Electricity
101
Electricity is energy that comes
from the charges and force between protons (positive
charges) and electrons (negative charges). All matter
is made from tiny particles called atoms, which contain
negative charges and positive charges. When an atom
has an unequal number of electrons and protons, an
electric charge occurs. A flowing electric charge
makes an electric current. You use this current every
time you flip the light switch, listen to your radio,
watch television, play a computer game or plug anything
into a socket and turn it on.
Electricity is made, or generated, at power
plants. Generation is the act or process
of producing electricity from other forms of energy
– such as steam, heat or falling water. The term
also refers to the amount of electric energy produced.
Generation facilities are the first link in the
chain for providing electricity to customers. There
are currently about 3,200 electric utilities throughout
the United States, but only about 700 of them operate
facilities that generate electric power. Once electricity
is generated, it needs to be transported.
Electricity transmission is
the process of carrying high voltages of electricity
from generation facilities over long distances
– it is the movement of electrical energy through
wires. Transmission lines and other facilities
are necessary to move electricity from power plants
to the thousands of distribution systems that serve
consumers across the country. An extensive system
of high-voltage transmission lines is operated
by the nation's larger utilities.
In the Northwest, most power is generated at sites
dictated by the course of the Columbia River and
its tributaries, and many of these sites are far
from the region’s cities. Faced with the need to
transmit power long distances, the Northwest pioneered
the use of high-voltage transmission lines. The first
long-distance transmission of electricity in the
United States took place in Oregon in June 1889,
when power from the Willamette Falls Electric Company
dam at Oregon City was transmitted 14 miles to Portland.
Electricity distribution is
the process of carrying
electricity from transmission
substations to homes and
businesses. After electricity
is generated, it is sent
to customers over a high-voltage
electric transmission line.
The voltage is high so
generators can send power
over long distances. Before
the electricity reaches
homes and businesses, however,
the voltage is reduced
by transformers – first
at a substation and then
again much closer to where
it will be used.
Public Power as opposed to Private Power:
|
