Clinton News-Record, 1974-03-28, Page 27During the 1920's the Clinton PUC rented the Palace Block at the corner of Albert and Rat-
tenbury Streets in Clinton and named it the Hydro Shop. The building is now owned by Al
Galbraith of Clinton.
Jack Riddell
Anniversaries are all im-
portant, in that they con-
stitute a milestone in the
history of a person, a
family, an organization, a
community. In so doing,
they make it possible to-
review the accomplish-
ments of the past over a
stated period of time, 'they
provide an opportunity for
comparison and review, but
more importantly, they
provide an opportunity to
congratulate those who
have been involved over the
years In matters of develop-
ment and aCcompliihment.
Such is certainly the
situation with the 60th an-
niversary of the Clinton
Public Utilities Commission
and I am grateful for the
opportunity of
congratulating all those
people who from its incep-
tion and through the years
till the present have done
so much for the community
they have served,
May I express the wish
that in the years that He
ahead men and Women of
similar devotion and
character will apply them-
selves to the well being of
their community through
the excellent medium the
development of Hydro
presents.
Yours sincerely
Jack Ridden
. MPP (Huron)
$1.
60th
ANNIVERSARY
"CONGRATULATIONS"
SINCE - 1922
SUTHERLAND SCHULTZ LIMITED
extend congratulations to the Clinton Public Utilities Com-
mission on their 60th Anniversary of providing hydro to the
citizens and industries of Clinton.
Sutheriand-Schuitz Limited can appreciate the many
challenges and changes that the Commission has encoun-
tered, •
We at Sutherland-Schultz Limited are celeb!ating 52 years
of service to the electrical industry and hbve great respect
and admiration for the pioneers in the Utilities ,
SINCE - 1922
SUTHERLAND - SCI-ItILTZ LIM1f0:13
859 COURTLAND AVE., E.,
KITCHENER, ONTARIO
Vn•
12A—CLINTON NEWS-RECORD, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1974
PUC formed...
(continued from page 11A)
a by-law to operate the hydro
and water works system under
a Public Utilities Commission.
The vote was carried by a
majority of 242 votes. The first
superintendent was, of course,
Mr. H. B. Chant, and the first
commissioners were: chairman,
Dr. J. W. Shaw, secretary, Dr.
C, W. Thompson, and Mayor
Fred Jackson.
Originally, it will be remem-
bered, the Town Council had
tried to have a waterworks
system with wells and plum-
bing equipment located in the
Clinton Electric Light Com-
pany's Plant. During the last
half of 1913- the hydro-electri
engineers and town council
decided that because the Clin-
ton Electric Light Plant needed
such a great number of repairs
and remodelling, the idea was
reversed and the Hydro electric
sub-station was installed, at the
water works pumping station.
This was done but not without
difficulty and one of the tran-
sformers tipped over and
cracked its cast iron top.
HYDRO TURNED ON
However, by February 15,
1914, the two unharmed tran-
sformers were connected up
and hydro power was officially
started over the lines in Clin-
ton, Its original voltage from
hydro at that time was 13,200
volts; later it was changed to
26,400 volts.
With the coming of hydro to
Clinton the change of rates was
standardized. Up until this
point the rates had been very
variable and without much
consistent pattern, Now this
system was changed to five
cents per kilowat hour and a
service charge of four cents for
every hundred square feet of
floor space. This meant that
every house had to be
measured and the square feet
calculated. Only finished rooms
were counted, the back sheds
not added to the total.
Meanwhile the Commission
itself had to find space in which
to operate, In the early months
of existence they had met oc-
casionally in the Town Hall,
usually in Mayor Jackson's
Shoe Store, but with no per-
manent place for the superin-
(continued, on page 13A)