Right, actual, physical electrons move about as fast as sap in a conductor. I'm sure the OP meant the speed of electric charge, while still not moving at c, it

Right, actual, physical electrons move about as fast as sap in a conductor. I'm sure the OP meant the speed of electric charge, while still not moving at c, it is a decent fraction of it. Two second explanation that I'm sure everyone knows: When you imagine a conductor to be a pipe full of electrons that are all annoyed at other electrons, once you pop another one in from one side, that annoyance (charge) percolates up to the other end and pushes an electron out from the other side. This is what people claim is actually moving at close to c, not the physical electrons. Electrons are matter and thus can't come close to c. This is why AC is a lot more efficient at transmitting electricity: with alternating current, you push and pull a couple of electrons from each side really fast, and the 'meat' of the charge isn't moving more than an infinitely small distance. When you have a current flow that never changes polarity, you're always pushing charge in the same direction.