off EILECTF30C LOVIMGc
5s &
l
Heppner,
19, Ai
Miracle of Electricity
Changes Life
The miracle ot yMterday oon
hoeome the commonrlac of to
dayand thl I true of electric
livine.
In 1S79. mcrlcana Jammed
KpiTial traint bound lor Memo
Tark. N. J. to Thomas A
Kdisnn's marvel, the Incandes
cmt llrht bulb the practical be
ginning of electric living In this
iuntr'
Yet today we flick a handy
switch and bathe a room with
lipht as casually as blinking our
eyes. We accept all the wonders
of electric living Invented and
mass produced in the 80 years
since Edison Ingeniously revo
lutior.lzed our lives.
n-e difficult to envision life
without electricity. Our "sky
scrapers' would be four stories
hish as high as we wouia oe
wiHfne to climb. Our homes
u.nni.i inrk the more than 60
electrical appliances and devices
kitchen ranges to hair dryers
now serving homeowners. Our
factories still would use oniy
steam engines; our hospitals
unn l.l have no x-ravs.
Today, a resident of Taclflc
p.i-nri.mrt llvps in the most
.iivtrifid reclon In the nation
His home uses twice as much
electricity each year as the nat
ional average, supplying him
nnrt his family with electric la-
hnr pnual to over 100 human
household servants.
a ri'jtL customer In a rural
area can adapt electricity to 450
different uses about nis iarm
and home.
If lie works In a factory with
electric-powered machinery he
has an average energy equiv
alent of 210 men at his finger
tip control In an 8-hour shift.
We can look forward to many
more miracles In our electric
way of life. Tomorrow's home
will t'e illuminated by solid
walls of light. We will sleep
under an electric blanket that
cool-, us in summer and warms
us in winter. The homemaker
will slip a punched card into a
tiny kitchen electronic computer
and it will prepare the entire
meal. Clothing will be washed
without water, soil being whis
ked away by use of static elec
tricity. The wonders of electric living
are ours because of the efforts
of leaders in the electric in
dustry, typified by the men who
direct the plans and pioneering
of Pacific Power & light Com
pany. The myriad services of
electricity which provide the ul
timate in comfort, convenience
and enjoyment of our daily lives
are the resuix oi ou yen ui
gress by an industry which has
been paceu uy mc .
'
Tax Payments Large
As a taxpaylng citizen and
snnnorter of local government
services Pacific Power & Light
Company paid $6,295,000 in state
ana iuctti waco ,
' m
The outomobUe sedans of th
generating P"" rrZSiir 7 ford was trpical of the line
miarter-centurr. Ubiauitous Model T Fora was tjp
5lu" . ......
' m C DDT. I CAltlnn
f . . , .
--rill; ; i-. , . . , , : ,-. .
'-tlJk' .
r 'V 5 " ' ..;. . .
i . . " : : ... . vr-r-ilt '''
i .... ... . "'-'- If - . . .MU
-wwu imn.mi.slon and
iied lntallatlon. In tho Northwe.t Hug tramformer U a 230X00-
Heppner's
The maelc of electricity first ;
brightened the night sky in
Heppner in the year 1893.
Energy for the light strung
along the town's main business
stn-pt. and orobably adorning
the bars In the best thlrst-slack- j
tne oars in me Des,i uuiM-mui-
ine emporiums of this wheat-!
i i ..t coot ramo frnm i
ldllU t-uumj . v-.w - )
small steam engine electric
ft-
Pacif ic Twer's early promotion
electric irons uuu .
itioo Nnn Hrensed salesman Rav Turnbull leffc was
enthusiastic about electric living conveniences he later became
nregldent of the Edison General Electric Appliance Com-
nuiM ion riodni iron
u'ced jirst electric washing machines to PP4L customers. His
iaon Drennan, Is PP&L manager for the Pendleton district.
which Includes neppner,
1920-. double-parked in front of the old Heppner steam-electric
W - ld etxS service landmark. Plant .erred area for a
T Tnrrl was tYDlcar OI uu uim
L
. gazette-Time
rn
.
UJ
o.neratinc fadlitlei built by Pacific Power & Light Companf to
Pioneer Plants Had Problems
generating plant.
Founder of this system was
. V. Gates, who had been gran-
ted a c ty irancn se ,o .uppjy
the service, a year earlier, and
uer, ana
then organizea me neppner
. . ft
Light and .Water Company. H s
.
associates In the enterprise were
Thnmas W. Avers ana James
D. Hamilton.
of appliances brought the lirst
1b Georaa I. Drennan. who In-
service trucks of the era, covering
a eu stomerm.
kitk. uuim w u i
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, October
If
A! WW A- . I
' '-4 X.I t 1 i t-H
.sv 'TfTfrjyr Mjf M't.r"
Tolt giant, typical ot ualti ot lood
I The idea of gettlhg rid of the
coa -oil lamps tor me incKermg
1
rJ L before
w3
was
i auArv Firtncn in nonnnpr anu nit?
j ...
l"' "
- .. . . KVtpm
the new lighting system.
at Hares lor stmn
Like many of the pioneering
svstems of-that era electricity
was sold in Heppner at a flat
rate per month. A single 16
candlepower globe, equivalent to
a 20-watt bulb oi todays stan
dard, was $1.45 per month if you
kept It burning until 10 p. m. ir
vnu wanted service until mid
nirht vou Daid $2. Business
firms, like the hotel and the
saloons, could have service all
night at $2.80 for each bulb.
