Entering the Retail Electric Business in 1923 - TID Short Stories

TID Short Stories is a mini-series by the TID Water & Power Podcast. Every episode you’ll hear a short, unique – and often lesser known – story from TID’s rich 135-year history. Join us on the first and third Friday of the month for new episodes and stories!

On today’s episode, TID Trading and Scheduling Department Manager, Colin Selby, tells the story of the people and decisions that led to TID entering the retail electric business. 

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Find out more about TID at https://www.TID.org/podcast. 

Let’s get social!
Facebook: @TurlockID
Instagram: @TurlockID
Twitter: @TurlockID
LinkedIn: /company/turlockid

Find out more about TID at https://www.TID.org/podcast.

Transcript

00;00- 00;00;24;05
Speaker 1
This is TID short stories a TID Water and Power podcast miniseries. Every episode you'll hear a short, unique and often lesser known story from TID rich history, and you'll hear these stories that helped build the district's 135 year history told by the people who operate the district today.

00;00;25;00 - 00;00;36;07
Speaker 1
On today's episode TID trading and scheduling, division manager Colin Selby tells the story of the people and decisions that led to TID entering the retail electric business.

00;00;40;23 - 00;00;59;04
Speaker 2
Would you rather have temporary gains or long term growth? It's a simple question, one with answers subjective to a person's situation. What about a young organization? In an attempt to remain afloat. The temptation of quick profit is not as situational as it is more of a surety.

00;01;00;23 - 00;01;17;02
Speaker 2
Turlock Irrigation District faced that question in 1922 as old Don Pedro Dam was nearing its completion due to a wholesale power generated at the dam and powerhouse two industry titan Pacific Gas and Electric or build a distribution system and deliver power locally.

00;01;18;24 - 00;01;37;29
Speaker 2
R.W. Shoemaker was an electrical engineer hired by TID to help answer this question, and he would ultimately draft a report that would drive TID's electrical policy up to this very day. PG&E had money to give and other public utilities tended to lean toward the quick money of wholesaling hydroelectric power.

00;01;39;06 - 00;01;58;15 
Speaker 2
Shoemaker, however, was a bit of a contrarian and saw promise in delivering power to homes. He stated in his report, as the district will be able to furnish power at a very small cost. It is believed that a large load can be developed from the sale of power for lighting, cooking and water heating in addition to small

00;01;58;15 - 00;02;21;00
Speaker 2
blocks of power that will be used around the farms for miscellaneous purposes. Now at the time, electricity had been unavailable or unaffordable, especially for rural residents. There were multiple private electricity companies operating in the area. The La Grange Water and Power Company had run lines to towns in Stanislaus County.

00;02;22;08 - 00;02;45;02
Speaker 2
Similarly, the San Joaquin light power company had extended its lines to Hilmar and Denair. However, the private companies were reluctant to expand into the rural areas where there would be less customers per mile of distribution line. With less than a few thousand potential TID customers, Shoemaker determined TID would still have plenty of surplus power generated from Don

00;02;45;02 - 00;03;09;03
Speaker 2
Pedro, so he recommended wholesaling that remainder to PG&E for twice the rate of what PG&E's general manager offered TID For all of the power in April 1922, sit down. Shoemaker's report and recommendation came at a pivotal time in California public utility history, a time when the state was looking to amend its constitution with the Water and Power Act

00;03;09;18 - 00;03;27;14
Speaker 2
, an act that would expand state authority and somewhat socialize power distribution. It was a time of great policy debate over state control versus local control. The Act was defeated, the TID's giant decision remained sell to PG&E or create a publicly owned electric utility.

00;03;28;18 - 00;03;47;14
Speaker 2
The TID board wanted to give the decision to its electorate. An advisory election was held on June 21st, 1922, and by a landslide vote of 2433 to 116. TID customers chose to serve power in addition to its existing irrigation water service.

00;03;48;23 - 00;04;04;07
Speaker 2
Similar vote on the same day took place in the north by Modesto Irrigation District customers TID and MID had already agreed back in 1890 to partner on the 12 new river development and proportionally share the river's water. Now.

00;04;04;07 - 00;04;19;15
Speaker 2
They would also proportionately share power generated at Don Pedro and serve customers locally. Don Pedro was completed in early 1923. 23 years after the first, the irrigator received water and was the highest dam in the world at the time.

