In today's culture, electricity is a vital part of functioning as a society. Simple tasks, such as waking up at a designated time or enjoying a piece of music, are accomplished currently via electronic means. One only needs to consider the consequences of a relatively short power outage factories close down, phones and computers go dead, traffic slows to a crawl, food spoils in refrigerators to accurately observe how power-dependent our society has become. However, electricity is a constantly developing technology, and the aspects one currently associates with electricity and electricity generation are nowhere close to the original features. In the past century and a half, electricity has steadily evolved from a scientific curiosity, to a luxury of the affluent, to a modern need. Along the way, it has been shaped by a variety of non-technological factors: economic, political, social, and environmental, to name a few.