A History Of Electricity Innovation

Even though the modern electric utility industry didn'tlimited to an area of just a few blocks because of
begin until the late 1800s, we have been fascinatedthe transmission inefficiencies of direct current (DC).
by electricity since our ancestors first witnessedAs electricity spread around the world, Edison's
lightning. The ancient Greeks discovered that rubbingvarious electric companies continued to expand until
amber produced an electric charge. Electricity is athey joined to form Edison General Electric in 1889.
basic part of nature and it is one of our most widelyThree years later Edison General Electric merged with
used forms of energy. It is a secondary energyits leading competitor Thompson-Houston and the
source that we get from the conversion of primarycompany became simply General Electric.
sources such as natural gas, oil, coal and nuclearOne of Thomas Edison's main rivals was George
power. Many cities and towns were built alongsideWestinghouse Jr., a pioneer of the electrical industry.
waterfalls that turned water wheels to performIn 1886 he founded Westinghouse Electric and
work. Before the beginning of the electricityManufacturing Company to pursue the technology of
generation, kerosene lamps lit houses, iceboxes werealternating current (AC). An alternating current power
used to keep food cold, and rooms were warmed bysystem allowed voltages to be "stepped up" by a
stoves. The "necessities" of today such as light bulbs,transformer for distribution, which reduced power
fans, air conditioners and refrigerators stem from thelosses, and then "stepped down" by a transformer
ideas of inventors that lived over 100 years ago.for consumer use. He thought that Edison's power
Many of us are familiar with Benjamin Franklin'snetwork based on low-voltage direct current was
famous kite experiment and Thomas Edison'stoo inefficient to be scaled up to a large size. In 1885
electrical light bulb, but there were many otherWestinghouse purchased power transformers
inventors that contributed greatly to our moderndeveloped by Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs.
uses of electricity. Some of these inventors simplyTransformers were not a new invention, however
sought to improve upon old ideas and others saw athis design was one of the first that was able to
need and let their curiosity run wild with eachhandle large amounts of power, yet was still easily
experiment until they discovered something new.manufactured. Using these transformers and a
Each invention paved the way for the next.Siemens alternating current generator, he began
In the mid-1600s Otto von Guericke, a Germanexperimenting with alternating current networks.
physicist, started experimenting with generatingWestinghouse worked to perfect the transformer
electricity. In 1670 he invented the first machine todesign and build a practical alternating current power
produce electricity in large amounts using a ball ofnetwork with the help of William Stanley and Franklin
sulfur which he rotated and he held his hand againstLeonard Pope. In 1886 Westinghouse and Stanley
the ball, charging it with electricity. Others, such asinstalled the first multiple-voltage alternating current
Isaac Newton, later used this machine using a ball ofpower system. The network was driven by a
glass instead of sulfur, and then later a cylinder, andhydropower generator that produced 500 volts. The
then a glass plate.voltage was stepped up to 3,000 volts for
In 1747 Benjamin Franklin started to experiment withdistribution, and then stepped back down to 100
electricity and proposed the notion of positive andvolts to power electric lights. This device made it
negative charge. He performed his famous kitepossible to spread electric service over a wide area
experiment to prove that lightning was a form ofand allowed for the availability of alternating current
electrical discharge in 1752. During a thunderstorm heat different voltages, forming the basis of modern
flew a kite with a stiff wire pointing up attached toelectrical power distribution. Over the next year 30
the top of the kite and a key tied to the other endmore alternating current lighting systems were
of the string, and let it hang close to a jar. The stringinstalled, but the method was limited because they
became wet from the rain and caused sparks tolacked an efficient metering system and an
jump from the key into the jar until the jar could notalternating current electric motor. In 1888,
handle any more charges. This experiment provedWestinghouse and his engineer Oliver Shallenberger
that electricity and lightning are one in the same andcreated a power meter that would be more
that pointed rods conduct electricity better than balls,effective and the same basic meter technology
leading to Franklin's invention of the lightning rod.remains in use today.
Beginning with this experiment, the principles ofNikola Tesla was one of the most important
electricity gradually became understood.contributors to the birth of commercial electricity. He
In 1800 an Italian professor, Alessandro Volta,was originally an employee of Thomas Edison's and
invented the voltaic pile which is now called an electriche invented a system that transmitted alternating
cell or battery. He made a stack of disks of zinc, acidcurrent, as opposed to Edison's direct current
or salt-soaked paper and copper, and when hesystem. Edison opposed Tesla's idea, so Tesla set up
touched both ends he received a shock. The volt ishis own laboratory and announced his invention of
named after Volta. Another, who in the first half ofthe first practical alternating current induction motor
the 1800s contributed greatly to our modern uses ofand polyphase power transmission system in 1888.
electricity, was Michael Faraday. He performedThe polyphase system would allow transmission of
experiments on electricity and magnetism which ledalternating current electricity over long distances.
to modern inventions such as the motor, generator,Westinghouse asked Nikola Tesla to join his electric
telegraph and telephone. In 1831 he experimentedcompany where Tesla continued his work on the
with induction and discovered a way to generate aalternating current induction motor and Westinghouse
lot of electricity at once. We use his principle ofacquired exclusive rights to Tesla's polyphase system
electromagnetic induction for generating electricitypatent. All of our electric motors today run on
today in electric utility plants.principles set out by Tesla, such as the motor that
In the mid 1800s, the invention of the electric lightproduces high frequency signals that are used in
bulb changed everyone's life. This invention usedradios and TVs. He also set the standard for the
electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes.frequency of the transmission current, 60 hertz,
Thomas Edison, an American inventor, didn't inventwhich we still operate at today.
the light bulb, but improved upon a 50-year-old ideaWestinghouse and Edison feuded over the distribution
and invented an incandescent light bulb. Many peopleof alternating current power and direct current
before him had developed forms of electric lighting,power. Edison used only direct current because he
but none of these were practical for home use. Inthought that alternating current was dangerous, but
1879, after experimenting for a year and a half, heWestinghouse thought the risks could be controlled
used lower current electricity, a filament ofand were outweighed by the advantages. Even
carbonized sewing thread, and an improved vacuumGeneral Electric eventually switched to alternating
inside the globe to produce a practical, electrical lightcurrent. In 1893 the Westinghouse Company won the
bulb. Edison demonstrated his incandescent lightingcontract to set up an alternating current network to
system for the public as he electrically lit the Menlolight the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and
Park laboratory complex. He realized the need for anlater to set up the first long-range power network
electrical distribution system to provide power forusing three giant alternating current generators to
lighting and in 1882 the first central commercialharness the energy of Niagara Falls into electrical
incandescent electric generating station provided lightenergy for distribution 25 miles away.
and electric power to customers in one square mileNow over 100 years later, think about how much we
area in New York City. This was the beginning of theuse and rely on electricity every day to meet what
electric age as the industry was evolving from gaswe consider to be our "basic needs" such as alarm
and electric carbon-arc commercial and street lightingclocks, traffic lights, computers and TVs. When we
systems. By the late 1880s the demand for electricwalk into a dark room and flip the light switch, we
motors brought the industry to 24-hour service andexpect instant light. It's interesting to think this was
the electricity demand for transportation and industryonce only a daydream and it took many inventors to
needs was dramatically increased. Many U.S. citiesmake it a reality.
now had small central stations, however each was