We always take for granted a world that is lit with electricity. Edison’s contribution to making this possible did not stop with the bulb. He did not want his incandescent bulbs to end up just as a scientific curiosity, and wanted them to be useful to the world. He developed a suite of other inventions to develop a whole system of lighting technology. Edison modelled this on the system of gas lighting that existed in those days. He showed, in 1882, that electricity could be distributed through a series of wires, from a generator. At the same time he also put his mind on improving the means to generate electricity. He developed the first commercial power utility, Pearl Street Station, in Manhattan, New York which started to function in September 1882. Fired by coal and using six dynamos, it first provided power to people within a few kilometres.
It was the beginning of the electric age. A second power station was soon opened by Edison in Wisconsin, which used water power from the Fox River – the world’s first hydroelectric plant.
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