Inventor Name
Pennsylvania Power & Light Company. Predecessor and subsidiary companies. Edison Electric Illuminating companies.
Repository
Hagley Museum & Library
Manuscripts & Archives Department
P.O. Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
21 linear feet
Summary
In the early 1880s Thomas A. Edison began developing central stations to bring incandescent lighting to individual households in several communities in eastern Pennsylvania. The first central station to use the three-wire system and other Edison patents, which made it possible to transmit direct current, was erected in Sunbury, Pa. With it, Edison demonstrated the practicality of providing electricity to small cities and towns and revitalized his waning fortunes. The success of the Sunbury power plant made it feasible for Edison and his Pennsylvania agent, P. B. Shaw of Williamsport, to license local electric companies. Within a few years, Edison Electric Illuminating Companies were operating in Ashland, Hazleton, Lancaster, Mount Carmel, Pottsville, Shamokin, Harrisburg, Tamaqua, Williamsport and Catasauqua. The early Edison companies, however, were extremely inefficient. The area to which direct current could be transmitted was extremely limited. During the late 1880s George Westinghouse developed a much more economical alternating current system which could transmit high voltages for several miles. By the late 1890s the Edison companies were at a severe competitive disadvantage. Many of them were forced out of business. Others recognized the need to license the Westinghouse alternating current generator. The records are from ten of the Edison Electric Illuminating companies set up by Edison and his agent. The records of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Sunbury document Thomas Edison's role in the establishment of the Sunbury generating and distribution facility in the early 1880s. The records of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Williamsport document the relationship between Thomas Edison and his agent P. B. Shaw and the history of the first Pennsylvania electric company licensed by The Edison Electric Company of New York. The records of the other Edison companies, which include those at Ashland, Hazleton, Lancaster, Mount Carmel, Pottsville, Shamokin, and Easton, document the installation of the Edison system of direct current in eastern Pennsylvania and the competition between the Edison and Westinghouse companies. There is also information describing negotiations with municipalities for street lighting contracts, installation of arc lighting system, efforts to promote the use of electricity, company work rules, early attempts at government regulation, the rate setting process, and franchise expansion.