LIGHTING THE WAY FOR 100 YEARS!
Medicine Hat is a city rich with
history which stems from the discovery of one of the largest
natural gas fields in North America. In 1903, City Council embarked
on a program to supply all residents with gas which led to the
beginning of a City-owned utility. In 1906, Medicine Hat was
incorporated as a city and soon became one of the largest
communities in south-eastern Alberta where residents used natural
gas as an inexpensive source of energy. Adding to the success of
running a City-owned Gas Utility, the Electric Utility officially
went into operation on September 6, 1910.
Our History
1910: Electric Utility Bylaw was ratified, authorizing the
construction of an electric light and power system.
1910-1912: Two 300 kilowatt diesel engine generators, two 750
kilowatt and a 1,500 kilowatt turbo-generator resulted in some of
Canada’s lowest power rates.
1920: A transmission line was built to send power to
Redcliff.
1924: Residents were asked to turn on their porch lights every
evening to light the area because of a lack of street lights.
1929: A 3,000 kilowatt turbo-generator was installed.
1930: The Electric Utility experienced little change throughout the
1930’s due to the economic depression which led to a lack of
development and population growth.
1942-1944: A 3,000 kilowatt turbo-generator was installed to meet
the demand of the area’s flying training school and PoW
camp.
1947: A 5,000 kilowatt unit was added to handle the demand of the
Post War boom years.
1953: The City & Calgary Power purchased a generator and
connected Medicine Hat to the Provincial grid.
1956: The City began installing underground power lines to protect
the lines from lightening and other hazards. It also kept the
citizens safe from the risk of electric shock.
1963: Medicine Hat buys out Calgary Power’s share of the
generator and its production.
1969: Conversion begins in the downtown area to an underground
network system, making Medicine Hat the second city in Alberta to
convert.
1975-1978: Several generators were sold to make room for two new
combustion turbines adding 67,000 kilowatts of energy to the
system.
1979: The electricity demand more than doubled during this decade,
largely due to the introduction of air conditioners.
1984: The large 69 kilovolt transmission “ring around the
City” was completed; increasing accessibility and reliability
for customers.
1987: The Electric Utility developed their own computer system to
enable the remote operation of devices.
1992: Geographical Information Systems gave crews better access to
electric infrastructure data.
1993: Two new heat recovery steam generators increased
efficiencies.
1996-1998: New turbo-generators were added.
2000: The system peak demand reached 150 megawatts for the first
time during the summer.
2003: A new gas combustion turbine and a heat recovery steam
generator were installed.
2009: A 40,000 kilowatt generator was added.
2010: Plans are underway to introduce an automatic meter reading
system which will pave the road for future smart grid technology
and to install a packaged boiler at the power plant to increase
operating efficiencies.
**The above information was borrowed with permission from
Electric Utility Centennial, 1910-2010.**
This cache has been placed for the CARMH event, held Aug 21,
2010. This cache was released to the public on Aug 19th. This cache
should not be located prior to 6:00pm, Aug 20th. The caches for the
event are released early so that the caching community has an
opportunity to plan their routes prior to the event start.
You will be looking for a cammo'd ammo can with tons of swag.
Remember if you take something, please replace with something
else.
Be Safe and Happy Caching!
