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The first steam engine was developed in England to pump water out of coal mines.
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The first commercial coal production was in Richmond, Virginia. Coal was used to produce shot, shell, and other war materials during the Revolutionary War.
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In 1876, William Grylls Adams discovered that selenium generated an electric current when exposed to light. This proved that a solid object could change light into electricity without heat or moving parts.
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The first windmill to generate electricity was in Cleveland, Ohio by Charles F. Bush. He first used it to power electricity in his own home.
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Marcellus and Joe Jacobs developed the first commercial wind turbines for electricity generation. The brothers built the wind turbines based on earlier water pump mills.
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The world's largest hydroelectric power plant is built in Arizona.
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The first nuclear power reactor generates electricity was built in Idaho.
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The world's very first solar powered village is in Tohono O'odham Reservation, Arizona, an Indian reservation. The system provided water pumps and electricity for 15 homes.
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In February 2008 the first commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant goes into production.
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The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first Clean Air Act standard for carbon pollution from new power plants. The rule applies to all new power plants that burn fossil fuel to create electricity including coal and natural gas fired power plants.
