# When did electric power become "mainstream"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136 "2007-09-05T16:24:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/1 "2007-09-05T16:24:23Z")
I know there’s no single answer, but it seems to be surprisingly hard to get even a ballpark figure to this question: approximately when did electric power become a “standard feature” in reasonably sized towns/cities in the “developed world”? (I’m thinking mostly of the US and the UK). I find a [page](http://www.leyman.demon.co.uk/03_Facts_and_Figures.html) (from the UK) saying that mains electricity was introduced in 1882, although it doesn’t say where. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_power_industry) expands on this by saying that the town of Godalming (only a few miles from where I live!) was the first to have electric street lighting in 1881, with mains power following in London and in NY in 1882. But presumably these were fairly pioneering supplies. What I really want to know is at what stage houses began to be built with electrical wiring and sockets as standard. Assuming the town in question had an electricity supply, would new houses being built in, say, 1910, likely have mains electricity as standard, or would people still have to get it installed especially? I know the dates will vary a lot by area, but if anyone can dig up any links showing when various cities got powered up, that would be great. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/2 "2007-09-05T16:59:13Z")
[Rural Electrification](http://newdeal.feri.org/tva/tva10.htm): > [@](#): > > Although nearly 90 percent of urban dwellers had electricity by the 1930s, only ten percent of rural dwellers did. Private utility companies, who supplied electric power to most of the nation’s consumers, argued that it was too expensive to string electric lines to isolated rural farmsteads. Anyway, they said, most farmers, were too poor to be able to afford electricity. > > The Roosevelt Administration believed that if private enterprise could not supply electric power to the people, then it was the duty of the government to do so… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/3 "2007-09-05T17:41:06Z")
Somewhat surprisingly, one bellwether for rural electrification was mining towns of the old West. Since they often had ore processing mills along with the mines, they would set up generators and sell excess power to the surrounding community. See [here](http://www.scripophily.net/norbelisminc.html) for an example. The famous ghost town of Bodie is another example of a town that had electricity before 1900. In “The Shootist”, set in 1901 Carson City, they had electricity, and from what I’ve seen that was an accurate portrayal. There’s a shot of John Wayne shutting off a table lamp, and whenever I see that, I think, Westerns aren’t supposed to have electric lamps! But apparently they did in some of the old towns. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/4 "2007-09-05T18:09:21Z")
I was just reading about the building of the Panama Canal (1904-1914) and how the locks were powered by electricity rather than steam. Apparently steam was still considered the conventional choice but electricity was the up and coming power source. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/5 "2007-09-05T21:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I know there’s no single answer, but it seems to be surprisingly hard to get even a ballpark figure to this question: approximately when did electric power become a “standard feature” in reasonably sized towns/cities in the “developed world”? (I’m thinking mostly of the US and the UK). [/QUOTE] I’m not enamoured of the presentation but this [timeline](http://thefusebox.ce-electricuk.com/page/electricity/history.cfm#item_9) provided by CE Electric UK details some important milestones in the history of electricity, including: > [@](#): > > 1930: The first part of the National Grid was opened – in central Scotland. > > 1933: 1 in 3 houses in the UK had a supply of electricity. > > 1937: The National Grid was completed. > > 1944: 2 out of 3 houses now had a supply of electricity – the number had doubled in just 10 years. According to [another timeline](http://www.engineering-timelines.com/how/electricity/timeline.asp): > [@](#): > > 1930: Assisted wiring scheme begins … by 1936, more than 12,000 premises would be connected. This figure seems low to me but the assisted wiring scheme (5 shillings/25 pence/50 cents per 4 electric lights) clearly accelerated the growth of domestic electricity supply. > [@Colophon](#): > > I know the dates will vary a lot by area, but if anyone can dig up any links showing when various cities got powered up, that would be great. There’s a plethora of information [here](http://www.swehs.co.uk/docs/news12su.html) concerning Plymouth. In September 1899: > [@](#): > > And so, at last, Plymouth had a public electricity system several years after comparable towns e.g Taunton (1886), Bath (1890), Exeter (1890) and Bristol (1893). Plymouth was then one of three towns, the others being Devonport and Stonehouse, of which the stranger would have had difficulty in discerning the boundaries. But the, were quite different administrations and guarded their independence jealously. It was the failure to agree with the proposals of the Devon and Cornwall Electricity Supply Company in 1889, which largely contributed to the lagging behind the other towns. In 1899 it was still to be another two years before electricity came to Devonport and Stonehouse. [Lyme](http://www.swehs.co.uk/docs/news24su.html), as you will know, is not exactly a city but the link contains several details which you may find to be of interest, _viz._: > [@](#): > > The technical details of Lyme Regis electricity are briefly as follows. The supply began on 1st June 1909 using a 110 volt DC system supplied by 20 Kw dynamo driven by a 35HP Gardner horizontal paraffin engine and a 5 kW dynamo driven at Higher Mill by a Gilkes 71/2 HP turbine. There were 90 public street lamps, 16 of 75 candle-power and 74 of 23 candle-power. They were to be lit from half an hour after local sunset to 11.30pm except on Sundays when they would be switched off at 10.30pm. The contract allowed the Lyme Regis Electric Light & Power Company not to light the streets on nights when the moon was bright. The entire capital cost including equipment and premises was about £3,000. Lyme was only the third