The whirring of the power
generator and the hiss of steam
nf tho old Heopner company
plant kept the lights burning
most of the time. But the fre
outages often stretched In
to days while the plant was shut
down for repairs or emergencies.
There were no interconnections
of systems such as assure de
pendable service for customers
of today's electric service com-
nanips. That was to come along
later, as the Industry expanded
and the men who pioneered the
fnrinstrv learned how to trans
port power over longer and lon
ger transmission lines.
Small Plants Overtaxed
During the first decade or tne
now renturv the growth of the
business taxed the capacity of
th. initial Dlant. and the firm
rebuilt Its power station in 1911,
adding two 125-horse p o we r
steam engines and two General
Electric generators.
The units were capable of pro
rhirlne 50 and 100 kilowatts of
electricity, a mere fraction of the
n.noo kilowatt units at racinc
Pnwpr's nuarter-million kilowatt
Swift plant on the Lewis River.
The two generators gave the
company alternate machines in
pvpnt nf trouble, and the greater
dependability of service helped
attract more business. Jtsy laia
the company was able to expand
again by extending an 11,000
volt transmission line to lone. It
ilt a distribution system
for the neighboring community
of Lexington.
Sale of the Heppner Light ana
Water Company to the Sherman
Electric Company in 1927 was a
part of a trend of the 1920's when
growth of the small systems
pushed them beyond their abil
Ity to meet the customer's needs
and larger plants were required
One of the plans of the new
combined operation was for a
hydroelectric plant on the John
Day River, but this was aban-
doned in tavor oi an nierconnec
tlon with the Pacific Power i
. ... .
77th Year,
ij
o
tupplY iU cu.tomer. Includ. rocord-
centert tor PF&Li Wm.
Light Co. r u was xnen .
v.ng -" aa wmw
" " !, ThT'next" vea tt!
Sherman ElecUlc Company fa
- - ",,,, , fh-
i run li's wi1 c yuiv.i"u j
t ,h. mm nan v.
" taier Pacific
Power and Light came to Hep-
i , - .
pner when It fed the re
sponslbllltics for the services to
communities or Morrow, oner
man and Gilliam counties.
Tacific Power began to build
transmission lines to connect the
newly acquired properties with
the remainder of Its system.
Gradually, the small obsolete
generating plants was retired
from service.
Interconnections Aid Service
Bringing the struggling sys
tems into an Interconnected op
eration was a milestone In the
progress of the utility Industry In
this area. From then on, when
one plant broke down service
could be supplied from a neigh
boring plant, or power brought In
over an interconnection oi me
loon circuit.
Use of electricity has con
tinued to grow through the Pa
cific Power system, and today
the area known- as Pacific Power
land is one of the most electri
fied in the nation. During the
first decade of the company's
services, the average household
used about 200-klIowatt hours of
electricity. This Is less $iti a
modern "electric living" house
hold uses in a week In most of
the PP&L area.
And with the Increased use
and the larger power systems
making possible greater econ
omies In operation, the cost of
the service has gradually de
clined from the 20 and 30 cents
ner kilowatt hour of the earlier
years to slightly more than one
cent a kilowatt hour for resi
dential service In the Heppner
area.
Farm Uses Many
Rpspnrfhers in the United
States Denartment of Agricul
ture point to more than 450 dif
ferent applications of electricty
on the farm and in the farm
home.
In Pacific Powerland, one of
the nation's most electrified re
gions, continuing rural electrl
firation efforts of PP&L have
OToria it rwicclhlA fnr farm fami-
lies to live better electrically.
There have been
many jcai
early days
changes from the
when us of electricity on the
farm was limited to lighting and
pumping water
From burglar alarms to barn
cleaners. Reddy Kilowatt sup-
plies the power of many "red
hands on the farms of Pacific
.
27, 1960
0)
Number 34
Company Corn in 1910
Serves Growing Area
Fifty years of electric utility service pioneering and power
supply development, and the role of Taclflc Tower h Light Com
pany In helping to build the areas It serves, are being recognized
during 1900 In observance of the Company's 50th anniversary year.
