Celebrating 125 Years (1886-2011)
Dublin Core
Title
Celebrating 125 Years (1886-2011)
Description
This DVD was produced By Southern California Edison, a consolidation of Henry Huntington’s power generation interests formed in 1917, detailing their history. It emphasizes their roots as a supplier business for Huntington’s famed “Red Cars,” and describes Big Creek and its engineering marvels, in addition to detailing several of SCE’s current initiatives. Importantly, at ~05:10, the video refers to Henry Huntington and his use of the electricity from Big Creek to power his interurban electric railroad.
This video refers to connecting Southern California with his Red Cars and emphasizes the technical challenges of this endeavor. However, this perspective ignores some of the serious setbacks in the company’s history; Huntington had to significantly scale back his plans to build a true rail conglomerate, give up his interurban ambitions, and axe his power-generation ambitions to gain control of the Los Angeles Railway “Yellow Car” system (Jackson 1995).
This video refers to connecting Southern California with his Red Cars and emphasizes the technical challenges of this endeavor. However, this perspective ignores some of the serious setbacks in the company’s history; Huntington had to significantly scale back his plans to build a true rail conglomerate, give up his interurban ambitions, and axe his power-generation ambitions to gain control of the Los Angeles Railway “Yellow Car” system (Jackson 1995).
Creator
Edison International
Publisher
Edison International
Date
2011
2011-09-08
Format
DVD
Moving Image Item Type Metadata
Transcription
From power produced by falling water to the power of the wind, Edison International has found new technologies and innovative solutions for the ever-changing needs of our customers for 125 years from the start. I'm here at the site of one of our company's earliest power plants, built in 1892 in San Antonio Canyon, which provided electricity to customers in Pomona. It's impressive for a company, any company, to survive and prosper for over a century, but perseverance itself means nothing without a greater vision.
Our customers and stakeholders might be impressed with our rich history, but what they really want to know is what are we doing for them now. Of course, we couldn't be successful without standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. From the start, July 4th, 1886, when the company predecessors first illuminated the streets of Visalia in central California with electric lights just in time for their town celebration.
To our newest wind farm here in Cedro Hill, Texas, Edison International employees earn the trust of our customers every day, providing safe, reliable, and affordable electric service. We're currently under construction of the Tehachui Renewable Transmission Project. I'm here at Wind Hub Substation, the first transmission substation in the nation designed specifically to bring wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources to the customers in the Los Angeles area.
Wind complete, the lines will almost be 250 miles long. Most people aren't aware that the key technology has given us the ability to push power more than a few miles. It was developed by an Edison employee, engineer Orville Ensign.
Back in 1898, Los Angeles was growing faster than the company's ability to keep up with power demands. East of L.A., near Redlands, California, a group of investors built one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the state, Santa Ana River Powerhouse No. 1. 3,000 kilowatts of power relieved the supply problems, and it was 83 miles from Santa Ana River No.
1 to Los Angeles. It was by far the longest transmission line in the world. The weak link in transmission with electrical power during the latter part of the 1800s was due to the original glass insulators, which were used those days very similar to what was installed on the telegraph lines.
But as transmission lines increased in length, the stress on the insulators due to a heavier and larger conductor caused the insulators to frequently break. Therefore a new material as well as new designs were required. O.H. Ensign, an engineer from the Southern California Edison Company, came to the rescue and designed a prototype insulator made from porcelain which had double the strength of regular glass insulators and that was put into production.
Using those Redlands Pedicode Insulators, we set the record for transmission distance with the Santa Ana line, 83 miles and 33,000 volts. You can see the descendants of that design on any transmission tower, including the Tehachapi line. We've been breaking records from the start and we're still at it, but we just don't transmit electricity.
We make it in innovative ways too. From the start, Edison was first to connect solar and wind power generators to the commercial power grid. Solar One, the nation's first commercial solar thermal power plant, was constructed in 1979 in the desert near Barstow, California.
A few years ago, our engineers came up with a novel approach. What if we built solar facilities in population centers? You wouldn't need transmission lines, but where could we find enough open space to build? The Inland Empire, where we're building a square mile of solar panels on these commercial roofs. The power goes right into the distribution grid to serve customers.
When we ordered all those PV panels, it drove down the cost of the technology, making it cheaper for anybody wanting to go solar, including homeowners. But not every place gets as much sun as we get here. So, Edison now has 30 wind energy projects in 11 states, like this one in Cedar Hill, Texas.
