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Power Station Built
A brick
powerhouse with boiler room and chimney was built on Ash Street
(Reading) on land purchased from Calvin Martin for $1,100. A
coal trestle was built as an extension of Mr. Martin’s trestle
to accommodate three cars.
The power station was equipped with two 125 hp boilers and two
Corliss engines, one 100 hp, the other 200 hp. The engines were
belted to a jackshaft, which extended the length of the engine
room where four electric generators were belted. The plant was
put into operation on September 26, 1895.
When the first report was presented to the Board of Gas and
Electric Light Commissioners, the plant had 81 customers with
1,550 incandescent lamps and 123 street arc lamps connected. The
income reported was $1,117.67, with $7,000 appropriated by the
Town for operation and maintenance.
24-Hour Service Introduced
Plant employees wired buildings for service and the first
installations of lamp bulbs were furnished at no cost to the
customer.
Service was sold on a contract basis at rates varying from $.25
to $.50 per month for each 16 candlepower lamp, depending upon
the hours used. Customers were also charged by meter, ¾ of a
cent per lamp house (or 1 ½ cents per ampere hour) and a meter
rental charge of $.10 per month.
Another generator was added in 1899 to handle the increased
load. Additional streetlighting capacity was added in 1906.
Until then, the plant was not operated during daylight hours;
24-hour service was introduced in 1906.
Around-the-clock service heralded a new beginning for the plant.
The Reading Chronicle became the first local business to install
an electric motor in its business, followed soon after by the
Samuel Pierce Organ Pipe Company and the Reading Rubber
Manufacturing Company.
Power to Lynnfield Begins
On November 12, 1906, a committee was appointed by Special Town
Meeting to make a thorough investigation of the needs of the
electric light and power plant. The committee submitted its
report on May 13, 1907, recommending an additional boiler, two
electric generators and a new switchboard to increase the
capacity of the plant to 480 kilowatts. Town Meeting voted to
authorize a bond of $26,000 to purchase the equipment.
In the meantime the light plant was extending service to
residents of outlying areas, stopping at the town boundaries of
North Reading, Wilmington and Lynnfield Center. The citizens of
these communities, without electric power because of the
distance between the communities and the power sources,
requested power from the Town of Reading. After consultation
with Town Meeting, special legislation – Chapter 369 – was
enacted by the Massachusetts Legislature authorizing the Town of
Reading to sell and distribute electricity for light, heat or
power in North Reading, Wilmington and Lynnfield Center.
On March 1, 1909, at the annual Town Meeting, the Light Board
was authorized to extend distribution lines to Lynnfield Center.
Notes amounting to $2,500 were issued to provide funding and
extensions were made by employees of the plant. Service to 17
customers began on December 10, 1909.
RMLD’s business office was located in a second floor room in the
Masonic Building at the corner of Main and Haven Streets. It was
there that customers could pay their bills, purchase lamp bulbs,
motors, electric irons and table lamps.
Power to North Reading and
Wilmington
On June 21, 1910, at a special Town
Meeting, the Municipal Light Board authorized the extension of
its distribution lines to the Town of North Reading. Notes of
$12,000 were approved and M. K. Kendall and Company was
contracted to construct the North Reading distribution system,
which was completed in 1911 when 42 customers were connected to
the system, as were nine hp motors and 38 tungsten streetlights.
Following a special Town Meeting on June 26, 1911, service was
extended to the Town of Wilmington. Bonds in the amount of
$20,000 were issued to finance the extension, which was
completed in 1912.
RMLD Continues to Grow
In 1913 the Masonic Building was
too small to accommodate the business office and the electric
appliance showroom. RMLD relocated to new quarters in the YMCA
building on Main Street in Reading. A five-year lease was signed
and a display room was set up for the sale of lamps and
electrical appliances.
Between 1909 and 1914 the 139 arc
lamps used for streetlighting were replaced with 968
incandescent lamps.
The increased load on the
generating equipment at the power station once again created the
need for additional capacity and in 1913, a consulting engineer
from Lowell was hired. His report concluded that the Board
should purchase and install a 500 kilowatt turbine and two
condensers and construct a cooling pond for condensing water. An
appropriation of notes in the amount of $23,500 was voted for
this addition to the plant.
