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Red Cross volunteers staff an edison supplied food station in relief efforts following the 1933 quake.
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May 26, 1917: Huntington retires and Edison purchases the Pacific Light & Power Corporation. The acquisition doubles Edison's assets and properties, making it the country's fifth largest central-station power company. Edison now serves over 100 cities, towns and rural communities with a total population of over 1.25 million. Edison also acquires control of the Ventura County Power Company and the Mount Whitney Power & Electric Company.
1917-1929: Edison's expansion of the Big Creek Project is the first large-scale progressive hydroelectric development in the country. The massive construction effort employs 2,000 workers and numerous technical innovations. Big Creek's eight powerhouses generate a total of 360,000 kilowatts, half of Edison's total capacity.
May 16, 1922: Under pressure from local government, Edison sells its Los Angeles distribution system to the Los Angeles City Council, precipitating Edison's eventual withdrawal from the city as its service provider.
1923: Edison wins the first Charles A. Coffin Medal (now the Thomas Edison Award) for technical brilliance by upgrading lower-voltage lines to carry 220,000 volts -- without interrupting service.
1930: Severe drought in the early 1920s leads Edison to reduce its reliance on hydroelectric power plants. Expanding its steam plants in Long Beach yields 11 new generators and a total of 419,000 kilowatts.
March 20, 1931: Edison opens its grandiose, electrically-powered general office in downtown Los Angeles.
April 14, 1932: Edison's Chairman and visionary, John Miller, passes away. His 35 years of tireless commitment created the modern Edison company.
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March 10, 1933: The Long Beach earthquake puts Edison's emergency procedures to the test. Edison remedies a 30-second outage in Los Angeles and an hour-and-a-half outage in Long Beach. The company provides cooking and heating equipment to areas where the gas supply is shut off. Edison employees set up community kitchens while equipment used at Edison's construction camps is sent to the Red Cross and other relief agencies. |
September 15, 1933: Harry J. Bauer is elected President and becomes Edison's principal officer.
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The giant dam envisioned by engineers in 1930 became a reality in 1936
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1933-1938:As the Great Depression settles over Southern California, Edison avoids laying off large numbers of workers by:
- Lowering salaries, with senior management taking the largest percentage of cuts;
- Reducing the six-day work week to five;
- Modernizing and/or retiring old and obsolete equipment; and
- Urging customers to take advantage of low electricity rates by marketing electrical appliances and the many advantages of electricity.
June 19, 1939: Power generated at the newly completed Hoover dam is delivered to Edison. The federal government approved construction of the dam because Edison and other power utilities in Southern California contracted electricity from the project.
August 1939: Edison swaps the remainder of its Los Angeles distribution system for facilities outside the city limits. These facilities were formerly owned by Los Angeles Gas and Electric and were acquired by the City Council two years earlier.
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Edison's only steam plant during World War II, Long Beach provided much energy needed for the areas's war effort |
Dec. 7, 1941: Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II and precipitating a blackout of California's coastal regions.
February 23, 1942: Japanese submarines shell the Ellwood oil fields near Santa Barbara, damaging Edison transformers.
May 1942: All investor- and government-owned utilities in California, Southern Nevada, and Arizona band together to form the Pacific Southwest Power Pool. This power exchange provides service to areas suffering power shortages or outages for the duration of the war.
1941-1945: Edison powers much of the wartime aircraft, steel, and shipyard industries. The company's other war efforts include building new transmission lines and power units, hiring female employees (enabling males to enlist), salvaging scrap-metal, buying war bonds, donating blood, and planting victory gardens.
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Edison crew rewiring one of the Vernon generators for 60-cycle operation in 1947
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1945-1948:
Delighted with life in Southern California, many industrial and military personnel return to the region after the war, inaugurating a period of unprecedented prosperity and rising standard of living. To keep up with increasing demand, Edison implements a number of improvements, including the complete conversion of the company's frequency system to U.S. standard. Over 1,500 Edison and contract employees are enlisted to survey, engineer, rewire, and canvas Edison's huge service area to ensure equipment remains operational or is replaced. Nearly two million pieces of customer equipment are evaluated.
