Built in 1894-96, the Stairs Project was the first hydroelectric power plant to provide electricity to Salt Lake City and one of the first plants in Utah to transmit power long distance using alternating current rather than direct current. The historic complex includes the powerhouse, dam, conduit, and penstock, all critical components of a hydroelectric plant, and it is ideally located to take advantage of the Stairs cascade on Big Cottonwood Creek. During the late nineteenth century, technological developments, capitalist enterprise, and economic demands led to the creation of Utah’s hydroelectric power industry. Small utility companies around the state built water power plants to generate electricity, mostly for streetcar systems, mines, and other industries, while cities and small towns also used power for municipal, commercial, and domestic purposes. By the early twentieth century, merger and consolidation among Utah's utilities culminated in the formation of the Utah Power & Light Company, which later merged in 1989 with PacifiCorp, an Oregon corporation that continues to operate the Stairs Project.