Every minute of every day in California,
people flip a switch and in an instant, a
light comes on. Power on-call and at our
fingertips anytime, day or night, is so
expected, so taken for granted that most
of us don't even give it a thought. But
where does that power come from?
For most of us, the power journey starts long
before we flip the switch. It may begin
hundreds of miles away at a power plant,
a solar or wind farm, a hydroelectric dam,
or coal or natural gas facility. Then,
from its origin, electricity traces a long
and often winding path before it gets
to us. Its voltage or strength can be
boosted by transformers hoping to speed
it on its way and ensuring it is strong
enough to travel across transmission
lines throughout California. Power's path
is dictated by demand. In this case, in
our homes in that wall switch. The signal
for power is picked up by an operation
center in a building near Sacramento.
That Center is a conductor of the many
players in California's electric
symphony, constantly seeking to balance
supply and demand, keeping the lights on.
Before arriving at our homes and
crawling through the maze of wires in
the wall, high voltage electricity stops
at a neighborhood transformer. The
transformer reduces the strength of the
electricity, making it compatible with
home delivery and preventing our
toasters from blowing up. The power then
makes its way to the circuit behind the
wall switch. Et voilà! There's light.
