600 B.C.-Thales of Miletus writes about amber becoming charged by rubbing - he was describing what we now call static electricity.
1600-English scientist, William Gilbert first coined the term "electricity" from the Greek word for amber. Gilbert wrote about the electrification of many substances in his "De magnete, magneticisique corporibus". He also first used the terms electricforce, magnetic pole, and electric attraction.
1660-Otto von Guericke invented a machine that produced static electricity.
1675-Robert Boyle discovered that electric force could be transmitted through a vacuum and observed attraction and repulsion.
1729-Stephen Gray's discovery of the conduction of electricity.
1733-Charles Francois du Fay discovered that electricity comes in two forms which he called resinous(-)and vitreous(+). Benjamin Franklin and Ebenezer Kinnersley later renamed the two forms as positive and negative.
1745-Georg Von Kleist discovered that electricity was controllable. Dutch physicist, Pieter van Musschenbroek invented the "Leyden Jar" the first electrical capacitor. Leyden jars store static electricity.
1747-Benjamin Franklin experiments with static charges in the air and theorized about the existence of an electrical fluid that could be composed of particles. William Watson discharged a Leyden jar through a circuit, that began the comprehension of current and circuit. Henry Cavendish started measuring the conductivity of different materials.
1786-Italian physician, Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses when he made frog muscles twitch by jolting them with a spark from an electrostatic machine.
1800-First electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta. Volta proved that electricity could travel over wires.
1816-First energy utility in US founded.
1820-Relationship of electricity and magnetism confirmed by Hans Christian Oersted who observed that electrical currents effected the needle on a compass and Marie Ampere, who discovered that a coil of wires acted like a magnet when a current is passed thorough it. D. F. Arago invented the electromagnet.
1826-Ohms Law written by Georg Simon Ohm states that "conduction law that relates potential, current, and circuit resistance"
1827-Joseph Henry's electromagnetic experiments lead to the concept of electrical inductance. Joseph Henry built one of the first electrical motors.
1831-Principles of electromagnetism induction, generation and transmission discovered by Michael Faraday.
1837-First industrial electric motors.
1841-J. P. Joule's law of electrical heating published.
1873-James Clerk Maxwell wrote equations that described the electromagnetic field, and predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves traveling with the speed of light.
1878-Edison Electric Light Co. (US) and American Electric and Illuminating (Canada) founded.
1879-First commercial power station opens in San Francisco, uses Charles Brush generator and arc lights. First commercial arc lighting system installed, Cleveland, Ohio. Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent lamp, Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1880-First power system isolated from Edison. In Grand Rapids Michigan: Charles Brush arc light dynamo driven by water turbine used to provide theater and storefront illumination.
1881-Niagra Falls, New York; Charles Brush dynamo, connected to turbine in Quigley's flour mill lights city street lamps.
1882-Edison Company opens Pearl Street power station. -The first hydroelectric power station opens in Wisconsin.
1883-The electric transformer is invented. Thomas Edison introduces the "three-wire" transmission system.
1886-William Stanley develops transformer and Alternating Current electric system. Frank Sprague builds first American transformer and demonstrates use of step up and step down transformers for long distance AC power transmission in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The WestinghouseElectric Company is organized. 40 to 50 water powered electric plants reported on line or under construction in the U.S. and Canada.
1887-In San Bernadino, California, the High Grove Station, first hydroelectric plant in the West is opened.
1889-Oregon City Oregon, Willamette Falls station, first AC hydroelectric plant. Single phase power transmitted 13 miles to Portland at 4,000 volts, stepped down to 50 volts for distribution.
1891-60 cycle AC system introduced in U.S.
1892-General Electric Company formed by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric.
1893-Westinghouse demonstrates "universal system" of generation and distribution at Chicago exposition. -In Austin, Texas, the first dam designed specifically for hydroelectric power built across Colorado River is completed.
1897-Electron discovered by J. J. Thomson.
1900-Highest voltage transmission line 60 Kilovolt.
1902-5-Megawatt turbine for Fisk St. Station (Chicago
1903-First successful gas turbine (France). World’s first all turbine station (Chicago). Shawinigan Water & Power installs world’s largest generator (5,000 Watts) and world’s largest and highest voltage line—136 Km and 50 Kilovolts (to Montreal). Electric vacuum cleaner. Electric washing machine.
1905
in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan the first low head hydro plant with direct connected vertical shaft turbines and generators is opened.
1906-In Ilchester, Maryland, a fully submerged hydroelectric plant is built inside Ambursen Dam.
1909-The first pumped storage plant is opened in Switzerland.
1910-Ernest R. Rutherford measured the distribution of an electric charge within the atom.
1911-Willis Haviland Carrier disclosed his basic Rational Psychrometric Formulae to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The formula still stands today as the basis in all fundamental calculations for the air conditioning industry. R. D. Johnson invents the differential surge tank and Johnson invents hydrostatic penstock valve.
1913-Electric refrigerator is invented. Robert Millikan measured the electric charge on a single electron.
1917-Hydracone draft tube patented by W. M. White.
1920-First U.S. station to only burn pulverized coal is opened. Federal Power Commission (FPC) is established.
1922-Connecticut Valley Power Exchange (CONVEX) starts, pioneering interconnection between utilities.
1928-Construction of Boulder Dam begins. Federal Trade Commission begins investigation of holding companies.
1933-Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established.
1935-The Public Utility Holding Company Act is passed. The Federal Power Act is passed. The Securities and Exchange Commission is established. The Bonneville Power Administration is established. The first night baseball game in major leagues is played made possible by electric lighting.
1936-Highest steam temperature reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 600 degrees Fahrenheit in early 1920s. 287 Kilovolt line runs 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam. The Rural Electrification Act is passed.
1953-The first 345 Kilovolt transmission line is laid. The first nuclear power station ordered.
1954-The first high voltage direct current (HVDC) line (20 megawatts/1900 Kilovolts, 96 Km). The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows private ownership of nuclear reactors.
1963-The Clean Air Act is passed.
1965-The Northeast Blackout occurs.
1968-The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) is formed.
1969-The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is passed.
1970-The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formed. The Water and Environmental Quality Act is passed. The Clean Air Act of 1970 is passed.
1972-The Clean Water Act of 1972 is passed.
1975-Brown’s Ferry nuclear accident occurs.
1977-The New York City blackout occurs. The Department of Energy (DOE) is formed.
1978-The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) is passed, and ends utility monopoly over generation. The Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act limits the use of natural gas in electric generation (repealed 1987).
1979-The Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurs.
1980-The first U.S. windfarm is opened. The Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act establishes regional regulation and planning.
1981-PURPA ruled unconstitutional by Federal judge.
1982-U.S. Supreme Court upholds legality of PURPA in FERC v. Mississippi (456 US 742).
1984-Annapolis, N.S., tidal power plant—first of its kind in North America (Canada) opened.
1985-Citizens Power, first power marketer, goes into business.
1986-Chernobyl nuclear accident (USSR) occurs.
1990-Clean Air Act amendments mandate additional pollution controls.
1992-The National Energy Policy Act is passed.
1997-ISO New England begins operation (first ISO). New England Electric sells power plants (first major plant divestiture).
1998-California opens market and ISO. Scottish Power (UK) to buy Pacificorp, first foreign takeover of US utility. National (UK) Grid then announces purchase of New England Electric System.
1999-Electricity marketed on Internet. FERC issues Order 2000, promoting regional transmission
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