100 turbines produce enough power to meet the needs of 40,000 homes. Nationwide, Edison International meets the needs of millions, and there are many more projects on the way.
At the turn of the last century, company pioneers like John Eastwood recognized the potential of the watersheds of the high Sierras. The Big Creek project was an immense undertaking, the largest construction project in the nation at the time, rivaling the building of the Panama Canal. Hundreds of miles away from Big Creek, Henry Huntington was linking communities with comfort, speed, and safety. Huntington, who would become a member of the company's board of directors, developed rail travel throughout Southern California, from San Bernardino to Santa Monica, all while using power supplied from the hardest working water in the world, from hundreds of miles away at Big Creek.
Huntington's venerable red cars of the 20th century were truly innovative. Today, we are at the forefront of the development of infrastructure to support the future of the electric transportation of our time. The electric car is finally here, and we're improving our system to handle the demand, with better air quality as the result.
But we've been focused on air quality since the late 1940s. When the aircraft and manufacturing built up in Los Angeles during the Second World War helped us win. But air quality suffered.
From the start, and even before the word smog had been invented, Edison was the first utility in the nation to voluntarily begin smoke abatement and air pollution controls at its plants in the L.A. Basin. Not satisfied with the anti-pollution control technology available, the company engaged Dr. Hagan Schmitt, a Caltech expert, to conduct a full-scale research program into smog abatement. Again, the first of its kind in the industry.
With assistance from Edison engineers, Hagan Schmitt developed pollution control technologies that became industry standard nationwide, including the catalytic converter, and used today in the automotive industry. And today, we're still innovating in emission controls. At Edison Mission Group, we've seen explosive growth in our wind energy portfolio in recent years.
But coal continues to provide a significant part of the nation's electric energy as we transition to more renewables. So to bridge that gap, we've made emission controls a primary focus. We pioneered the development and use of activated carbon injection to remove mercury from our six coal plants in Illinois.
And we're one of the first companies in the country to install this technology, which we did at our plants in the city of Chicago. We have now refined the process to deliver over a 90% reduction in mercury emissions. But the cleanest kilowatt is the one that isn't used.
Back in the 70s, Edison became the first major utility in the nation to voluntarily discontinue all promotional advertising and replace it with conservation messages. The Make Every Kilowatt Count campaign stunned the industry but was essential due to shortages caused by the 1973 oil embargo. SCE is the national leader in energy efficiency programs.
In the past five years alone, SCE customers have saved 7.8 billion kilowatt hours. That's enough energy to power 1.2 million average homes for a year. And with smart meters and smarter grid infrastructure now being installed, customers will save energy and money more conveniently than ever before.
This is an exciting time to be in the electricity business. Huge changes in technology and public policy are reshaping the landscape. At Edison International, we work around the clock, around the country, to lead the way in our industry.
People depend on us to power their lives and we make it happen every day. In fact, we've been doing it for 125 years.
Our customers and stakeholders might be impressed with our rich history, but what they really want to know is what are we doing for them now. Of course, we couldn't be successful without standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. From the start, July 4th, 1886, when the company predecessors first illuminated the streets of Visalia in central California with electric lights just in time for their town celebration.
To our newest wind farm here in Cedro Hill, Texas, Edison International employees earn the trust of our customers every day, providing safe, reliable, and affordable electric service. We're currently under construction of the Tehachui Renewable Transmission Project. I'm here at Wind Hub Substation, the first transmission substation in the nation designed specifically to bring wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources to the customers in the Los Angeles area.
Wind complete, the lines will almost be 250 miles long. Most people aren't aware that the key technology has given us the ability to push power more than a few miles. It was developed by an Edison employee, engineer Orville Ensign.
Back in 1898, Los Angeles was growing faster than the company's ability to keep up with power demands. East of L.A., near Redlands, California, a group of investors built one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the state, Santa Ana River Powerhouse No. 1. 3,000 kilowatts of power relieved the supply problems, and it was 83 miles from Santa Ana River No.
1 to Los Angeles. It was by far the longest transmission line in the world. The weak link in transmission with electrical power during the latter part of the 1800s was due to the original glass insulators, which were used those days very similar to what was installed on the telegraph lines.
