Electrical Substation

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

What you are looking at is a sub-station on the electrical power grid. Electricity is produced at large power plants, with a very high voltage. This high voltage is advantageous because it leads to lower losses acquired in the transmission process of the power. However, this large voltage, that is good for transportation, would destroy most devices that run on electricity. As a result, the electrical grid has sub-stations, like this one, to reduce the high voltage to more manageable magnitudes.