In the late 1880s Edison and Westinghouse battled over the relative merits of DC and AC power distribution systems. After the electric chair had been developed Edison attempted to name electrocution “Westinghousing” because it used AC, but he failed. The AC system was victorious because transformers could raise the voltage to thousands of volts for transmission, then lower it for use in homes and businesses. At the high voltages the current needed to transmit large amounts of power is reduced, and so is the energy lost to thermal energy because the heating of transmission wires depends on current and resistance.