Water power development

Although energy derived from water has been utilized by man for at least 3,000 years, its greatest development has come within the lifetime of the Institute and after the first hydroelectric “central station” was constructed at Appleton, Wis., in 1882 — a “250-light” installation. Since that time the utilization of water power for the generation of electricity has expanded until now the aggregate installed capacity of hydroelectric plants in the United States is more than 15,000,000 hp. Some significant events in this development are outlined briefly in this article.