ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Edwardsport Power Station

Okay, so you know that electricity is really important, right? We use it for everything from turning on the lights to watching TV to using the internet. And did you know that sometimes, we make electricity by burning things like coal? That's what happens at the Edwardsport Power Station.

Imagine you're making a really big fire in your backyard. You put in all this wood and twigs and paper, and you light it with a match. As the fire burns, it gets really hot, and you can use that heat to do things like cook food or keep warm.

Well, that's kind of like what happens at the Edwardsport Power Station, except they use coal instead of wood. Coal is a special kind of rock that comes from underground, and when you burn it, it gets really hot just like a fire.

So, they take the coal and put it into these big machines called boilers. The boilers have a lot of pipes and tubes inside of them, and when they heat up, they make steam. Steam is just like the fog you see on a cold morning, but it's made by heat instead of cold air.

Next, they send the steam through these pipes called turbines. A turbine is just a fancy word for a wheel that spins around really fast. When the steam from the boilers goes through the turbines, it makes the wheel spin, and that's what creates the electricity.

Finally, the electricity is sent out to homes and businesses through power lines. So, when you turn on the lights in your house, the electricity is coming all the way from the Edwardsport Power Station!

Pretty cool, huh?