Electricity is the most versatile energy source. Electricity is the most convenient form of energy for most uses in home, school, office and industry. Electricity can be used in almost any way, while other forms of energy are less versatile. Electricity can power huge motors and can create heat. Electricity can drive complex devices from stereos to electron microscopes.
Electricity can run appliances and illuminate light bulbs.
No other form of energy can do all these things. One of the main tasks of electrical utilities is to convert other forms of energy into electricity. They take forms of energy that are cheap and abundant, but less versatile, such as the kinetic energy of falling water or the chemical energy in coal, and use them to create electricity. The energy resources found in nature are usually more useful to people when they have been converted into electricity. Oil provides liquid fuels that are the energy base for most transportation.