Penn historian discusses the threat birds posed to the power grid in 1920s California
Thursday, June 4, 2015 - 19:30
in Earth & Climate
In 1913 in Southern California, two 241-mile-long electric lines began carrying power from hydroelectric dams in the Sierra Nevada to customers in Los Angeles—a massive feat of infrastructure. In 1923, power company Southern California Edison upgraded the line to carry 220,000 volts, among the highest voltage lines in the world at the time.