Producing Power for the Generations 1936‐2010
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THE HUTCHINSON UTILITIES COMMISSION: Producing Power for the Generations 1936‐2010 Written by: Johanna Hanneman . Page | 2 Dedication This book is dedicated to all of the employees and Commissioners who devoted their careers to providing energy and heat to the citizens of Hutchinson and beyond. Without their zeal for providing exemplary service, residents and businesses alike would have not been able to enjoy the innumerable benefits that electricity and natural gas has bestowed upon the community. The cumulative actions of Utilities’ personnel has propelled HUC to receiving recognition as being among the very best utilities in the nation. Acknowledgements Herein is the story of how a modest plant was transformed into the prominent Hutchinson Utilities. Within its extensive history, there were countless memorable events that required the first‐ hand experience of individuals. I’m deeply grateful to those persons who consented to interviews and recounted various happenings that for some happened many decades ago. Without their aid and providing bountiful amounts of information, this book would have not been possible. Therefore, I would like to thank the following individuals: Randy Blake, Jim Dahl, Ryan Ellenson, Jon Guthmiller, Orville and Harriet Kuiken, Mike Kumm, Ivan Larson, John Webster, Butch Wentworth, and Elsa Young. I would also like to thank the many other Utilities’ personnel who answered inquiries and allowed me to tag along as they labored on projects. I am deeply appreciative to Lin Madson for her assistance in compiling material and patience in editing this piece. Your guidance was indispensible to me. I would also like to extend a note of gratitude to the McLeod County Historical Society and the Hutchinson Leader for providing me full access to their archives. This freedom allowed me to gather wonderful primary sources that added more life and depth to the history piece. What follows is a remembrance of what the Hutchinson Utilities has done throughout its 74 years of existence and serves as a template of what the Utilities will do as it charges into the future. Page | 3 Table of Contents An Introduction 4 1. The First Days of Electricity 5 2. A New Beginning 6 3. A Historic Day for Hutchinson 11 4. The Early Years 12 5. The War 16 6. A New Decade, A New Division 19 7. The 1960s: A Time for Growth 28 8. A Decade of Difficulties and Perseverance 35 9. Changes Beyond the Horizon: the 1980s 50 10. A Burst of New Energy 67 11. Daring to be Different 81 12. In Conclusion 104 13. Short Recollections of HUC's Community Involvement 105 14. A Collection of Hutchinson Utilities' Statistics & Tables 109 15. Bibliography 111 16. Foot Notes 115 Page | 4 An Introduction or the past 74 years, Hutchinson Utilities (formerly known as the Light & Power Plant of Hutchinson) has been a state‐wide mover and shaker in the realm of utilities, from the Fcreation of a natural gas division to the purchase of the LM6000. The Utilities has continued to provide its services to large industrial consumers, such as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Inc. (more popularly known as 3M) and Hutchinson Technology Incorporated, commercial users, and to thousands of residential customers just in the city alone. In 1936, the town embarked on a new path with the creation of the Hutchinson Municipal Electric Plant. Since its inception, Hutchinson Utilities has been at the forefront in all matters of electricity and starting in 1960, they entered the natural gas sector as well. Holding steadfast to its mission, the Utilities and its Commission have never strayed far from the ideals borne of the men who first conceived the idea of a locally‐owned power plant. This is evident in the Commission’s current‐day mission statement which declares, “The Hutchinson Utilities Commission will provide economical, reliable electric and natural gas service within our territory and the Midwest, while contributing to the economic vitality of the City of Hutchinson and our customers.” The Utilities has been an integral component of the Hutchinson community and will continue so into the indefinite future. It has persisted to provide reliable and inexpensive electric services; rates are not much more than what they were prior to World War II. Furthermore, the Utilities has even been referred to as “one of the best things that ever happened to Hutchinson.”i In order to cultivate a better understanding of the Hutchinson Utilities Commission and how it functions today, one must go back to discover the birth of the Municipal Electric Utility. Page | 5 1. The First Days of Electricity Before the Municipal Electric Plant served customers of Hutchinson, electricity was initially furnished by a local corporation at the turn of the 20th century. A headline from the Hutchinson Leader declared “Light