Aluminum wire has been used as an electrical conductor for a considerable period of time, particularly by electrical utilities related to power transmission lines in use shortly after the beginning of modern power distribution systems being constructed starting in the late 1880s. Aluminum wire requires a larger wire gauge than copper wire to carry the same current, but is still less expensive than copper wire for a particular application. 

Aluminum alloys used for electrical conductors are only approximately 61% as conductive as copper of the same cross-section, but aluminum's density is 30.5% that of copper. Accordingly, one pound of aluminum has the same current carrying capacity as two pounds of copper. Since copper costs about three times as much as aluminum by weight， aluminum wires are one-sixth the cost of copper wire of the same conductivity. The lower weight of aluminum wires in particular makes these electrical conductors well suited for use in power distribution systems by electrical utilities, as supporting towers or structures only need to support half the weight of wires to carry the same current