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Replica of Thomas Edison's first incandescent lightbulb
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Oct. 22, 1879: Thomas Edison perfects the incandescent "light bulb".
1886: The forerunners of Southern California Edison, small independent power companies, bring electric arc lighting to Southern California. They include Visalia Electric Light & Gas Company, Santa Barbara Electric Light Company, San Bernardino Electric Company, and Ventura Land & Power.
1890: Nikola Tesla develops AC (alternating current) generators that can transmit electricity farther than ever before. Later that year, AC generators are implemented in the Santa Barbara, Visalia, Pasadena, and Highgrove hydroelectric plants.
1891: The San Antonio Light & Power Company hires engineer Almaria Decker to design and build a plant in San Antonio Creek capable of sending power to Pomona, 14 miles away. The plant begins operations the following November.
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Engineer and inventor A. W. Decker pioneered ways to move electricity across long distances |
Oct. 1892: Redlands Electric Light & Power Company incorporates to build a hydroelectric plant at Mill Creek. Backed by General Electric Company, Decker builds the revolutionary "Ty" 3-phase AC generator, which can operate self-synchronizing motors without constant attention. The two generators go on line the following September.
1894: San Francisco financiers license Thomas Edison's name and patents from General Electric Company and organize the Los Angeles Edison Electric company.
April 1896: Formed by engineer John Eastwood, the San Joaquin Electric Company begins its operations. It soon becomes the leading hydroelectric plant in California's Sierra Nevada.
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Mill Creek's Historic 3-phase Unit No. 1 was one of the first poly-phase, altering current systems in the nation. |
1896: To meet the growing demands of a burgeoning Los Angeles (population 100,000), West Side Lighting Company buys the franchise to operate the city's power system. Their small boiler and steam engine on 22nd Street and Vermont is quickly superseded by a new facility called Los Angeles No.1, located on 2nd and Boyleston.
1896: Southern California Power Company acquires the rights to the upper Santa Ana River and builds the Santa Ana No.1 power station.
1896: A city ordinance creates the "conduit district" in which new wiring must be laid underground. West Side Lighting decides the best technology available is the "Edison three wire" conduit system already used in the eastern states
Dec. 1, 1897: West Side Lighting Company and Los Angeles Edison Electric Company merge to form Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles. George Baker is named president.
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Edison's superintendent of Distribution, Sam Darnell, stands amidst a tangle of cables in a manhole on Forth Street in Los Angeles |
Spring 1898:The Los Angeles No.2 substation opens, distributing power throughout the city via the new conduit system. Los Angeles Edison is the first company in the southwest United States to install the Edison-type DC underground system, hence the use of Edison in the corporate name.
June 1898: To obtain 3,000 kilowatts more generating capacity, Edison purchases Southern California Power Company.
Feb. 1899: The Santa Ana River line goes into service, carrying power from Santa Ana No.1 to Los Angeles No.1. Moving 33,000 volts a distance of 83 miles, it is the highest-voltage, longest transmission line in the country.
1898-1899: To expand their service area, Edison begins acquiring small electric companies, including Pasadena Electric Light & Power and Santa Ana Gas & Electric.
NEXT: 1901-1916
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Mill Creek's historic 3-phase unit No. 1 was one of the first poly-phase, alternating current systems in the nation.
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