https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/2666ae867f78b93ac0faeabe08b8e9d7.jpg da106ca86603d2bee11e9e889c277e69 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/ad2c2423daf0f0cafa1d8211fa86596c.jpg b97559b0218295db85aa8b61e3afbc78 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/e0106baba736ab2bf8b055a49f65af1c.jpg 8893318d28a8dff0ee36dbdada66314c https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/19165f9709ec4a4f7b3d6f2cd0a9e242.jpg ad5d30e65429cc651bfa60ce53c6a22b https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/c6c3d5f094c65b25c3b15943557eac85.jpg 1075f5cc23f7e5126b366640efb076a0 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Letter Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 8.5"x11" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter From Westinghouse Electric to Royal W. Sorenson Description An account of the resource A decade after the Borel plant began operation, electricity requirements in Southern California had grown drastically. To meet the new demands, Henry Huntington commissioned engineer John S. Eastwood to design a new power plant to be built in the San Joaquin Valley, named Big Creek power plant (Hanson). <br /><br />Royal W. Sorenson, electrical engineer who worked at Caltech (then called Throop Institute) and inventor of the vacuum switch, was a consulting engineer for Huntington's Power Company (Caltech Office of Strategic Communications). This document is correspondence between Sorenson and Westinghouse Electric before the plant opened, who replied after Sorenson sent a report of "hunting" in the generators at Big Creek Station No. 2. Hunting occurs when the generator searches for the right frequency to operate at, causing power output fluctuations and damage to equipment. Westinghouse Electric instruct Sorenson in this letter to increase the voltage of the generators, as they suspect the issues were caused by underload.<br /><br />Big Creek powerhouse No. 2 opened in December 1914 (SCE), a decade after Borel. It marked one of the first major collaborations between Huntington and Caltech, which would eventually lead to the construction of the High Volts laboratory.<br /><br /> <div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height:2;margin-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"> <div class="csl-entry"><i>California’s Promethean Past by Victor Davis Hanson, City Journal Summer 2013</i>. 26 Mar. 2014, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140326171900/http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_3_henry-huntington.html">https://web.archive.org/web/20140326171900/http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_3_henry-huntington.html</a>.</div> <span class="Z3988"></span> <div class="csl-entry">Caltech. “Royal W. Sorenson Faculty Portrait.” <i>Caltech Magazine</i>, Caltech Office of Strategic Communications, <a href="https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/1250/1/Sorenson.pdf">https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/1250/1/Sorenson.pdf</a>. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.</div> <span class="Z3988"></span> <div class="csl-entry">Catren, Robert Charles. <i>A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History University of Southern California</i>.</div> <span class="Z3988"></span> <div class="csl-entry">Southern California Edision Company. “Initial Information Package for the Big Creek Hydroelectric System.” <i>SCE</i>, 2000, <a href="https://www.sce.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/2000_iip.pdf">https://www.sce.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/2000_iip.pdf</a>.</div> <span class="Z3988"></span> <div class="csl-entry">Westinghouse Electric &amp; Manufacturing Company. 23 July 1914, California Institute of Technology Archives, Sorenson Papers Box 1.</div> </div> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives, Sorenson Papers Box 1 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 23, 1914 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Physical Letter Big Creek Huntington Sorenson