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Electrical standards

Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparati for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his divided ring electrometer, based on the electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger. He introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.

In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls, Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.

Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first president at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President, secounded by Mr Mailloux the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.