City Government :: City History :: Electric Lights

ELECTRIC LIGHTS CAME TO CLINTON IN 1910

Clinton, in 1910, became one of the first in a growing number of North Carolina towns to receive electricity. When Carolina Power & Light Co. was formed in 1908, the electric industry was still in its infancy. It served almost exclusively trolleys and lighting, and street lighting was for limited periods after dusk and just before dawn. Electric cooking and refrigeration were merly dreams, and electric fans were few. Electric transmission had hardly begun. There was little need for more power at that time, however. Breakdowns were so frequent that old customers complained and new ones were scarce. But the system grew, reliability and dependability grew with it. Clinton received electric service when the town granted a franchise to C. W. Petty, operating as Sampson Power Co. It became a part of the CP&L system in 1923 when the municipal lighting plants at Clinton and Mount Olive were acquired. Between 1908 and 1926, the CP&L system grew from 100 to 19,800 customers, from 3,975 to 59,960 kilowatts capacity, and from less than 50 over 585 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. By 1926, CP&L embraced a number of adjoining subsidiary properties and extended its sphere of service into South Carolina. Electric rates in the early years of the industry were generally very high, even though total bills were small because so little electricity was used. The average price in 1913, for instance, was 15 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh). In 1983, a household using 500 kwh per month would pay about 7 cent per kwh, but inflation also must be taken into account. Very early electric systems provided power only during the first half of the night because a light buld here and there was about the only use made of electricity. Interruptions of electrical service were typically frequent on most systems in those days even during the hours when power was supposed to be available. With improved dependability and word-of-mouth "advertising" however, the demand for electricity increased steadily, if not rapidly. The undeniable appeal of electric light soon made itself evident. From its formation in 1908 until 1970, CP&L had a history of steadily reducing the price of electric service to its customers. As larger, more efficient plants were put into service and fuel costs remained relatively stable, rates were actually lowered in 27 of the 36 years leading up to 1969 and 1970 when the average residential charge hit bottom at 1.64 cents per kwh. Since that time, the cost has steadily risen due primaily to inflation.