00;04;20;12 - 00;04;36;02
Speaker 2
It would hold enough water for an entire irrigation season, generate enough power to make TID water and public power utility. Completely locally financed and built. Don Pedro Reservoir covered 3000 acres and held up to 289,000 acre feet of water.

00;04;36;25 - 00;04;53;15
Speaker 2
To get an idea of how big this was for the region, know that the entire town of Turlock closed down for the June 1923 dedication of the dam. Some 2500 people gathered to celebrate the massive feat that would come to be synonymous with local control of natural resources.

00;04;54;29 - 00;05;12;27
Speaker 2
The transmission line was constructed from Don Pedro to the Geer Road substation, and a small distribution system was being developed in Delhi to serve drainage pumps and nearby customers. And on Easter Sunday, April 1st, 1923, Don Pedro Power flushed through transmission lines for the first time.

00;05;14;06 - 00;05;31;10
Speaker 2
As of August 1923, only 400 TID customers received on federal power. By the end of 1924. More than 3000 customers were enjoying the comfort and utility of power. That number doubled by 1930. But not all irrigation districts chose this model.

00;05;31;27 - 00;05;56;22
Speaker 2
Other districts in Oakdale and elsewhere chose to wholesale for various practical reasons. If the local distribution model was to work, however, TID needed to increase the demand for power as much as possible. Low rates certainly helped put on top of the affordable power generated at Don Pedro did showcased multiple electric ranges at its offices to promote expansion

00;05;58;01 - 00;06;12;06
Speaker 2
.Encouraged by the fact that both city and rural residents alike had available and affordable power to it sold $20,000 worth of stoves in a six month span and also began selling appliances such as space heaters and water heaters.

00;06;13;13 - 00;06;32;20
Speaker 2
With customer growth exponentially rising TID opened a retail store 1924 at the corner of Broadway and Olive In Turlock, complete with five salesmen and a four man service crew. Sharp eventually moved to TID's Broadway yard in 1929 and featured some 500 items such as lamps, curling irons.

00;06;32;20 - 00;06;50;10
Speaker 2
Waffle irons, vacuum cleaners, washing machines and refrigerators. To emphasize how low the rates were and how demand rose so quickly. Rates offered by PG&E were around $6 to $7.50 per month. But TID was charging $2.60 monthly for the same service.

00;06;51;00 - 00;07;07;08
Speaker 2
These rates, plus other customer service strategies, effectively meant that no other electricity provider could compete with Citi, especially PG&E, who often had power lines distributing power to customers on the opposite side of some Turlock streets where TID was serving load.

00;07;08;06 - 00;07;27;10
Speaker 2
There were only 21 remaining PG&E customers in Turlock in 1928, and it was said they were all PG&E stockholders or company contractors. This led to 1931, when TID was able to declare a defeat of the power giant by purchasing the old PG&E distribution system still remaining within TID territory.

00;07;28;29 - 00;07;47;03
Speaker 2
With the growth of customers came the growth of the workforce providing additional labor opportunities for residents. Priority was given to hiring locals and as such, workforce turnover was not a problem. More customers in a need for reliability should power problems temporarily besieged on Pedro.

00;07;47;23 - 00;08;03;11
Speaker 2
So TID decided to build a small hydroelectric power plant below La Grange Diversion Dam, a few miles downstream of Don Pedro in 1924. This would also allow for the same flow of Tuolumne river water to generate power and multiple locations to serve customers.

00;08;04;26 - 00;08;19;02
Speaker 2
The pride of Don Pedro power plant was open for all to visit. And up until World War Two, hundreds of people would visit on most weekends. The plant had about 18 men working shift work around the clock, especially with the rapid growth of the district.

00;08;20;13 - 00;08;38;28
Speaker 2
By 1927, TID served 7500 customers and more than 10,000 customers enjoyed power by 1946. And it was the district's solid financial standing that helped its customers weather the economic pains of the Great Depression. Back to the question we posed at the beginning.

00;08;39;17 - 00;09;00;14
Speaker 2
Temporary gains or sustained growth? Today, it serves nearly 240,000 people across a 662 square mile service area, serving 14 communities with reliable and affordable power. As visionary as R.W. shoemaker early TID leadership and TID residents were back in 1922.

00;09;01;15 - 00;09;04;02
Speaker 2
Even they would be astonished at the result of their boldness.