Metrication in the United States There are no U.S. customary units for electric current, potential difference, or charge since these concepts were developed after the international adoption of metric in science. The metric units ampere, volt, ohm and coulomb are the only units used. The SI term hertz has replaced the term "cycles per second" as a unit of frequency. Energy is often measured in watt hours, BTUs, therms or calories rather than the SI joule. Residential and commercial electrical energy use is metered and billed in kilowatt hours, kW·h, as in most metric countries. Force measurements regularly use the pound instead of the SI
History of the metric system the Treaty of the Metre was extended to cover electrical units with the CGPM merging its work with that of the IEC. The twentieth century history of measurement is marked by five periods: the 1901 definition of the coherent MKS system; the intervening 50 years of coexistence of the MKS, cgs and common systems of measures; the 1948 "Practical system of units" prototype of the SI; the introduction of the SI in 1960; and the evolution of the SI in the latter half century. The need for an orthogonal electromagnetic unit to resolve the difficulties of defining such units in