Let There Be Light: How Electricity Gets to Your House

Hanging lights illuminate a menu in a restaurant.

Everyone wants their lights to turn on when they flip the switch. At this point in the U.S., most people consider electricity to be a basic and expected necessity for daily life. But how does electricity really reach households and power those morning coffee brews, phone charges, and late-night escapades to the fridge? Let’s follow the path that electricity takes by starting at the source.

At the beginning of this journey, some type of energy source must be converted to electricity. Whether it’s a renewable energy source like solar power or a nonrenewable energy source like natural gas, these forms of energy must be converted to usable electricity. For sunlight, solar panels are used; and for natural gas, power plants do the job.

This electricity now exists. It then enters the electricity grid, which is essentially a term for the system that takes electricity from its source to the consumer. On the grid, electricity moves from its point of generation into transmission lines. These transmission lines are the large, bulky power lines that can often be seen when driving along interstates and highways. They carry electricity to more local points. Then, the smaller distribution lines transfer electricity to homes, apartments, and buildings.

Here is a very simple graphic from this Council of Foreign Relations article that shows how electricity reaches consumers.

Now the lights are on. But, unfortunately for bank accounts everywhere, not for free. Households buy electricity from someone. This is often an electric utility. According to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the three investor-owned utilities in North Carolina are Dominion North Carolina Power, Duke Energy Carolinas, and Duke Energy Progress. A utility’s job is to manage the electricity that it owns on the grid. . The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that utilities sometimes own the power plants that generate electricity, but they also may purchase electricity from other sources to sell to consumers. However, even NC residents don’t necessarily purchase power from these utilities, but that’s a post for another time.

Even reading an overview of a system like this can get confusing, so let’s bring it back to the basics! Electricity comes from an energy source. That electricity is owned by an entity and makes its way onto the grid. It is then carried by transmission and distribution lines to reach local households. Because of this intricate (and infrastructure-heavy) process, consumers can pay for their lights to turn on. And all of this has barely scratched the surface of the whole system! We will get deeper into some of these aspects of the grid soon. Thanks for reading!