Transmission of Electricity

Mr. Tesla will be doing a great service to mankind if he can verify his prediction of soon being able to transmit, by underground wires, power from Niagara to New York with a loss of not more than one per cent. Improvements in his transmitter give Tesla his confidence. The electrical transmission of power long distances for industrial purposes is now impracticable owing to the loss of energy in transit. The country has enormous water power for the cheap generation of electricity, and with the means of conserving this power during long distance transmission it could be made highly useful over a large extent of territory. The new motive force has proved thoroughly practicable on short circuits, and when such power as Niagara possesses can be successfully transmitted, it may turn every wheel in New York city. Forty or fifty miles is now the limit of its carriage to advantage. It may be utilized at a greater distance for street lighting purposes than for driving machinery. The falls of the Neckar are 108 miles from Frankfort, Germany, yet the city is now lighted by electricity generated there. The mountain streams eighty miles from Los Angeles furnish water power that generates electricity and lights the town, but from 40 to 50 per cent. of the original power is lost in transmission.

It was once necessary for a mill or factory to be near a water supply to turn its wheels. Then came steam and manufacturers could seek sites freely. Electricity as a motive force is taking us back to water power, but at the same time promises not to trouble us concerning nearness to it.