to the top
of the kite and a key tied to the other end of the string, and let it hang close to a jar. The string became
wet from the rain and caused sparks to jump from the key into the jar until the jar could not handle any
more charges. This experiment proved that electricity and lightning are one in the same and that pointed
rods conduct electricity better than balls, leading to Franklin's invention of the lightning rod. Beginning
with this experiment, the principles of electricity gradually became understood.
In 1800 an Italian professor, Alessandro Volta, invented the voltaic pile which is now called an electric cell
or battery. He made a stack of disks of zinc, acid or salt-soaked paper and copper, and when he touched

2. both ends he received a shock. The volt is named after Volta. Another, who in the first half of the 1800s
contributed greatly to our modern uses of electricity, was Michael Faraday. He performed experiments
on electricity and magnetism which led to modern inventions such as the motor, generator, telegraph and
telephone. In 1831 he experimented with induction and discovered a way to generate a lot of electricity
at once. We use his principle of electromagnetic induction for generating electricity today in electric utility
plants.
In the mid 1800s, the invention of the electric light bulb changed everyone's life. This invention used
electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes. Thomas Edison, an American inventor, didn't invent the
light bulb, but improved upon a 50-year-old idea and invented an incandescent light bulb. Many people
before him had developed forms of electric lighting, but none of these were practical for home use. In
1879, after experimenting for a year and a half, he used lower current electricity, a filament of carbonized
sewing thread, and an improved vacuum inside the globe to produce a practical, electrical light bulb.
Edison demonstrated his incandescent lighting system for the public as he electrically lit the Menlo Park
laboratory complex. He realized the need for an electrical distribution system to provide power for lighting
and in 1882 the first central commercial incandescent electric generating station provided light and
electric power to customers in one square mile area in New York City. This was the beginning of the electric
age as the industry was evolving from gas and electric carbon-arc commercial and street lighting systems.
By the late 1880s the demand for electric motors brought the industry to 24-hour service and the
electricity demand for transportation and industry needs was dramatically increased. Many U.S. cities now
had small central stations, however each was limited to an area of just a few blocks because of the
transmission inefficiencies of direct current (DC). As electricity spread around the world, Edison's various
electric companies continued to expand until they joined to form Edison General Electric in 1889. Three
years later Edison General Electric merged with its leading competitor Thompson-Houston and the
company became simply General Electric.
One of Thomas Edison's main rivals was George Westinghouse Jr., a pioneer of the electrical industry. In
1886 he founded Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company to pursue the technology of
alternating current (AC). An alternating current power system allowed voltages to be "stepped up" by a
transformer for distribution, which reduced power losses, and then "stepped down" by a transformer for
consumer use. He thought that Edison's power network based on low-voltage direct current was too
inefficient to be scaled up to a large size. In 1885 Westinghouse purchased power transformers developed
by Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs. Transformers were not a new invention, however this design

3. was one of the first that was able to handle large amounts of power, yet was still easily manufactured.
Using these transformers and a Siemens alternating current generator, he began experimenting with
alternating current networks. Westinghouse worked to perfect the transformer design and build a
practical alternating current power network with the help of William Stanley and Franklin Leonard Pope.
In 1886 Westinghouse and Stanley installed the first multiple-voltage alternating current power system.
The network was driven by a hydropower generator that produced 500 volts. The voltage was stepped up
to 3,000 volts for distribution, and then stepped back down to 100 volts to power electric lights. This
device made it possible to spread electric service over a wide area and allowed for the availability of
alternating current at different voltages, forming the basis of modern electrical power distribution. Over
the next year 30 more alternating current lighting systems were installed, but the method was limited
because they lacked an efficient metering system and an alternating current electric motor. In 1888,
Westinghouse and his engineer Oliver Shallenberger created a power meter that would be more effective
and the same basic meter technology remains in use today.
Nikola Tesla was one of the most important contributors to the birth of commercial electricity. He was
originally an employee of Thomas Edison's and he invented a system that transmitted alternating current,
as opposed to Edison's direct current system. Edison opposed Tesla's idea, so Tesla set up his own
laboratory and announced his invention of the first practical alternating current induction motor and
polyphase power transmission system in 1888. The polyphase system would allow transmission of
alternating current electricity over long distances. Westinghouse asked Nikola Tesla to join his electric
company where Tesla continued his work on the alternating current induction motor and Westinghouse
acquired exclusive rights to Tesla's polyphase system patent. All of our electric motors today run on
principles set out by Tesla, such as the motor that produces high frequency signals that are used in radios
and TVs. He also set the standard for the frequency of the transmission current, 60 hertz, which we still
operate at today.