Legacy of DC power in New York
From Urban Earth
In the two decades before the dawn of the electric century two systems of power distribution competed for dominance. Thomas Edison, lauded as the father of electric power, expounded the virtues of Direct Current systems. George Westinghouse and Nicola Tesla stood for the opposing Alternating Current camp. These camps were determined less by belief in the technical merits of these systems and more in who held patents related to which system. Without going into detail it was quickly established that DC power was most useful for short length systems with low power requirements (today DC is most frequently used in the digital doohickeys we hang from our belts and plug into our ears), while AC was better suited for long distance, high power services (AC power is what you get out of the power outlet on your wall.)
Of course since there was big money involved for whoever got their system adopted the technical merits of each system counted for diddlysquat. Spectacle and bribes would determine the victor.
Apart from some early test of these systems (notably the wiring of Menlo Park, NJ by Edison) there were no large scale uses of electrical appliances anywhere. As Edison had substantial backing by Wall Street interests it was decided that the first working electrical system would power lower Manhattan.
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