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From
Our Plant to Your Door
Once we make the electricity, how does it get from our plant to
you? The process is called  "transmission,"
and it works like this:
- While it's still at the power plant, electric current travels
by thick wires from the generator to a transformer. The transformer
changes the low voltage to a higher voltage. This extra push means
the electric current can now be sent over long distances.
- The electricity sent out from the transformer can travel at
500,000 volts or even higher. Tall transmission towers keep the
lines off the ground. Insulators made of glass or porcelain prevent
the electricity from leaving the wires and moving into the steel
tower.
- Transmission lines carry the electric current from the power
plant to where it is needed. A second set of wires carries the
current back to the generator. These wires are in place because
electric current travels in a closed circuit.
- Factories and large industrial plants may need high voltage
to operate heavy machinery. At high-voltage substations, high-voltage
power lines enter and leave through large insulators. Medium-voltage
substations reduce the voltage for use in facilities that do not
need the higher voltages.
- Usually high-voltage current must be reduced to lower levels
before it reaches your neighborhood. For that, the current passes
through another transformer that lowers the voltage. The step-down
transformer provides lower voltage that's safe to use in homes
or schools. The step-down transformers can be found at the top
of the poles that carry electrical wires, or you can find them
on concrete pads.
- Electrical wires then carry the reduced voltage current to
customers. In many places, the wires are above ground, supported
by tall wooden poles. In some neighborhoods, the wires are buried
below ground. Large metal boxes, found either at the top of a
pole or on the ground, contain transformers. Inside these transformers
are coils or wire that help reduce the voltage to 120/240 volts.
And that's what we can safely use in our homes. Whether the wires
are above ground or buried below, always avoid contact with electrical
wires. And stay away from the large metal boxes that contain the
transformers -- electrical shock is always a danger around the
boxes or the wires.
- Finally, the current passes through an electric meter. The
meter measures the amount of electricity you use.
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