1957 · Milestone
Shippingport — first U.S. nuclear plant for customers
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania became the first U.S. nuclear power plant to supply electricity to the grid for customers.
Reconciliation note: Obninsk, USSR (1954) was the world's first grid-connected nuclear plant—outside U.S.-primary scope except as context.
Historical era
Petroleum age (1950–1972)
Petroleum became the most-consumed U.S. energy source in 1950 and fueled transportation-led growth.