• Electricity travels at the speed of light - more than 186,000 miles per second! • A spark of static electricity can measure up to three thousand (3,000) volts. • A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts – and it lasts less than one second! • Electricity can be made from wind, water, the sun and even animal manure. • Burning coal is the most common way electricity is made in the United States. • One power plant can produce enough electricity for 180,000 homes. • The first power plant – owned by Thomas Edison – opened in New York City in 1882. • Thomas Edison didn’t invent the first light bulb – but he did invent one that stayed lit for more than a few seconds. • Thomas Edison invented more than 2,000 new products, including almost everything needed for us to use electricity in our homes: switches, fuses, sockets and meters. • Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity – but he did prove that lightning is a form of electrical energy.
