ABSTRACT
The first electric light systems, installed around 1870, consisted of individual dynamos that fed the electrical system—arc lamps—in place in a single residence. Alternating, singlephase electric current was first transmitted in 1884 at a voltage of 18 kV. Electricity can, of course, be stored in batteries, but price, performance, and inconvenience make this impractical for handling the amounts of energy usually needed in the developed world. Electric power is transmitted over grids in which the pathway cannot be chosen at will, but is determined by Kirchhoff’s laws, whereby current distribution depends on impedance in the lines and other elements through which electricity flows. The combination of the extreme convenience of utility and countless applications of electricity on the one hand and its particularities on the other hand has engendered the immense and sophisticated industrial systems. At first glance, electricity must appear to be a commodity much like any other on consumers’ list of routine expenses.
