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The grid spreads across America

1882

2026

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The story

What happened

What it changed

Why it matters

State of the machine

1882

Pearl Street Station

Edison builds the first utility

Installed capacity

0MW approx. US generating capacity

Generation mix

Homes electrified

Low-carbon share

Transmission lines

Max grid voltage

A Visual History

The Story
of the Grid

From Edison's first power station in 1882 to the AI build-out straining it today, follow the grid's story along a transmission line that doubles as a timeline. A century and a half of inventors, blackouts, market crashes, and reinvention, and the trillion-dollar rebuild now underway.

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Presented by

Adapted from Stepchange Ventures' episode The Story of the Grid. Capacity figures are approximate US generating capacity.