The first major hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls, known as the Edward Dean Adams Power Plant, was primarily the result of a collaboration between the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the inventor Nikola Tesla. Construction began in 1893 after George Westinghouse won the contract over Thomas Edison, largely because Westinghouse and Tesla's Alternating Current (AC) system was capable of transmitting electricity over long distances, whereas Edison's Direct Current (DC) was not. The project was funded by a group of wealthy investors known as the Cataract Construction Company, which included titans like J.P. Morgan and John Jacob Astor IV. The plant officially began operation on November 16, 1896, successfully sending power 20 miles away to Buffalo, New York. This was a watershed moment in the "War of the Currents," effectively proving that AC power was the future of global electrification. In 2026, the Niagara Parks Power Station on the Canadian side—a later plant built in 1905—has been transformed into a major historical attraction, allowing visitors to explore the massive turbines that pioneered the modern power grid.