| Date |
Event |
|
|
| 1880s |
- Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg are the first Canadian cities to introduce electric lighting.
- All electric distribution systems use direct current (DC).
|
| 1882 |
- U.S. inventor Thomas Edison develops the first practical coal-fired electric generating station. The station supplies electricity in New York City for household lights.
|
| 1886 |
- U.S. engineer William Stanley invents the induction coil, a transformer that creates alternating current (AC) electricity. He also builds the first AC electric system in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
- A 1.86 kilowatt steam-driven electric generator is installed in Toronto.
|
| 1890 |
- Croatian-born physicist Nikola Tesla invents the AC generator. This invention and the development of the transformer allow electricity to be carried longer distances. During the 1890s, electric distribution and transmission systems switch to AC.
|
| 1891 |
- The first long-distance, high voltage transmission line is developed in Germany. It carries electricity 177 km (120 miles) at 8 kilovolts.
|
| 1891 |
- The world's first successful gas turbine is invented in France.
- The world's first all turbine power station opens in Chicago.
- Shawinigan Water and Power installs the world's largest generator (5,000 watts) and the world's highest voltage line (50 kilovolts) to carry electricity 135 km (84 miles) to Montreal.
|
| 1910s |
- Steam-powered shovels designed for surface coal mining are introduced.
|
| 1920s |
- Energy developers in Canada increasingly turn to thermal power as an economically attractive option, as potential hydro sites become more remote from cities and towns.
|
| 1928 |
- Edmonton Power installs one of the world's first 10-megawatt turbo-generators at its coal-fired Rossdale station.
|
| 1940s |
- Thermal power accounts for 10 per cent of Canada's installed electrical generation.
|
| 1940 |
- Edmonton's 330-megawatt Rossdale station, with six coal-fired steam turbine sets, becomes Canada's largest thermal plant. It is converted to natural gas in the 1950s.
|
| 1951 |
- Canada's first 100-megawatt steam turbo-generator set is installed at Toronto's Richard Hearn Plant.
|
| 1960 |
- Lakeview Station in Mississauga, Ontario is Canada's first 300-megawatt thermal plant.
- Thermal power accounts for 19 per cent of Canada's installed electrical generation.
|
| 1970 |
- Thermal power accounts for 33 per cent of Canada's installed electrical generation.
|
| 1990 |
- Thermal power accounts for 30 per cent of Canada's installed electrical generation.
|
| Currently |
- Today, about 26 per cent of Canada's electrical generation comes from coal, natural gas or oil.
|
