Clinton News-Record, 1974-03-28, Page 18Part of the electricity in Clinton before 1914 was supplied by this 100 horsepower Wheelock
engine and a 60 kilowatt, 125 cycle generator. This picture was taken shortly before Hydro
came to Clinton in 1914.
U ranium. An important element in Ontario's future.
The growing scarcity of fossil fuels re-
quires that we put all energy resources
to best use.
Ontario's most significant energy de-
velopment is the increasing use of
Canada's natural uranium to generate
electricity. In addition to being a reliable
means of producing electricity, it en-
courages the development of our
country's own natural resources while
decreasing dependency on other coun-
tries and on other resources such as
coal, oil and natural gas. Another impor-
, tant benefit is that' uranium provides
the cleanest known method of thermal
generation.
Although nuclear generating plants
are more costly, to build, this is moder-
ated by the fact that fuel costs are
lower than with other forms of thermal
generation.
The transition to nuclear generation is
a long-term proposition. Nuclear gen-
erating facilities require longer to build.
"Heavy water" needed for operation of
the reactors will be in short supply for
some years until more facilities for the
production of adequate supplies can be
Constructed.
Nonetheless, nuclear generation offers
great promise for the future as demon-
strated by the excellent performance of
the Ontario Hydro Pickering Plant which
is now providing approximately 15% of the
electric energy made available in Ontario.
Although there is no shOrtage of elec-
tricity in Ontario it makes good sense, to
use it, and all our resources; wisely,
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hydro in ontario
cLiNTON NEws,ggcoRp, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1974--3A
First electricity generated by' steam
BY JABEZ HANDS
EDITED BY PROF.,
JAMES SCOTT
Of all the towns in Huron
0ounty in the early days, Clip,
ton had the heaviest proportion
)f steam-powered factories.
his was in part due to the fact
f a lack of water power but
ore so because of the presence
f a unique character called
oseph Whitehead. Whitehead
ad been the fireman on the
Rocket", driven by Stephen-
nn, in its epoch-making first
ilway trip in Britain. He
rought with him to Clinton a
owledge of steam engines
nd steam power which did the
awn good stead in the early
ys,
With this background, it is
t unlikely that Clinton would
of follow the formula of
.ighbnuring towns and set up
s own individual electrical
ant.
he magic of electricity swept
rough Ontario in the late
F880's. Here was a means of
arrying energy, generated by
team engines, through elec-
Heal wires to provide, in the
irst plane, a new source of
nergy for lighting. Most of the
urrounding towns developed
heir own sources of energy, but
his was not necessary in Clin-
m with its background of
leavy steam dominated energy.
There was already a steam
enerating plant available, and
,ne can only presume that
uitable plans had been laid
lefore a proposal was made to
he town. This proposal was
(n- electric light heating in
ommercial establishments
wade to the Towri of Clinton
n November 6, 1888. by the"
Reliance Electric Light Com-
pany which had made an
agreement with David Graham
of the Woollen Mill who had
an excess of boiler capacity.
The agreement was accepted
and within a matter of three
months, installed in commer-
cial establishments in Clinton,
This promptly lead to an
agitation for streetlighting, and
in early February of 1889 the
Town decided to have an elec-
tric light Committee appointed
to look into this matter.
Meanwhile, Mr, Graham had
leased his Woollen Mill factory
to the Oakes Organ Factory but
retained a half interest in the
electric plant adjoining it, In
the meantime the demand for
streetlights increased and by
August 1889 an agreement was
reached with the Oakes. Organ
Factory to supply the town with
ten arc lights.
This condition continued for
three years at which time com-
petition appeared in the form of
the Edison Incandescent Light
Company which sought to in-
troduce their incandescent light
system to the community.
Somehow, a comprimise bet,
ween Edison and Graham and
the Clinton Organ Factory, for-
merly the Oakes Factory, was
reached and Incandescent
lights were in service to some
extent by the end of March.
The following month
Graham took in a partner, a
Mr. Shannahan, who brought
in new capital with subsequent
expansion of facilities. Shortly
after this, the Organ Factory it-
self burped down, but the
boiler rooms remained vir-
tually intact, Graham and
Shannahan decided to continue
on their own as the Clinton
Electric Light Company.
The Clinton Electric
Light Company
Under the new name, but un-
der the same management, the
Clinton Electric • Light Co.
business continued to prosper.
A lighting contract for the
streets, the Town Hall, and the
concert hail was completed. In
1895, the new Huron County
Home was built and service
was extended to it making this
one, of the first rural lines in
Ontario,
1896 was a year of troubles.
Mr. Shannahan, one of the par-
tners died, and although his
son continued in the business
he too died very shortly
thereafter, It was also a sum-
mer of severe thunderstorms,
Transformers were burnt out
putting the lights out in many
parts of the Toivn and other
times the lightning damaged
the dynamo and generator and
the switch board so there was
no electric light for several
nights and the good people of
the Town had to resort to the
coal oil lamps again.
However, Mr. Graham was
undaunted and installed a
second steam engine to work
with the one already in the
plant. He also asked the Coun-
cil to purchase the Clinton
Electric .Light Plant but no ac-
tion was taken by the Town
Council at that time. In 1897
Mr. Graham got a new partner,
'Mr. John McGarva, a salt
manufacturer in town.
In the next year, the Com-
pany attempted to get the town
to change its streetlighting
from arc to incandescent light.
To make the change the cost
was going to increase anywhere
between $630 and $1,260 and
the Town turned it down
because of the extra cost.
At the same time, the Town
Clerk was instructed to notify
the Electric Light Company
that the Council was not
satisfied with the light supplied
on the streets, and to withhold
$10 from each months account
because of the lamps not bur-
ning on some certain nights.
(continued on page 411)