Of the renewable energy sources that generate electricity, hydropower is the most often used. It currently accounts for 6 percent of total U.S. electricity generation and 71 percent of generation from renewable sources recorded in 2007.

Hydro Power is one of the oldest sources of energy and was used thousands of years ago to turn a paddle wheel for purposes such as grinding grain. Our nation’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  

The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1882. Until that time, coal was the primary fuel source which was burned to produce electricity. Because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used.