Telluride, Colorado – First in Hydroelectric Power

Joe spent this past weekend in Telluride, Colorado.

Telluride was the first town in the world to have alternating current (AC) power, thanks to the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant which, in 1891, achieved the first long distance commercial transmission of alternating current in the world. Once called the “City of Lights,” Telluride was the first city in the world to have electric streetlight. The Bridal Veil Hydroelectric Power Plant at Smugglers-Union was the second AC generating power plant to be built, after the Ames facility.

Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. A turbine converts the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy. Then a generator converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy.

Smuggler-Union Power Plant and Bridal Veil Falls

Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant