|
The first power facility, a wood frame and corrugated sheet
iron building, housed one 200-kW Crocker-Wheeler generator driven by a
Fleming-Corliss engine, one 200-pound pressure boiler, a condenser, pumps,
and other auxiliary equipment. The generator had an exciter which was belt-driven off the
engine flywheel. Since the
original installation was for furnishing power for street lighting
purposes only, the plant was closed down during the daylight hours,
allowing plenty of time for maintenance. In 1908, less than two years later, the plant was enlarged by
the addition of a second generating unit of 240 KW capacity.
With this addition, the plant had sufficient capacity and
reliability to take on a few commercial customers, and in October of 1908,
Pasadena established its first commercial service.
Power was first sold at the competitive rate of eight cents per
KWH, and for a number of years thereafter Pasadena was involved in a rate
war with the private utility. The municipal utility survived in the early days largely
because of the street lighting revenue, but after a bond issue in 1909 for
further expansion, the utility was able to grow from sales revenues. The third addition to the plant was an 833-kW engine-driven
generator and boiler. Electrical energy, originally generated and distributed at
2300 volts and a frequency of 60 hertz, was converted to 50 hertz to
conform to the rest of Southern California.
Practically the entire load was single-phase lighting, including
street lighting operating on series circuits. By 1915, the Department had added two steam turbine
generators to the power plant--a 1100-kW Westinghouse unit and a 3000-kW
Allis-Chalmers unit. The
plant facility was enlarged to house the new generators and boilers and a
new cooling tower was built. By 1917, World War I had forced the price of fuel oil to rise
to such an extent that Pasadena found it profitable to buy surplus
hydroelectric power from the City of Los Angeles. Two 34 KV lines were brought into Pasadena from the Los
Angeles Garvanza Substation. The
voltage was stepped down to 2300 volts through a 3000-KVA bank of
transformers, which were housed in a shed on the west side of the
building. In 1920, Pasadena purchased a part of the Edison system
within the City boundaries, causing the peak load to jump to more than
5000 KW. With the purchase of
the Edison Company facilities, the City acquired its first substation,
including warehouse and shop properties.
When Pasadena took over that portion of the Edison Company within
the City, it also contracted to purchase power wholesale from the Edison
Company. Transformers were set up in the backyard of the steam plant,
and for a short time the City was receiving power from both Los Angeles
and the Edison Company. In 1923, construction was started on the first unit of 10,000
KW capacity for a new power plant. Construction
was accelerated when a power shortage, caused by a rapid increase in
demand, pushed the City into a position of having insufficient power.
As a stopgap measure, the old generators were put into
operation and the new plant was rushed to completion. By May of 1924, the new unit was delivering its full capacity
to the Edison Company and continued to do so until November of that year. The period of 1924 to 1930 was one of rapid expansion for the
Department. Use of
electricity was increasing, the population was growing, and the Department
was taking over the load of the Edison Company as new territories were
annexed to the City. A 15-kW
transmission system was established and a new substation was built on
Raymond Avenue above Washington Boulevard. After Lamanda Park was annexed to the City, Pasadena acquired
the old Santa Anita Substation and some transmission facilities feeding
this station from the Edison Company.
Later, the new Santa Anita Substation was built on Altadena Drive.
The Engineering Office outgrew its quarters in the City Hall,
and office space was taken in the Central Building on Raymond Avenue.
By 1927, a second unit was added to the new power Plant. Further expansion continued and in 1928, Pasadena’s present
City Hall on Garfield Avenue opened, providing adequate space for new
Light Department offices. Pasadena
contracted with the Federal government to take power from Hoover Dam and
with the Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light to wheel the power to
Pasadena over its transmission lines. A new 25,000 KW unit authorized before the end of the
building boom in 1930 was put into operation in 1932. During the depression years, Light Department money went into
make-work projects for the unemployed, and miles of underground conduit
were laid in ditches dug by hand labor.
In 1933, new central yards were established on Glen Avenue and
modern warehouses and shops were built.
The 34 KW lines from Los Angeles were rebuilt so that power could
be brought in from Hoover dam. New
tap-changing transformers were installed in the switch yard, giving
Pasadena a 25,000 KVA tie with the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Power and
Light. From that time to
1971, the Pasadena system was operated continuously in parallel with the
Los Angeles system. In 1935 and 1936, two new substations were built.
The new Santa Anita Substation replaced the original station and
the Maryland Substation was constructed to take care of the rapidly
expanding load in the downtown business sector. Until the beginning of the Second World War, surplus power
was available from Hoover Dam, so the Pasadena Steam Plant was operated on
a stand-by basis. The
original steam plant with its reciprocating engines was phased out and
some of the old boilers were removed and relocated. During the war years, Pasadena had ample power capacity to
supply the few war industries located in the City. However, with the postwar population boom and great
industrial growth, the generating and distribution capacity of the system
was soon overextended. A new
45,000 KW unit (No. 9) was ordered soon after the war was over, but
because of delivery delays it was 1950 before the additional generating
capacity was available to meet the system load. While planning for the No. 9 unit, the Department realized
that long-range planning would be required to provide for future growth.
To accommodate more generating units and more circuits, a new
switchrack had to be built. A dispatching center was needed and a new Glenarm Substation
was planned to replace the obsolete equipment in the old substation. In 1950, two new outdoor substations were put into service,
one on the site of the old Wilson Reservoir and the other at the new
Hastings Reservoir. Additional
lines and cables were run to the substations and the system was changed
from a loop system to a radial system.
The distribution circuits were changed from a 3-wire delta system
to a 4-wire wye with a resulting increase in load capacity of the
circuits. Three more outdoor substations, a 34-kW switchrack, and a
34-KV transmission system were put into service. Two new 50,000 KW generating units in an entirely new outdoor
plant went on-line in 1955 and 1958, giving the system sufficient
generation capacity for the first time since the war. On June 19,
1965, a 71 MW, 83 MVA reheat unit with steam backup auxiliaries was put
into service to cover the growing needs for more electricity in the City. On
July 1, 1967, the Light and Power Department merged with the Water
Department, forming a single Water and Power Department. On January 18, 1971, the T.M. Goodrich Receiving Station was
placed into service with delivery of surplus power from the Bonneville
Power Administration beginning the following day. This station provides an
interconnection between the Pasadena system and the Southern California
Edison system with a present capacity of 200 MVA.
It serves as the Pasadena terminus for northwest power which flows
from the Bonneville Power Administration system in Oregon to the D.C.
terminal in Sylmar, California and then over the Edison system to
Pasadena. All power
originating outside of the Pasadena system is delivered to the station. Installation of two 26 MW combustion turbine generators was
completed in 1975 and marked the final addition to local power generation.
All subsequent construction at the local plant has been to increase plant
efficiency, lower plant operating costs, extend plant equipment life
cycle, and comply with state and federal
environmental regulations. Noteworthy contributions to the quality of life for the
citizens of Pasadena include: $125,000 toward the development of Brookside
Golf Course; $210,000 in 1927 to help build the City Hall and Public
Library; $600,000 financing of the Civic Auditorium and to help build the
library branch at La Pintoresca Park. During the Depression the city utility expanded its building
programs to provide jobs for residents hard-hit by the economic collapse.
Unemployed customers were allowed to work for the utility for two week
periods to earn money for utility bills, food and housing. |
