September / 2001
The Future of Electricity

How electricity is transmitted

Third of a series on the basics of electricity

Step 1
Electric current from a power plant is "stepped up" to high voltage (as high as 765,000 volts) by large transformers, so it can be shipped long distances, through high-voltage transmission lines.

Step 2
High-voltage electricity is either transferred to a national grid of transmission lines to be exchanged with other utilities, or "stepped down" to less than 39,000 volts at a distribution substation, so it can be delivered safely through neighborhood distribution lines, to a town near you.

-Paul Wesslund