The War Of The Currents: The Historic Feud Between Two Electricity Giants Of Their Time That Forever Changed The Course Of The Power Industry

The war of the currents was waged by two electrical titans of their day. It involved the wizard of Menlo Park, the incredible Thomas Edison and the visionary entrepreneur George Westinghouse and essentially both their companies. It was a feud involving the introduction of two electrical power transmission systems in the late 1880s and early 1890s.

Edison's Direct Current system had for long served in transmitting power
to many across the United States at that time before the Alternating Current transmission system arrived the scene and posed a serious threat to Direct Current system.

The A.C transmission system was developed by George Westinghouse company. It made use of transformers to step down high voltages. And so it could serve for indoor lighting. It could transmit power over longer distances from more efficient large central generating stations because of the high voltage used.

Electricity Transmission before the war

Very bright arc lighting (such as this one in 1882 New York) could only be used outdoors or in large indoor spaces where they could be mounted high out of people's sight line.

Edison's direct current was standard for the United States in the initial years of electricity distribution. Incandescent light bulbs were the principal load of the day and worked extremely well with Direct Current. The Direct Current systems could be directly used with storage batteries. It also provided load levelling and backup power during interruptions of generator operations.

By the time Edison had introduced his D.C power transmission system there was no practical A.C motor available. His company provided meters to their customers to allow them be billed for energy proportional to consumption.

The Events Of The War 

The myriad of telephone, telegraph, and power lines over the streets of New York City in a photo of the Great Blizzard of 1888. An AC charged broken wire from the storm led to the electrocution of a boy that spring.

Harold Brown demonstrating the killing power of AC to the New York Medico-Legal Society by electrocuting a horse at Thomas Edison's West Orange laboratory.

Edison's company in early 1888 claimed that A.C power system was hazardous due to its high voltage and posed a serious danger to society. Edison in his desperate bid to discredit the A.C transmission system went as far as staging public execution of animals using the Alternate Current.

Harold P. Brown was the man at the forefront of this campaign. He had colluded with the Edison Company. They also ensured that the first electric chair was created using alternate current a Westinghouse A.C generator.

The feud was dragging to a close by the early 1890s. It finally ended with the merging of Edison Electric with their chief A.C rival Thomson-Houston to form the General Electric in 1882.

Thomas Edison And George Westinghouse

Thomas Edison

He is well known for his numerous inventions especially an improved version of the incandescent light bulb. He was also a successful businessman who garnered a lot of financial profits from his numerous inventions. He was the man behind the D.C transmission system operational in the united States at the time which was used to power his incandescent light bulb for indoor lighting purposes. The many devices he created were developed in the different fields of electric power generation mass communication and motion pictures. He has often been described as America's greatest inventor.

George Westinghouse

He was an American entrepreneurs and engineer based in Pennsylvania. He is the inventor of the air break and also a pioneer in the power industry. As an inventor he got his first patent at the age of 19. He invested a lot in the A.C power transmission system when he saw the immense potential it held.

The Immediate Aftermaths Of The Feud

President Harry Villard

 The war of the currents ended with the triumph of the alternate current transmission system over its other counterpart. This may have necessitated Edison leaving the electric power business. A financial merger was responsible for this turnout of events which Edison himself opposed. It was originally President Harry Villard's idea to merge the Edison Company with either Thomson-Houston or Westinghouse. He engineered a behind-the-scenes deal which was announced on April 15 1892 that put the management of Thomson-Houston in the control of the new company now called General Electric (dropping Edison's name).