town in Dorset, after Bournemouth and Christchurch, with a public electricity supply. Sherborne followed in 1912 and Dorchester in 1913. and: > [@](#): > > By 1923 there were 97 street lamps and 144 consumers in a town of 2,300 people. A further Gardner engine had increased output by 18 kWs. But the business was struggling and the borough council bought it from the Dorset Electric Supply Co for £3,400. In 1924 it re-equipped the power station and changes the town over to a 440 volt three-wire DC system. One of the Gardner sets was converted and a new 50kW Marshall set installed. A year later two more 75kW Marshalls were bought. Back-up for the DC system was in the form of a 264-cell battery. > > In the early 1930s an assisted wiring scheme was introduced and by 1936 more power was needed. A 15kW Gilkes water turbine was installed in the Town Mill next door to the power station and, in 1937, a second-hand 100 kW Petters’ set from Totnes. Please note this post may not be short but it’s certainly circuitous. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/6 "2007-09-05T21:36:27Z")
Good links, **Chez Guevara**. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/7 "2007-09-05T21:39:30Z")
Good going, **Una Persson** , to read 'em all in 2 minutes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/8 "2007-09-05T21:45:46Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Good going, **Una Persson** , to read 'em all in 2 minutes. 😉 [/QUOTE] Easy to do when you’ve got good lighting on the desk. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/9 "2007-09-05T23:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Good going, **Una Persson** , to read 'em all in 2 minutes. 😉 [/QUOTE] I opened then up, looked at them, and liked what I saw, and what you quoted. I had been looking for a similar set of links to answer the question, and had found one of them already, so I knew it was decent. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/10 "2007-09-06T01:12:52Z")
My friend from Pittsburgh tells me of a once-ritzy side of town where Andrew Carnegie lived along with his right hand man, the Fricks, and the Westinghouse family. Westinghouse was heavily involved in the eletrcification of America and/or mass production of electricity. During this time, everyone had natural gas lights although that was soon to change ala Westinghouse. Still, Frick believed it was just a passing fad. So, wehn Westinghouse brought electricity into the neighborhood, Frick kept his house lit by both gas and electric…just in case. That’ll give you some indiciation when electricity was up and coming, anyhow. - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/11 "2007-09-06T01:16:02Z")
In the 1960s in Australia - well, according to _The Simpsons_. 😃 I’ve seen old photos of municipal ceremonies in Australian towns in the 1880s/1890s where the mayor was “turning on the electric light”. Fogeys: you should never refer to it as “electricity” but always “the electric light”. My family still calls the electricity bill the “light bill”. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/12 "2007-09-06T01:39:02Z")
The first home wirings were night and day compared to today’s wiring. I bought a home built in 1940 with the original wiring. An overhead light in each room and one outlet per every other ROOM. But back then the main and sometimes only purpose was for lights. A few wealthier people could afford radios or electrical refrigerators. By contrast, today’s homes have the capacity to run TV, stereo, central heat/AC, a host of kitchen appliances, computers, home offices, swimming pool pumps, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/13 "2007-09-06T02:26:07Z")
My dad remembers the lights coming on in rural Georgia, and he was born in 1931. In other words, it depends on where you were. I ask him and his sisters what it was like, and they say, “Brighter”. They don’t think “back then” was very interesting. Except that my uncle Donny who was a toddler had to stick his finger in a socket to find out what it was like. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/14 "2007-09-06T04:40:35Z")
[QUOTE=Una Persson] I opened then up, looked at them, and liked what I saw, and what you quoted. I had been looking for a similar set of links to answer the question, and had found one of them already, so I knew it was decent. [/QUOTE] I guessed as much, but your reputation is such that I’m totally convinced if anybody can read 4 links in 2 minutes it’s you. Anyway, I surrender to your compliment because, as Ohm’s Second Law states, resistance is useless. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/15 "2007-09-06T05:49:09Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Anyway, I surrender to your compliment because, as Ohm’s Second Law states, resistance is useless. [/QUOTE] Futile, not useless. Perhaps the OP should define “mainstream”. How about 67% of all households having access to electricity (2/3)? For the UK, that would appear to be about 1944, per **CG** ’s links. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/16 "2007-09-06T10:32:53Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] The first home wirings were night and day compared to today’s wiring. I bought a home built in 1940 with the original wiring. An overhead light in each room and one outlet per every other ROOM. But back then the main and sometimes only purpose was for lights. A few wealthier people could afford radios or electrical refrigerators. By contrast, today’s homes have the capacity to run TV, stereo, central heat/AC, a host of kitchen appliances, computers, home offices, swimming pool pumps, etc. [/QUOTE] Well, my house was built in the 1960s (about 1964 I think) and the wiring is not a lot different from what you describe - one central overhead light per room, one or at most two sockets per room. Obviously we’ve added quite a few sockets, but to be honest it really needs rewiring altogether… th elighting circuit is the old unearthed type, for instance, which means that metal light fittings are not advisable. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-electric-power-become-mainstream/418136/17 "2007-09-06T13:17:30Z")
It’s not exactly evidence but my extensive reading of 1920s and '30s who-done-its 😃 suggests that electic lighting was the norm in city and town houses in England at this time but village and country properties were not connected to the grid - although they might have a private generator.