"Electricity produced here in the spring of 1891 was transmitted 2.6 miles over rugged and at times inaccessible terrain to provide power for operating the motor-driven mill at the Gold King Mine. This pioneering demonstration of the practical value of transmitting electrical power was a significant precedent in the United States for much larger plants at Niagara Falls (in 1895) and elsewhere. Electricity at Ames was generated at 3000 volts, 133 Hertz, single-phase AC, by a 100-hp Westinghouse alternator."
Pelton
![Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant](/sites/default/files/styles/landmark_node_/public/Ames.jpg?itok=VnDYO8gZ)
![Pelton Impulse Water Wheel](/sites/default/files/styles/landmark_node_/public/landmarks/images/Pelton_Impulse_Water_Wheel.jpg?itok=ibLUvBNh)
Water wheels have been used to power mills and pumps for centuries. However, the traditional water wheel was inefficient: water hitting a bucket would splash back against the next bucket, slowing the wheel. This is especially true when water is delivered to the buckets under very high pressure.
Innovations
![Pelton Impulse Water Wheel](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/landmarks/images/Pelton_Impulse_Water_Wheel.jpg?itok=zMCFxzLt)
Water wheels have been used to power mills and pumps for centuries. However, the traditional water wheel was inefficient: water hitting a bucket would splash back against the next bucket, slowing the wheel. This is especially true when water is delivered to the buckets under very high pressure…
Read More![Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/Ames.jpg?itok=hC-G7Sg-)
Read More"Electricity produced here in the spring of 1891 was transmitted 2.6 miles over rugged and at times inaccessible terrain to provide power for operating the motor-driven mill at the Gold King Mine. This pioneering demonstration of the practical value of transmitting electrical power…