The first hydroelectric power plant, known as the Vulcan Street Plant, was powered

by the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin.

After Thomas Edison introduced the

incandescent light bulb in the United States, he needed a way to provide power to a
growing customer base. He built his first commercial power station in New York City
in 1882. Steam provided power to the Pearl Street station, but soon other sources of
power were explored. Water, used to produce mechanical power at least since the
days of ancient Rome, was a logical next choice. After all, many factories in the late
1800s were already using large water wheels to mechanically power their machines.

Just weeks after the Pearl Street power station opened, a hydroelectric power plant
started operation in Appleton, Wisconsin. Known as the Vulcan Street Plant, it
harvested the power of the Fox River with a water wheel. As water flowed down the
river, it pushed up against the paddles of the wheel, causing it to turn. A system of
belts and gears linked the moving wheel to a generator, an Edison “K” type dynamo.
The generator converted mechanical energy into electricity, which initially powered
lighting at two paper mills and one home.

The home belonged to a businessman by the name of H.J. Rogers, the impetus behind
the Vulcan Street Plant. Rogers served as president of the Appleton Paper & Pulp
Company and the Appleton Gas Light Company. When he heard of Edison’s planned
steam-based power station for New York, Rogers thought a similar scheme could
benefit his businesses. Instead of steam, however, Rogers hoped to take advantage of
the proximity of the Fox River. He pitched the idea to a few community leaders, and
with A.L. Smith, H.D. Smith and Charles Beveridge founded the Appleton Edison
Light Company.

The inhabitants of Appleton viewed the young company with skepticism. Making
matters worse was a big snafu at the September 27, 1882 opening. After the generator
was started, the lamps linked to it with copper wiring failed to light up. After some
reworking, the Appleton Edison Light Company tried again. On September 30, the
filaments in the lamps in his mills and house lit up brightly as the dynamo whirred. In
the following weeks, townspeople visited the electrically powered buildings to gaze in
awe at the lights, which, as the local paper reported, were “as bright as day.”

Despite the excitement, the power station experienced numerous difficulties during its
infancy. The voltage, varying with the flow of water powering the generator, couldn’t
be regulated. When it ran too high, the lights burned out; short circuits frequently
occurred. There was no way to know the voltage, other than estimating it based on the
brightness of the lamps. Because there was no way to measure how much electricity a
particular customer used, everyone paid a flat monthly fee. Over time, these and other
problems were remedied and the success of Rogers’ company was cemented.

In November 1882, a second dynamo belonging to the Appleton Edison Light

Company began providing electric juice to two other homes near Vulcan Street.
Before year’s end, several more homes, mills and even a blast furnace received
electricity for lighting as well. Soon after, a local hotel was lit up by electric bulbs. By
1886, new, larger generators were necessary to provide enough electricity to
customers of the Appleton company, which at that time changed the location of its
central power station. As electricity became more popular, the Appleton Edison Light
Company morphed into a larger operation called the Wisconsin Michigan Power
Company.

Strangely enough, the success of the Vulcan Street Plant and other early power
stations adversely affected the fate of the primary man behind them, Thomas Edison.
People with homes and businesses farther and farther away from the central stations
wanted electrical power too. But Edison’s direct current systems were poorly suited
for transmitting electricity over long distances. Alternating current eventually proved
to be the answer, and it fell to Nikola Tesla and partner George Westinghouse to
provide it to the American people.

Today hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy, providing
20 to 25 percent of the world’s electricity. This much energy, of course, doesn’t come
from simple water wheels. Most modern hydroelectric power stations involve large
dams and depend on the potential energy of the dammed water to drive water turbines
and electric generators.