ABSTRACT
Thomas A. Edison’s Pearl Street Station in New York, the first permanent, commercial electric generating plant, began operation on September 4, 1882 (IEEE 2008b). Just 26 days later, the first commercial generating plant using renewable energy—a hydroelectric facility— began operation in Appleton, Wisconsin (IEEE 2008a). The United States has considerable hydroelectric potential and moved aggressively, particularly in the 1930s, to exploit it. By 1949, hydropower accounted for just under a third of U.S. electricity generation (EIA 2009b, Table 1.1). Since then, however, the relative importance of hydropower has waned, as potential dam sites were of lower quality than those already employed, the performance of other generating technologies improved, and the public became increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of dams. In recent years, more attention has been given to the possible demolition of hydroelectric dams than to their possible construction. Hydropower accounted for only about 6% of U.S. electricity generation in 2007 (EIA 2009b, Table 1.1).
