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For the majority of humans' time on Earth, we haven't had access to electricity.

That means no phones or computers or speakers, like the ones you're using

right now to listen to this podcast. No refrigeration or washing machines. No light bulbs.

Basically for most people, the day ended when the sunset. This is electrical engineer on

John Bose. He teaches at Washington State University, go coogs.

And he says even though we rely on electricity for so many things nowadays,

150 years ago, it wasn't accessible for most people.

But then in the 1880s, Thomas Edison built the first electric grid in New York City.

The Vanderbilts and the richest people lived in mansions in southern Manhattan.

And so he basically went to them and said, we'll provide you with electricity.

So he put in a generator and he ran the wires and it wasn't a very large area, but it had all the rich mansions all lit up.

And it wasn't just in New York. As generating electricity got better and cheaper, more and more

places could be connected. Very soon, there were a whole bunch of these companies that sprung up,

first the big cities, and then the medium-sized

cities, and then the small towns, they all had their own power company. And then it became very

clear that there's a major advantage of connecting these companies together. Because one, if you're

generating power from something like a waterfall or a coal plant, which are things

...