“City Lights.” Photographer: RadRafe. Image: wikimedia commons.

Thomas Edison opened the world’s first commercial electric grid in 1882, on Pearl Street, in New York City. Edison was a collaborative genius: he shared ideas, and a winter location, with Henry Ford; according to Edison & Ford Winter Estates Museum Curator, Mike Cosden, the friendship fostered many advances and achievements. Conveying use of a new technology is something George Norris pioneered: the “Father of the TVA” designed a new town to showcase household appliances powered by electricity provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 2015, Mannheim, Germany, has advanced electricity and technology, balancing supply with demand. Will Mannheim’s smart grid inspire smarter cities? Edison would be pleased.

http://ethw.org/Milestones:Pearl_Street_Station 

http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/

http://edison.rutgers.edu/digital.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/19/tech/smart-grid-mannheim/index.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.