Complex sentence: Electricity, however, has been banned nearly since its discovery following an event referred to as "the L-disaster", so that airplanes and cars exist, but television and telephones do not, or are replaced with similar devices powered by water.
Split into simpler sentences: Electricity, however, has been banned since almost the time of its discovery following an event referred to as "the L-disaster". Airplanes and cars exist, but television and telephones do not, their functions served by similar devices powered by water.