Electricity does NOT travel at the speed of light

Many textbooks claim that Electricity (electrons) within wires flows at nearly (or even exactly at) the speed of light. In fact it's the electrical energy which flows rapidly (“rapidly” is still slower than the speed of light). Electrons, which have mass, can never travel at the speed of light due to the theory of relativity. The drift velocity of the charges in an electric current is extremely slow, on the order of centimetres per hour. Where the electric current is visible, as in electrophoresis, the slow movement of charge carriers can be seen directly.

As a very rough analogy, imagine a line of people at an amusement park. When the people at the front board the ride, a space opens up, and rapidly spreads to the back of the line. However, the average velocity of any one person is far slower than the speed at which the space moves.