Electricity

Electricity is a naturally occurring force that exists all around us. Ancient man believed that electricity was some form of magic because they did not understand it. The first references to static electricity took place 2,500 years ago.  Modern understanding of electrical power is largely believed to have begun with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia.  In 1879, Thomas Edison helped change everyone's life with the invention of the first electric light bulb.

Electricity is an integral part of life as we know it today. It is indispensable to factories, commercial establishments and homes.  Lack of electricity causes not only inconvenience, but also potential economic loss due to reduced productivity.  Its application spans across a range of activities in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.  Cooking appliances, public street lighting, construction and public institutions are only a few of today's functions and activities which depend on electricity.

Today, our ability to generate electricity through different fuels and methods ensures that as demands on our national grids increase due to growing populations and thriving economies, we are able to cope.  Coal, petroleum, gas and nuclear power and hydroelectric power are the principal methods of electricity production.  Hydroelectric plants operate where suitable waterways are available.  Generating electricity using water has several advantages.

The major advantage is that water, a renewable resource, is a source of cheap power. In addition, because there is no fuel combustion, there is little air pollution in comparison with fossil fuel plants and limited thermal pollution compared with nuclear plants.  Other renewable resources- geothermal, wood, waste, wind, and solar energy sources are constantly replenished.  Currently, renewable resources (other than water) supply less than 1 percent of the electricity generated by electricity utilities. Most of the electricity produced from this category is from geothermal power.