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In 1748 the commercial production of coal began in the U.S. near Richmond, Virginia.
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In 1752 Benjamin Franklin discovered that lightning is electricity and opened the door for the development of electricity.
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In Baltimore, Maryland in 1816 street lights were lit with gas made from coal and Baltimore became the first city in the country to do so.
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In 1838 the first hydrogen fuel cell was developed to generate electricity by William Robert Grove.
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In 1882 Thomas Edison started the first coal-fired power station in New York City which supplied electricity for lighting households.
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In 1882 the first hydroelectric power station opened in Wisconsin to create electricity from the energy of running water.
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In 1888 the first windmill to generate electricity was developed in Cleveland, Ohio by Charles F. Brush.
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In 1912 the first liquefied natural gas plant opened in West Virginia.
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In 1957 the first commercial nuclear power plant went into service in Shippingport, Pennsylvania.
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In 2006 President Bush called for a greater use of alternative fuels, specifically ethanol, in his State of the Union address.