L. L. Nunn fathered the first application of a power plant to transmit alternating current for the generation of power.  It was the first time this feat had been achieved anyplace on earth!​

In 1890, the Gold King Mine near Telluride, Colorado was losing money due to the cost of freighting fuel to run its generators. Cheap power was desperately needed. Nunn developed an idea of using alternating current transmitted at high voltages, then stepping it down with transformers. He investigated methods of using hydro-electric power and persuaded George Westinghouse to back the $15 million venture. Nunn immediately began building the Ames Power Plant. He and his associates worked through the harsh winter stringing wires and designing lightning arresters. Nikola Tesla personally designed the motor to be used and Westinghouse provided the generators.​

On opening day in 1891, surrounded by skeptics, he threw the switch. A blue arc filled the sky and power surged to the Gold King Mine three miles away where the generators ran flawlessly!​

Those present witnessed the world’s first successful commercial transmission of alternating current power! The Gold King expenses dropped dramatically, and the mine was  soon running in the black. Low grade orebodies, previously too costly to mine, now became profitable. Nunn built many more power plants, including the one in Ontario at Niagara Falls. He was the first great hydro-electric magnate in the world and developed the first industrial training programs in the country. The hydro-electric plant at Ames—the first of its kind anywhere—stands today as a memorial to L. L. Nunn and continues to pump kilowatts into the Colorado Ute Power System.​

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