Additional boilers, a 600 kilowatt
turbine with condenser and pumps, a new switchboard and the
transformation of the generating and distribution facilities
from two-phase to three-phase were added after a report was
issued in 1917 which identified the future needs of the plant.
As a result of this report, the light plant acquired land owned
by the Town adjacent to the power station, where a cooling pond
was constructed. Further improvements at the power station and
extensions for service were made between 1920 and 1923 until a
generating capacity of 1,500 kilowatts was reached.
Cooking
Rate Added
In 1918 the business office moved
to the Municipal Building on Lowell Street in
Reading until 1928. The showroom was expanded to accommodate the
increasing number of electrical appliances sold and serviced by
RMLD.
General Manager Arthur Sias
determined the cost of electricity had to be reduced to make
electricity available and affordable to all. Rates started at 15
cents per kilowatt hour until 1902 when they were reduced to
13.5 cents; to 12.75 cents in 1905; to 10.8 cents in 1912 and to
9.9 cents per kilowatt hour in 1915.
World War I caused an increase in
rates to 12.6 cents where they remained until 1922. At the end
of the War, a great demand was placed on the light plant for
electricity for lighting. Rates were reduced by approximately
one cent per kilowatt hour per year until they reached a level
of 7.2 cents.
In the meantime a cooking rate of
5.4 cents per kilowatt hour was established in 1907 to
accommodate electric cooking devices. By 1916 the cooking rate
was reduced to 2.7 cents per kilowatt hour.
Sias initiated a range-selling
campaign during the mid 1920s and offered the free installation
of ranges to all customers who purchased one from the plant
(special wiring was required to accommodate the ranges). It was
an innovative idea which took hold – the revenues of the
electric plant increased even with cooking rates less than 3
cents per kilowatt hour.
Boston Edison Power Added
By 1925 the load on the system had
increased to such an extent the generating equipment was unable
to carry the peak load. A portion of the current was provided by
Boston Edison Company with the installation of a special feeder
circuit between the power station and the Stoneham town line.
In 1926 an agreement with Boston
Edison to purchase the required current was reached. An
underground transmission line consisting of four ducts and two
5,000 KVA cables was built, linking Reading with the Stoneham
town line. The switchboard and related equipment were installed
at the power station, allowing the plant to receive high tension
current of 13,800 volts to be transformed into 2,3000 volts for
distribution on the local feeder circuits. The work was
completed in 1927.
A garage for the light plant was
added in 1926 on land adjacent to the power station.
In 1928 the business office was moved to 565 Main Street where
customers could conveniently pay their bills and purchase new
appliances.
RMLD Makes National and
International News
Prior to 1928 customers were
charged a special rate to operate an appliance and the
additional expense of installing separate wiring. If a customer
had a range and a refrigerator, the refrigerator could be
attached to the same circuit; otherwise, the refrigerator needed
separate service. In 1928 RMLD did away with the practice of
having separate wiring for customers who used electricity for
cooking and refrigeration. RMLD became the first Massachusetts
electric plant to offer customers a residential rate for the use
of electricity “any time and for any purpose.”
The new residential rate was the
subject of an editorial in Electrical World of New York on
November 10, 1928. The rate was copied by other municipal plants
and electric companies, as well as the Department of Public
Utilities. News of the new rate was also carried in the
Electrical Times of London.
The residential rate was further modified to a low rate of 2.33
cents per kilowatt hour, making it the lowest in Massachusetts.
To maintain the sale of appliances, including water heaters,
during the Depression years, the Department created a leasing
program for those customers who could not afford payment at time
pf purchase.
Haven Street Office
RMLD’s distribution system was enlarged in 1930 and an
underground distribution system was installed in Reading Square
in 1931. Poles and overhead wires were removed and ornamental
streetlight posts were erected. The underground system was
expanded in 1934 with a larger switchboard constructed in 1935.
Voltage on the distribution circuits increased from 2,300 to
4,000 volts to reduce line losses.
The Town of Reading exercised its rights under its agreement
with Boston Edison to purchase underground ducts and cables
between the Stoneham and Reading town line to the power station
on Ash Street. The following year on September 21, 1938, the
system suffered extensive damage throughout the four towns as a
result of the Hurricane of 1938.
The business offices and appliance showrooms of the Light
Department were moved to a building purchased by the Department
at the corners of Haven, High and Gren Streets, known as Black’s
Block in 1939. The building measured 25,573 square feet and cost
$36,000.
