Country Power ~ The Electrical Revolution in Rural Alberta

COUNTRY POWER

The Electrical Revolution in Rural Alberta

Written by Frank and John Dolphin

Country Power

The Electrical Revolution in Rural Alberta

Copyright 2013 © Alberta Federation of REAs Ltd. (AFREA)

Ebook edition published by Dream Write Publishing Ltd. on Smashwords

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, except for brief passages quoted by reviewers. Reproducing passages from this book by any means – including photocopying, recording, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, is an infringement of copyright law. Please contact the AFREA for permission to use otherwise.

Original book in print written by: Dolphin, Frank and John Dolphin

Original book in print - Photo Contributors:

Alberta Federation of Rural Electrification Associations

Alberta Power Limited

Bell Canada

Glenbow Museum

Government of Alberta Provincial Archives

TransAlta Utilities Limited

Original book in print: photo editing by Paul Dolphin

Original book in print: text edited by Nick Voorn

NOTE: Due to file size, this book has been modified for this platform – pictures, charts, and other components that do not affect the general story and information have been deleted. For a complete book, order the second edition print copy from the AFREA (www.afrea.ab.ca) or the publisher (www.dreamwritepublishing.ca).

Thank you ~ Dream Write Publishing

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Messages

Introduction

Foreword

Chapter 1 Farm Electrification – Who Needs It?

Chapter 2 A Game of Monopoly

Chapter 3 If You Won’t, We Will

Chapter 4 Selling the REA Concept

Chapter 5 The Trip to Second Heaven

Chapter 6 Lessons in Power Selling

Chapter 7 Working for Change

Chapter 8 Into the Next Century

Original List of Incorporated REAs

Glossary

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book, Country Power, began like rural electrification itself – with REAs. The Rural Electrification Associations, intent on telling the story of how power came to the farm, prompted the development of a committee to fulfill their dream. The resulting History Book Committee includes representatives of all the players in the development of rural power, then and now.

The Committee wishes to acknowledge the Federation Board for their support and guidance, the cooperation, participation, and financial assistance of Alberta Power Ltd., TransAlta Corp., and Alberta Transportation and Utilities. In particular, we especially acknowledge the former Minister of Transportation and Utilities, Al Boomer Adair, who gave us ongoing support and encouragement in the development of this book.

We appreciate the contribution of from REA members and their families and friends. They supplied photos and shared their experiences, which the author captured in story form.

The committee wishes to thank the resource people for their contribution in the assembling of information and their expert advice in guiding the development and promotion of this book. We appreciate the exceptional working relationship we had with the publisher and author, and the assistance of the media in their promotion of the book.

The stories and highlights you will find within these pages are the proverbial tip of an iceberg. There is much that will go untold. However, those we offer here will surely recall and flavor your own memories of the time before country power, the fight to get it, and the excitement of turning on the first electric bulb.

As chairman of the History Book Committee, I wish to express my appreciation to the members of this committee for their understanding, dedication, and support during the development of the History Book.

Roy Reti

Chairman, History Book Committee

(The History Book Committee members: Ralph Sloane, John (Jack) Elliot, Roy Reti, Pat Doucet, Herman Schwenk, Phyllis McGhan, Art Wigmore, Alfred McGhan, and Sheena Sheppy

MESSAGES

Alberta Transportation and Utilities

On behalf of the Government of Alberta, I am pleased to have been able to support the publication of the history book on the electrification of rural Alberta – Country Power. The Government has recognized the importance and has been very supportive in the provision of electricity to Albertans and, in particular, to the agricultural and farm community. The partnership of Government, utilities, and REAs, and the dedication and determination of those farmers, who built many of these systems, is a model for the rest of the world to envy. I am proud to have been able to take part in this great achievement.

Hon. Peter Trynchy, Minister of Transportation and Utilities

Alberta Power Limited

Bringing electric power to Alberta’s rural residents in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s was a technical and financial challenge. It taxed the imagination of farmers, utility companies, and the provincial governments of the day. Despite the formidable obstacles, Albertans found a practical down-to-earth solution. It is this solution, the creation of Rural Electrification Associations (REAs) that is celebrated in the pages that follow.

