Introduction hydroelectric Power what is it?

Transmitting Power
Once the electricity is produced, it must be delivered to where it is needed -- our homes, schools, 
offices, factories, etc. Dams are often in remote locations and power must be transmitted over 
some distance to its users. 

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Vast networks of transmission lines and facilities are used to bring electricity to us in a form we 
can use. All the electricity made at a powerplant comes first through transformers which raise 
the voltage so it can travel long distances through powerlines. (Voltage is the pressure that 
forces an electric current through a wire.) At local substations, transformers reduce the voltage 
so electricity can be divided up and directed throughout an area. 
Transformers on poles (or buried underground, in some neighborhoods) further reduce the 
electric power to the right voltage for appliances and use in the home. When electricity gets to 
our homes, we buy it by the kilowatt-hour, and a meter measures how much we use. 
While hydroelectric powerplants are one source of electricity, other sources include powerplants 
that burn fossil fuels or split atoms to create steam which in turn is used to generate power. Gas-
turbine, solar, geothermal, and wind-powered systems are other sources. All these powerplants 
may use the same system of transmission lines and stations in an area to bring power to you. By 
use of this 
A
power grid,” electricity can be interchanged among several utility systems to meet 
varying demands. So the electricity lighting your reading lamp now may be from a hydroelectric 
powerplant, a wind generator, a nuclear facility, or a coal, gas, or oil-fired powerplant … or a 
combination of these. 

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The area where you live and its energy resources are prime factors in determining what kind of 
power you use. For example, in Washington State hydroelectric powerplants provided 
approximately 80 percent of the electrical power during 2002. In contrast, in Ohio during the 
same year, almost 87 percent of the electrical power came from coal-fired powerplants due to the 
area
=
s ample supply of coal. 
Electrical utilities range from large systems serving broad regional areas to small power 
companies serving individual communities. Most electric utilities are investor-owned (private) 
power companies. Others are owned by towns, cities, and rural electric associations. Surplus 
power produced at facilities owned by the Federal Government is marketed to preference power 
customers (A customer given preference by law in the purchase of federally generated electrical 
energy which is generally an entity which is nonprofit and publicly financed.) by the Department 
of Energy through its power marketing administrations. 

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