The Ames power station was built at the end of a decade that saw the rapid expansion in the use of alternating current as a power transmission format. During this period Westinghouse was in stiff competition with other AC companies as well with Thomas Edison's direct current based Edison Electric Company. A propaganda campaign/"war of currents" had even broken out between Westinghouse and Edison. Westinghouse Electric looked on the Ames project as a great way to demonstrate the capability of the AC system they had been developing since they installed their first AC transformer based lighting systems in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in March 1886.