The grid we would get, the grid that the mess of the 1880s would resolve into, reflected in many ways the decisions made at Niagara—polyphase alternating current, oscillating at 60 cycles a second, produced by large power stations, transmitted by means of point-to-point high-voltage wires, and distributed by networked and ringed lower-voltage delivery systems, standardized at 110 and 220 volts.
