About electricity

HOW ELECTRICITY IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED

As one of the world’s most commonly used forms of energy, electricity can be defined as a flow of electrical power or charge (Source: Energy Information Administration).

The electricity for powering our homes and businesses is made in power stations. A power station contains large machines which turn very quickly, called turbines. In order to turn the turbines, power stations need to use large amounts of energy and source most of that energy from coal. Wind energy and moving water is also used (See our Renewable Energy section).

The generators are large magnets turning within wire coils, powered by the spinning turbine. The charged particles (known as electrons) move within the coil or wire and the moving of the magnets are then known as electricity.

(Information and image courtesy of Grassroots Marketing Alliance)

Electricity generation - whether from fossil fuels, nuclear, renewable fuels, or other sources - is based on the fact that:

As illustrated, magnets plus copper wire, plus motion equals electric current. Whether the energy is generated from steam turbine generators, gas turbine generators, diesel engine generators, alternate energy systems (except photovoltaics), even nuclear power plants, energy is all produced from this one equation.

(Information and image courtesy of Grassroots Marketing Alliance)