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Free Electricity in Penn Yan
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Penn Yan's original electric generating plant
and water pumping station on Keuka Lake, built in 1894. |
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One of the most enjoyable opportunities available as a volunteer at the Oliver House and L. Caroline Underwood Museums is the chance to be there when exciting and interesting items appear in our office. I was recently looking through a donated scrapbook and discovered newspaper clippings with titles like: "Municipality Pays People's Electric Bill," "Municipal Board Again Makes Gift” and "Penn Yan's Light Plant Receipts Patron's Bills As Holiday Gift" Penn Yan's Municipal Board gave away free electricity!
In December of 1930, the first receipted monthly bill was sent to local customers by the Penn Yan Municipal Board as a "token of good will" during the holiday season. In a letter that accompanied the receipted bill, the Municipal Board stated "It is the policy of your board not only to have the rate at the very lowest point but to have the most efficient plant in New York State and to make Penn Yan a better place to live."
The success of the municipal ownership of the electric plant made Penn Yan famous and "Penn Yan's Christmas Gift" was a featured article in newspapers across the United States. One of the articles reported in the Portland, Oregon newspaper stated, "Penn Yan, which is not, as one might gather from the name, a village in China, but a small town in the state of New York, owns and operates its own electric light plant.” Penn Yan’s electric rate was the lowest for towns of comparable size in the United States and only two other cities of any size had lower rates. At a time when private utilities had virtually taken over the industry, municipal ownership in Penn Yan was an outstanding example to other cities of all sizes.
The Municipal Board received letters from the mayors of many cities including Louisville, Kentucky; York, Pennsylvania; Coloma, Michigan, Loveland, Ohio; Healdsburg, California; Randolph, Vermont; Columbia, South Carolina and Bogalusa, Louisiana. The city fathers pleaded for the "true facts" about the municipally owned plant, clues for repeating the "successful operation" and the answers for the "phenomenal success" that Penn Yan achieved through municipal ownership. Penn Yan's Municipal Board Superintendent H. W. Perry replied to every letter received with detailed information about the plant, the cost per kilowatt for the "juice" and issued invitations to visit and view the village and the electric plant. As the letters continued, Mr. Perry expressed his surprise "to find that our Municipal Plant is getting so much publicity, as we are getting letters similar to yours from all over." Making good on his invitation, Mr. Perry and the village hosted a luncheon in November of 1932 for Penn Yan officials and workers along with press representatives. The luncheon was held in the huge boiler room of the Municipal Electric Plant with the boilers roaring and the turbo generators humming nearby.
Some of the details that Mr. Perry shared with the interested letter writers were about the electric plant. It was built in 1905 at a cost to the village of $37,000 and by 1930 it was capitalized at $201,095.00. All the improvements and enlargements speed engine driven generators had been changed to steam turbine driven generators and the three original return tubular boilers that were hand fired were changed to B&W water tube boilers that used Detroit underfeed stokers. The plant was operated by 6 men, 3 engineers and 3 firemen. The population of the village was 5200 and Penn Yan had 1787 electric meters.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the free electricity was not a one-time deal for Penn Yan customers! The Penn Yan Municipal Board receipted monthly electric bills approximately 9 times during the 1930s. During these years they also began a series of rate reductions for their customers. The results of these policies were felt immediately by the local customers and it also resulted in new businesses moving to Penn Yan in order to take advantage of the low electric rates. Many letters were sent to the Municipal Board from village residents thanking the Board for the receipted bills. During the 1930's, a free electric bill was a gift that was not ignored! The Board also received letters from many of the village's 100 large consumers of electricity including Lown Dry Goods Co., Elmwood Theatre, Endicott Johnson Corp., Citizens Bank of Penn Yan, Michaels Stern and Co., Eberle Tanning Co., Penn Yan Tobacco Company, Whitfield & Sons, Variety Shop, Grand Union Co., Penn Yan Boat, Yates Lumber and many more.
Today Penn Yan still retains municipal ownership of its utilities. A village municipality and its uncommonly low rates remains a rare occurrence. Our neighbors that also have municipally owned electric-Fairport, Watkins Glen and Bath - all enjoy the benefit of the low rates given to the customers of their municipal utilities. Penn Yan's Municipal Board of the 1930s and their progressive ideas certainly helped "to make Penn Yan a better place to live."
by Laurie Hey
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