Generating, Transmitting, and Distributing Electricity

Electricity is the lifeblood of development. Nearly all industries rely on electricity to power their machineries. Even simple day-to-day life would not be complete without it. Since it has become such a crucial part of the modern lifestyle, a world without electricity is quite unimaginable.

Perhaps only a handful of people wonder how electricity is generated, transmitted, and distributed to homes and buildings. However, knowing the process is essential to understand just how scarce a source can be and why power costs inflate every now and then. Generation is the production and preparation of electricity for transmission. Transmission is the funneling of electricity through high-voltage transmission lines. Distribution is the stage where electricity is reduced to certain voltages to fit the needs of consumers.

Electricity generation takes place in a power plant.

Power plants rely on various sources of energy, including steam and rushing water. Highly industrialized cities like the Twin Cities in Minnesota source their electricity from power plants located miles away. Only a good transmission system makes power distribution efficient.

From the station, electricity is transmitted to a step-up transformer that regulates the voltages according to the capacity of available transmission lines. A step-up transformer is placed between transmission lines of different capacities to ensure diffusion efficiency. In areas like the Twin Cities electric transmission lines can transport electricity over long distances without falling short of consumer requirement.

Before entering the Twin Cities electric transmission lines, the high-voltage electricity is controlled by several substation step-up transformers to provide sufficient power to subtransmission, primary, and secondary customers.
Subtransmission customers are local electric service suppliers who buy electricity from direct sources and sell it to primary and secondary customers at a slightly higher cost.

Primary customers are big establishments such as malls, hotels, and manufacturing plants. Each of these buildings normally requires a separate custom-designed transformer to allow the transmission of the right amount of energy. Secondary customers are residential houses and other small businesses that only consume minimal amounts of electricity over a certain period. In locations like the Twin Cities electric transformers are provided for both types of customers.

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