Expansion Continues
From 1939-1941 expansion of the
undergound distribution system was conducted in earnest on High,
Lowell, Linden, Woburn and Sanborn Streets. The expansion was
put on hold during World War II and eventually resumed when
government restrictions on the use of critical materials were
lifted.
An expansion of the garage and storeroom building on Ash Street
was required in 1941 to accommodate the increasing customer
load.
Town Reports of 1943 show a plant investment of more than $1.2
million, with all but $115,000 in outstanding bonds and notes,
paid by earnings of the plant. During that year, the Department
served 6,900 customers with a gross revenue of $405,000.
As the needs of the Department increased and the requests for
service in all four communities continued to rise, the
Department kept pace with the changes in technology and
continued to add to the distribution system throughout the next
50 years.
Moving into the Future
In 1976 RMLD determined it would be
feasible to purchase power from sources in addition to Boston
Edison. Power was purchased from other electric systems through
the New England Power Pool, utilizing nuclear, coal-fired and
hydroelectric sources.
More than 84 years after Town Meeting members voted to establish
their own electric utility, the Department had 19,500 customers
and gross revenues of $17 million in 1978. By 1984 an additional
1,500 customers were added, to bring the total number of meters
to 21,000. Revenues in 1984 increased to $45 million. The plant
value of $13 million in 1976 increased to $24 million by 1984.
To handle the increasing load and responsibilities, the
Department was reorganized in 1988 to include three divisions:
Business, Energy Services and Transmission and Distribution.
That year, RMLD began looking for ways to accommodate the space
requirements to house these divisions, as well as RMLD equipment
and apparatus.
By 1990, RMLD received approval from Reading Town Meeting
members to purchase a building on Ash Street, adjacent to the
existing RMLD structure. Ground was broken in early 1993 and
renovations to the building were completed in 1994. The building
remains home to all RMLD operations with the exception of
substations.
Decades of Advancement and
Achievement
There have been decades of
advancement and achievement since those early days of
electricity, but some things have remained constant. After more
than 110 years, RMLD is still committed to reliable service at
competitive rates. Maintaining that commitment requires astute
planning, innovative ideas and close attention to detail.
The Gaw substation on Causeway Road in Reading, constructed in
1969-1970, marked a milestone in allowing RMLD to connect to the
grid and purchase power from almost anywhere on the Northeast
Power Pool.
Recent technological advances at RMLD include a fiber optic
cable network that links all substations for state-of-the-art
system monitoring and control. Computer systems are also
state-of-the-art, and now include a sophisticated website. Even
meter reading is modern and efficient, with an automatic system
that uses radio transmitters for optimal accuracy and
efficiency.
In June 2000, construction was completed on a distribution
substation connected to 115,000-volt transmission lines in North
Reading, designed to accommodate growth and enhance the entire
system’s efficiency and reliability. Because reliability is key,
RMLD has an ongoing preventive maintenance program aimed at
solving problems before they occur.
Today’s Reading Municipal Light Department
Today,
RMLD serves more than 25,000 customers in its four-town service
area. A professional staff of 80+ employees brings a broad scope
of utility experience to RMLD’s daily operation, including an
up-to-date understanding of the evolving energy market.
With its peak demand
for electricity at more than 172 megawatts, RMLD purchases
electricity from a number of different sources through
long-and-short-term contracts.
RMLD is introducing
GREEN CHOICE in September 2006 to customers who voluntarily make
an active choice to benefit the environment by supporting
electricity generation from renewable energy sources such as
wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, biogas and biomass. It is an
exciting first step in taking a positive stand for alternative
energy.
RMLD has long contributed to the communities it serves through
consistent returns on investments, in-lieu-of-tax payments,
community development and energy education programs. This
includes energy conservation programs, school safety projects,
school-to-work partnerships, outreach to senior groups,
community support and active memberships in local civic groups.
Surveys consistently show that RMLD is rated highly by its
customers for reliability, responsiveness and customer service.
Its ongoing commitment to the Total Quality Management (TQM)
process, adopted in 1993, represents RMLD’s pledge to meet and
exceed each customer’s expectation.
Updated 8-11-06
Please contact Priscilla Gottwald
Community Relations Manager
Reading Municipal Light Department
781-942-6419
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Copyright© 2004 RMLD
