Special to the HT
MEEKER | The earliest use of electricity in Meeker was the telegraph lines connecting Rawlins to the Camp on the White River. Service stopped in 1883, when the post was closed. The private company of Rawlins and White River Telegraph company was maintaining telegraph lines in 1885 according the Meeker Herald. The Meeker office opened in June of 1885. L. Learn was listed as the company superintendent in Rawlins. The Rawlins office was located in the Palmer and Learn’s market, Rawlins. I am going to assume the power was generated in Rawlins.
In 1901, Meeker voters approved building a light, heat and power works as proposed by John W. Rigby. At the time, there were no electric poles, meters or electric appliances in town. Hooking up to the new power source was totally voluntary. The company offered rates based on a “standard” 16 candle power lamp. A residence would pay a monthly for all night service: one lamp, price $1.15; 2 lamps, $2.00; 3 lamps $2.70; 4, $3.10; 5, $3.50; 6, $3.85; 7, $4.15; 8, $4.40; 9, $4.55; 10, $4.65.
Commercial rates were dependent on whether the business intended to use the light until midnight or 10 P.M. For comparison, sugar was 4 cents a pound and coffee was 15 cents a pound and a school tablet of 400 sheets cost 10 cents in 1901. The new steam driven dynamo (generator) was installed in 1902. Every part had to be hauled by freight wagon from the Rifle train depot. The plant produced 90 kilowatts, enough to power 1,500 lights. Looking at my last month’s electric bill, we used 313 kilowatts.
Before Edison’s incandescent lamp, home lighting was primarily kerosene. David Smith’s newly constructed home outside Meeker in 1899 boasted central heating and acetylene gas lamps.
Thomas Edison promoted Direct Current power supply. Nicola Tesla and George Westinghouse favored Alternating Current. AC eventually won out, but many early municipal power plants were DC.
I do not know which system was used in the Meeker 1902 plant. By 1921, Meeker’s power plant used water power in summer and coal in winter to power everything including a street lamp on every corner. The plant was struck by lightning and Meeker didn’t have the money to rebuild. The mayor, Luther White courted Public Service Company, but they were not interested. The REA was next to power Meeker and beyond.
The Rural Electrification Administration was part of the Roosevelt New Deal created during the Depression. White River Electric Association has been around since 1945. They currently buy our power from Tri-State.
Sources: Meeker Herald; Carbon County Journal; Coloradohistoricalnewspapers.org; Rio Blanco Historical Society
