BC hydro generates power by moving or falling water that produces mechanical/electrical energy. The power that is generated from the water is distributed using 73,000 kilometres of interconnected transmission and distribution lines. There are eight consecutive steps to how this power is exactly generated.

The first step to begin the process is called the hydroelectric dam. There is water stored in the dam and then it is transformed into kinetic energy. The kinetic energy that is created by this process is used to later turn a turbine. Secondly, this is a step known as the generator. What happens during this is water falls onto a series of blades attached around a shaft. When the water hits the shaft it changes it from kinetic energy to mechanical energy. This causes a turbine to turn and the generator is driven. Finally the generator changes the energy that the turbine has created (mechanical energy) into electric energy. The pressure cause by the voltage is what forces the electricity to flow. This brings us to the next step which is the step-up transformer. The voltage that is received from the generators is mostly low, but for the transmission lines to be able to carry the voltage it must be high. That’s where the step-up transformer comes in. It takes the low voltage created by the generator and increases it to a higher transmission. The big metal towers that your see around often are called grid transmission lines. These tall towers carry high voltage electrify for long distances. The terminal station is the home base. It controls the power flow. The substransmission lines donate power from the terminal stations to distribution station. They are connectors between stations.

These are the steps to the creation of electricity. As you can see, it is time consuming and diffcult to generate this amount of power, but it to definitely worth it.