George Westinghouse imports a number of Gaulard-Gibbs…
1885 CE
George Westinghouse imports a number of Gaulard-Gibbs transformers and a Siemens AC generator to begin experimenting with AC networks in Pittsburgh in 1885.
Westinghouse's interests in gas distribution and telephone switching have logically led him to become interested in electrical power distribution.
He had investigated Edison's scheme, but had decided that it is too inefficient to be scaled up to a large size.
Edison's power network is based on low-voltage DC, which means large currents and serious power losses.
Nikola Tesla is working on "alternating current (AC)" power distribution.
An AC power system allows voltages to be "stepped up" by a transformer for distribution, reducing power losses, and then "stepped down" by a transformer for consumer use.
A power transformer developed by Lucien Gaulard of France and John Dixon Gibbs of England had been demonstrated in London in 1881, and had attracted the interest of Westinghouse.
Transformers are not new, but the Gaulard-Gibbs design is one of the first that can handle large amounts of power and is easily manufactured.