CHAPTER ONE
Understanding Electricity
Basics of Electricity Production
Electricity is fundamental to everyday life in the United States. Most people,
however, do not know where their electricity comes from. We flip the
switch and expect the lights to turn on. Making sure that the lights always
turn on is far more complicated than most people realize. Interacting sys-
tems of electricity generation, transmission, and consumption allow effi-
cient distribution of electricity that has allowed us to live comfortably and
with little concern about whether power will be there when we flip the
switch and desire it.
Electricity is simply moving electrons that we can harness to do work.
Power plants and electricity generators get electrons moving, and then we
transport those electrons through “the grid.” The grid is the interconnected
web of electricity generators, transmission lines, converters, and electric-
ity consumers. Everything required to move electricity to those who need
it is part of the grid.
Electricity generators come in many forms. Fossil fuel power plants pro-
duce the most electricity in the United States. As of 2015, both coal and
natural gas each generated 33 percent of U.S. electricity, for a combined
total of about two-thirds of the electricity we consume. Nuclear power gen-
erates about 20 percent of our electricity, and all renewable energy sources
combined produce about 13 percent.1
Transmission lines move electricity from power plants to the homes and
businesses that use it. When electricity first leaves a power plant, it is sent
through a transformer, which increases the voltage, making it more effi-
cient for long-distance transmission. As the electricity nears its destination,
