Which company built the generators for the first Niagara Falls AC power plant?

Westinghouse Electric built the generators for the first large-scale Niagara Falls AC power plant.

The Niagara Falls Power Company awarded Westinghouse the generating contract in 1893 after engineers selected a polyphase alternating-current design. Westinghouse Electric subcontracted the manufacture of the generators, while the I. P. Morris Company supplied the turbines based on a European design.

The generators drew on Tesla’s AC patents and the engineering work of George Forbes and Benjamin G. Lamme. The first Adams station used ten vertical-shaft generators, each rated at 5,000 horsepower, producing 25-hertz AC electricity. Power-plant transformers then raised the voltage for transmission and local distribution.

General Electric is a frequent source of confusion because it received important contracts for transmission lines and transformers associated with the Niagara project. Edison Electric was not the company that built the generating units. Westinghouse’s equipment helped establish Niagara as a landmark in the practical adoption of long-distance AC power.