After several deaths were caused by alternating current arc lighting lines in New York City, Brown came to prominence in June 1888, claiming in the press and then in public meetings that AC was more deadly than direct current and that the arc lighting companies were cutting corners and using AC to save money at the cost of public safety. He conducted public demonstrations (electrocuting animals with AC) then lobbied around the country trying to limit AC transmission line voltages to 300 volts, tactics which had him using the press to directly attack the country's largest AC equipment manufacturer, Westinghouse Electric. He also pushed to have the first electric chair, which was being developed by the state of New York, be powered with AC current, provided by Westinghouse generators he had surreptitiously acquired. His involvement in these events is controversial since he was working parallel with (some documents show colluded with) the Edison Illuminating Company, showing a preference for Edison's direct current power system and advocating for severe restrictions on AC power systems that would put Edison's competitors at a disadvantage.