The first half-century of progress of the company, now one
of the region's leading Industries, also hlghllghta the vigorous
growth of the extensive territory served by IT1L In five statea of
the Northwest
cinnirirant rhnniiTi in th utiirv of how the "made of electricity
came to the farms., factories and
featured in this special news-
naner suDolement edition
Formed of four small local
power companies that were
struggling in 1910 to stay In the
business of providing electricity
to Illuminate streets and stores
and homes. Pacific Uower start
ed with 10.780 customers In 14
towns and rural areas of Wash
ington and Oregon. With growth
of the Northwest, and as a re
sult of mergers with neighbor
ing utilities, the company now
serves over 317500 customers.
LIGHTS WENT OFr EARLY
WHEN DAD "SPOONED" MOM
When the newly-founded TP&L
too over the pioneering systems
the Idea of regular 24-hour elec
tric service was a rarity In the
Industry. Power plant break
downs often stretched Into days.
House and street lights usually
went off at midnight, when the
plant operator went home to
sleep. If Dad was still spooning
Mom, they lit an oil lamp, ad
ding to our Janguage the apt
expression "burning the mid
night oil."
Compared with the large hy
droelectric and steam-electric
power plant capacities required
for today's modern system, the
total of 10,600 kilowatts of gen
erating capacity needed for the
fledgling power company was a
mere drop of supply.
But In those days the average
household "burned" only a few
elobes. A laundry Iron was a
cherished gift to a bride. Clothes
washers were wooden-tub af
fairs. Service was sold for 15 to 20
" ov..v. -
ppnts
a ktlowatt-nour in xnose
days. Some companies provided
l
a 16-watt bulb and kept it iignt-
ed for 75 cents a month. An
extra globe for the front porch
was supplied for an additional
25 cents a month.
The malor industrial consumer
of electricity In 1910 was usu?lly
. . .-i i -ii.4i f
fi- -fZtl J
first commercial iuiuu -
aboard S.S. Columbia, shown above In an old Scientific American
drawing. Vessel reached Portland. July. 1880; showed off its lighting.
the town's street railway, often
an affiliate of the utility system
itself.
urw COMPANY DEVELOPS
RELIABLE POWER SUPPLIES
The minion kilowatts or power
nnr nrnvidpd customers by Paci
fic Power could not have been
envisioned by its founders in
that first decade of the 20th
century. But they believed addi
tional investments in new iaciu
ties could offer the growing
Northwest a dependable electric
service.
That was thp challenge then
confronting the electric Industry
everywhere.
During the first year or rrau s
life the company built 200 miles
of transmission line to link to-
opthpr its scatered systems, rne
lines assured more reliable Serv
ian hv pxehanelne power when
any one plant broke down. Next
the company began to modernize
11 hvdroelectric and
steam-electric plants and build
larger ones. Several or those new
plants of the first decade are
still part of the power supply
system.
homes of Taclflc Towerland are
Kmployees also kept busy sell
ing new appliances to more
homes and farms, and electric
service to factories, then largely
powered by their own steam en
gines. Although electricity now Is
used universally, Pacific Power
continuously engages In a broad
scaled program to stimulate
greater use of its service com
modity and also aid the econo
mic development of its service
areas.
PP&L PIONEERS FARM
ELECTRIFICATION IDEAS
The company's interest In agri
cultural research, 411 youth pro
jects and the growth of crop
and livestock industries are a
result of the recognition In 1910
that the success of the company
would depend upon tne pros
perity of agriculture In Its re
gion. Over the years, the com
pany's pioneering of farm elec
trification has received national
recognition. - -
The company's farm agents
drove the countryside's dusty
and muddy roads helping farm
ers build tneir rirst eiecuic
brooders and pump-lrrl g a 1 1 o n
evstom.q. As a result, four-fifths
of all of PP&L's present distri
bution circuits are serving rural
areas and farms
One rural area circuit is still
known as the "Moo Cow" line
because It powered some or the
first electrified dairy barns In
the nation.
METER MEN CARRIED IRONS
TO HELP BOOST APPLIANCES
i Boosting uac vi. c.-v.i-4ij
sni, Qf aDDllances called for in-
'
rrflann'a Incandescent light WOS
genulty and hard work in those
days.
In the towns the meter read
ers carried the new-fangled
"electrlc-lrons" under their arm
to Introduce the convenience to
housewives on their route. The
new appliances then were placed
In homes on a trial demonstra
tlon. One advertisement In that
era suggested brides could help
their husbands to success by
using more work-saving electric
appliances. The idea was she
wouldn't be as weary when hub
by came home, and could help
entertain his friends, go party
Ing, play bridge.
A measure of the extent which
households now are enjoying the
convenience and comforts of
electric living is indicated by the
amount used in the average
home served by PP&L. When the
company was founded, the
"modern home" used about 200
kilowatt-hours annually. That
wasn't as much in a full year as
many homes now use In one
week. The residential use ' of
electricity in Pacific Powerland
(Continued on Page 2)
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