This chapter focuses on the importance of electricity and the origin of grids. It explains that while the expanding patchwork of grids fueled the development of cities, these grids eventually broke the city's hold as the central source of essential services. The spread of electrification enabled a retreat from the city, and enabled homes to exist outside of the urban service center. The chapter discusses how the ways Americans chose to develop their power grids shaped the kind of lives they could lead, and also reveals that, for most people, there is no alternative to living with electric power in one form or another, and that, for the majority, electric power is beyond the range of debate.