But as transmission lines increased in length, the stress on the insulators due to a heavier and larger conductor caused the insulators to frequently break. Therefore a new material as well as new designs were required. O.H. Ensign, an engineer from the Southern California Edison Company, came to the rescue and designed a prototype insulator made from porcelain which had double the strength of regular glass insulators and that was put into production.
Using those Redlands Pedicode Insulators, we set the record for transmission distance with the Santa Ana line, 83 miles and 33,000 volts. You can see the descendants of that design on any transmission tower, including the Tehachapi line. We've been breaking records from the start and we're still at it, but we just don't transmit electricity.
We make it in innovative ways too. From the start, Edison was first to connect solar and wind power generators to the commercial power grid. Solar One, the nation's first commercial solar thermal power plant, was constructed in 1979 in the desert near Barstow, California.
A few years ago, our engineers came up with a novel approach. What if we built solar facilities in population centers? You wouldn't need transmission lines, but where could we find enough open space to build? The Inland Empire, where we're building a square mile of solar panels on these commercial roofs. The power goes right into the distribution grid to serve customers.
When we ordered all those PV panels, it drove down the cost of the technology, making it cheaper for anybody wanting to go solar, including homeowners. But not every place gets as much sun as we get here. So, Edison now has 30 wind energy projects in 11 states, like this one in Cedar Hill, Texas.
100 turbines produce enough power to meet the needs of 40,000 homes. Nationwide, Edison International meets the needs of millions, and there are many more projects on the way.
At the turn of the last century, company pioneers like John Eastwood recognized the potential of the watersheds of the high Sierras. The Big Creek project was an immense undertaking, the largest construction project in the nation at the time, rivaling the building of the Panama Canal. Hundreds of miles away from Big Creek, Henry Huntington was linking communities with comfort, speed, and safety. Huntington, who would become a member of the company's board of directors, developed rail travel throughout Southern California, from San Bernardino to Santa Monica, all while using power supplied from the hardest working water in the world, from hundreds of miles away at Big Creek.
Huntington's venerable red cars of the 20th century were truly innovative. Today, we are at the forefront of the development of infrastructure to support the future of the electric transportation of our time. The electric car is finally here, and we're improving our system to handle the demand, with better air quality as the result.
But we've been focused on air quality since the late 1940s. When the aircraft and manufacturing built up in Los Angeles during the Second World War helped us win. But air quality suffered.
From the start, and even before the word smog had been invented, Edison was the first utility in the nation to voluntarily begin smoke abatement and air pollution controls at its plants in the L.A. Basin. Not satisfied with the anti-pollution control technology available, the company engaged Dr. Hagan Schmitt, a Caltech expert, to conduct a full-scale research program into smog abatement. Again, the first of its kind in the industry.
With assistance from Edison engineers, Hagan Schmitt developed pollution control technologies that became industry standard nationwide, including the catalytic converter, and used today in the automotive industry. And today, we're still innovating in emission controls. At Edison Mission Group, we've seen explosive growth in our wind energy portfolio in recent years.
But coal continues to provide a significant part of the nation's electric energy as we transition to more renewables. So to bridge that gap, we've made emission controls a primary focus. We pioneered the development and use of activated carbon injection to remove mercury from our six coal plants in Illinois.
And we're one of the first companies in the country to install this technology, which we did at our plants in the city of Chicago. We have now refined the process to deliver over a 90% reduction in mercury emissions. But the cleanest kilowatt is the one that isn't used.
Back in the 70s, Edison became the first major utility in the nation to voluntarily discontinue all promotional advertising and replace it with conservation messages. The Make Every Kilowatt Count campaign stunned the industry but was essential due to shortages caused by the 1973 oil embargo. SCE is the national leader in energy efficiency programs.
In the past five years alone, SCE customers have saved 7.8 billion kilowatt hours. That's enough energy to power 1.2 million average homes for a year. And with smart meters and smarter grid infrastructure now being installed, customers will save energy and money more conveniently than ever before.
This is an exciting time to be in the electricity business. Huge changes in technology and public policy are reshaping the landscape. At Edison International, we work around the clock, around the country, to lead the way in our industry.
People depend on us to power their lives and we make it happen every day. In fact, we've been doing it for 125 years.
Original Format
DVD; standard size
Duration
9 minutes 39 seconds
Compression
MPEG-4
Producer
Edison International
Citation
Edison International, “Celebrating 125 Years (1886-2011),” Electrifying Los Angeles, accessed July 2, 2026, https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/items/show/51.