page_title: Hartford Electric Light Company
section_title: Innovations
hierarchical_section_title: Hartford Electric Light Company / Innovations
caption_attribution_description: English: turbine electrical generator called "Mary-Ann"
context_page_description: The Hartford Electric Light Company is a defunct electrical company that was located on Pearl Street in Hartford, Connecticut. It was merged with the Connecticut Power Company in 1958 and later these became Connecticut Light & Power. Its former corporate headquarters building and main facility are in the Ann Street Historic District.
context_section_description: HELCO was the first company in America to use a steam turbine for a public utility to generate electricity. They installed the steam turbine generator in 1901 and it became known as "Mary-Ann."
  HELCO made several innovations in the electrical industry. They became standard practices. HELCO was the first electric company in the United States to transmit three-phase alternating current at high voltage for long distances. The company did this in 1893 from their Rainbow Hydroelectric Station in Windsor, Connecticut to its main station in Hartford – some eight miles away. Hartford Electric Light Company was the first to use a storage battery in conjunction with the electricity produced at a hydraulic powerhouse. The innovation made it possible to collect and store water power energy that would have gone unused during low demand periods. This energy could then be returned when the demands were higher.
  The president of HELCO invented an electric range that had a broiler, cooker, and roaster. The company marketed the electric range. There were about 20,000 ranges put into homes throughout the Hartford area. HELCO's president received patents for an electrical radiator to heat water and an ice-making machine. Many of the homes of Hartford had these electrical appliances by 1915.
caption: "Mary-Ann" steam turbine electric generator 1901
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