This book is a valuable contribution to the recorded history of this province. It provides the reader with an intriguing insight into the spirit that ensured rural Albertans enjoyed the benefits and convenience of electric power.

Alberta Power (and its predecessor, Canadian Utilities) is proud to have been a partner in the development of REAs in this province. We salute their determination and hard work and celebrate more than four decades of cooperation. We encourage you to share this book with others in your family and community. It deserves a special place in our homes.

David Jones, Vice-President, Customer Services

TransAlta Utilities Corporation

For over 40 years, the Rural Electrification Associations (REAs) and Farm Electric Services Limited (FESL) have been an integral part of rural life in Alberta.

In 1948, TransAlta Utilities (then Calgary Power Limited) created FESL as a non-profit subsidiary and agent for the REAs. This new organization captured the imagination of Alberta farmers with the prospect of supplying safe, reliable electricity to farms in a large area of the province.

The REAs, the Alberta government, the province’s electric companies and FESL, cooperated in an unprecedented manner to bring electricity to the province’s rural landowners. The extraordinary efforts and dedication of the REAs and their members, along with the hard work of the FESL crews, brought electricity to over 90 per cent of TransAlta’s service area within FESL’s first 10 years.

The construction and maintenance of this huge system is a credit to all of the parties involved. Today, all Albertans continue to share and benefit from the legacy of achievement documented on these pages. It is a history that the province, farmers, REAs, and utility companies can rightly be proud of.

Wolfgang Janke, Vice-President, Customer Services

INTRODUCTION

This book is dedicated to the pioneers whose vision delivered electric power to rural Alberta. It recalls and portrays the effort and determination that was needed to electrify the farmsteads of the province. Farmers were determined to gain the advantage of electricity so casually enjoyed in the cities and towns of Alberta. Electrical power would forever change and ease the manual drudgery of the farm and farmhouse.

When a rural electrification program, based on the cooperative concept, was put in place in the mid-forties, farmers were quick to take advantage of centralized power. Through self help and innovation, over 90 per cent of Alberta farms were electrified within a decade. Life on the farm evolved from the candle to the computer within the span of a generation. This book is the story of the events and sacrifices that brought about this transformation.

Before electricity, life on the farm was not nearly as convenient as in the towns and cities. The farm resident had to go through the daily ritual of cleaning the lamps and lanterns that burned coal oil or filling and pumping up the lamps that used hi-test gas. These things were dangerous – many a home and barn went up in flames because a lamp was accidentally knocked over and started a fire.

Electricity broke the dawn to dusk shackles of the farm work cycle. The farm could be operated on a more efficient basis. Electricity provided the luxury of being more in tune with the urban lifestyle. Today, farming families can enjoy more leisure time with the introduction of work saving appliances. Time after time, the farmers of Alberta have developed a legacy of self help. They have demonstrated their ability to provide leadership and vision to improve their economic and social well being. Prime examples before rural power were the Mutual Telephone System, the formation of the Alberta Wheat Pool, and United Farmers of Alberta Cooperative. A generation after rural power, the spirit continued in the development of rural gas co-ops. The electrification of rural Alberta has brought about the most dramatic social and economic change of any event in the history of Alberta. Electricity is the key to all modern technology that is part of our daily lives.

This fact eventually affected the social structure of the large cities in Alberta. Thousands of people now live in the country and commute to work in the city. Farmers bringing power to the country were indirectly responsible for creating urban-rural migration.

One era ended and another began in June of 1987. The Union of Rural Electrification Associations was restructured, and became a new organization representing REAs: the Alberta Federation of Rural Electrification Associations.

A contract negotiated between REAs and the utilities in 1984-85, required changing the constitutional structure of the provincial organization. Because of differences in perspective, relations between the REAs and utility companies were often inharmonious. The contract required REA and utility representatives to meet on a regular basis. This communication process has resulted in a dramatic improvement in mutual respect between representatives of the utility companies and the REAs.

Looking back on the last forty-five years, it is evident that electricity was at least as important