at Last” would be coming to the community before Christmas and further announced that, “Main Street is to be lighted at least enough more so that a stranger getting off from a train at night will be able to find the town without a guide.” Service began when a group of local men formed a company, the Hutchinson Lighting & Manufacturing Co., which was incorporated with $25,000 worth of capital stock. The village council granted permission to these men to set poles, string wire, and to start constructing the electric plant next to the water pumping station along Main Street, lying north of the bridge. City Iron Works of Minneapolis was awarded the contract for furnishing the company with electrical machinery, steam boiler, engine and street wiring. It was only supposed to take a mere 10 weeks to complete the plant. Successful, the corporation was able to bring light to the community before Christmas Day. A 60‐kilowatt dynamo (which had a capacity of lighting at least 1,200 lights) furnished the community’s first supply of electricity on December 20, 1900. It began as a primitive utility, with only 80 customers that were serviced with electricity; its modest operations lit 800 private lights, two private arc lights, four on Main Street, and 32 candlepower incandescent street lights. Because the Hutchinson Company did not have an adequate supply of energy, light bulbs were only powered to emit a glow until midnight. A bill for $1.78 from the Hutchinson Lighting and Manufacturing Company. In 1915, the men of Hutchinson Lighting & Manufacturing Company sold their interests to Northwest Light & Power Co. and only nine years later, Northern States Power Company (NSP) assumed the role of electricity provider for Hutchinson. Page | 6 2. A New Beginning During the depths of the Great Depression, mounting discontentment with Northern States Power Company (and its mediocre level of supplied power) grew within the town. Citizens of Hutchinson attempted to purchase the plant in 1932; however, officials for Northern States Power (NSP) argued that the city did not have the option to purchase their distribution system until 1935. After the initial rejection, a special election was called by the City Council in the following months. Yet, just five days before the scheduled election, a petition signed by 100 individuals requesting that the special election be called off was presented to the Council; Council members complied.ii Although the City Council’s attempts were thwarted, many people increasingly became agitated and dissatisfied with NSP’s poor quality of service. Elsa Young, the daughter of R.W. Dahl discussed her dad’s annoyance with the pitiful supply of power; “Dad bought my mother a fine, new electric stove. The darn thing didn’t generate enough electricity to run the stove. We had to get a gas stove instead.”iii About 30 other individuals were provoked into action due to their frustrations with NSP. They were soon on the hunt to find a more suitable alternative for their growing town. After surveying 28 other communities and their municipal power plants, the men were enticed by the bountiful benefits a municipal utility would bring to their community. Another fundamental reason that these men desired a municipal was that they wanted to encourage growth in Hutchinson through attracting industries to the town, particularly the company that is now commonly referred to as 3M. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing had originally wanted to build a plant in the nearby community of Litchfield because it owned a municipal light plant and had a railroad line that carved through the town. Some of the Hutchinson men, including Mayor Sheppard and R.W. Dahl, journeyed to St. Paul to meet with representatives of 3M to assure them that the Hutchinson Municipal plant could supply all the power that they would ever need.iv A partnership was soon born between the town and 3M; it helped to propel the municipal issue to the forefront of Hutchinson news. The quest for Hutchinson’s own cooperative took approximately three arduous years. At the outset, appeals were made both to the City Council and the Hutchinson Leader. Early in 1935 a predominant sentiment grew among the citizens of Hutchinson; it was a longing for the establishment of a municipal plant to provide the town with another source of income in addition to property taxes to help support the growing community and lessen the debt that was plaguing the city. At the time the Water Department was seeing red, parking meters were absent, and a municipal liquor store was nonexistent.v In spite of these hardships, an exception in the agreement between NSP and Hutchinson allowed for the citizens to take new action. Unlike the failed attempt of 1932, the original agreement specified that the city could purchase the distribution system starting in 1935, even though the company’s franchise was not to expire until 1942.