How we make electricity and get it to you

Most electric plants use steam in making electricity. The first part of the process involves burning the fuel or creating a nuclear reaction. This creates heat and, consequently, steam.

Superheated steam is pumped into a steam turbine. Just as water flows through a water wheel, steam flows through the blades of the turbine. This causes the turbine to spin.

The turbine connects to a generator with a large electromagnet inside. As the turbine spins, so does the magnet ‹ all the way up to 3,600 rotations per minute (RPMs). The magnet is wrapped in coils of wire. The spinning magnet creates an electric current in the wires. The current then passes through a transformer.

A transformer moderates the voltage, or strength, of the electric charge. Our transformers at Green Mountain Power boost the voltage of the charge generated up to 138,000 volts. This allows the electricity to travel with less waste.

Next, we shoot the electricity into the power grid via overhead transmission lines. That's how it gets to your house. Along the way, substations step the voltage back down, to 12,500 volts. Next the electricity travels through circuits, or feeder lines. These are located along roads, businesses, and your house. Some feeder lines are above ground, others below.

Before it powers all the lights, appliances, and gadgets you use every day, the electricity passes through a final padded transformer that reduces the voltage to 120 or 240 volts. Because it zips through a meter on its way inside, we are able to register the amount of electricity you use.

We measure the amount of energy you use not in volts, but in kilowatthours (kWh). Kilowatthours measure the amount of work the electricity does for you, such as how long it runs a light bulb or keeps your computer humming.