| The Nevada "Rome" Powerhouse and the Birth of PG&E
By A. Dale Johnson, PG&E Retired
The Yuba River system gave birth to the hydro-electric power industry in the late 1890’s as a result of several factors coming together at the same time.
- mine owners were in need of reliable and lower cost power,
- the Pelton Wheel was invented in Camptonville and first manufactured at Allan’s Foundry in Nevada City,
- existing mining ditches were idle or underutilized and could deliver water,
- technology was being developed to transmit electricity over wires to distant locations,
- the new Folsom Powerhouse couldn’t deliver enough electricity to the Sacramento transit system because of the drought of 1897 and 1898,
- the Browns Valley Irrigation District could no longer levy taxes to pay for maintenance on their properties because this aspect of the Wright Irrigation Act was declared unconstitutional,
- and probably most importantly, two entrepreneurs by the names of John Martin and Eugene J. de Sabla came to Nevada City.
Romulas Riggs Colgate became an investment partner with de Sabla and Martin and together they developed hydro-electric power projects and acquired other projects throughout northern California. Within ten years they controlled the vast majority of all electric and gas systems in northern California, with the exception of San Francisco. They then purchased the San Francisco Gas and Electric Co., of which William B. Bourn was president, and merged it with their California Gas and Electric Co. to create Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in October, 1905.
And it all started in Nevada County! This article will be the story of the Nevada Power House, or as it was affectionately known, the “Rome Powerhouse”.
Early Mining Ditches
The first major mining ditch was the nine mile long Rock Creek Ditch, constructed in 1850 to take water from Rock Creek to Coyote Hill in Nevada City. The Rock Creek Ditch Co. is considered to be the oldest entity on the PG&E corporate family tree, and was ultimately used to deliver water to the first hydro-powerhouse in Nevada County.
Charles Marsh, a pioneer in water development in Nevada County, and his partners built the Rock Creek Ditch for $10,000 and recovered it’s cost in 6 weeks from the water-hungry miners. The ditch business then became very competitive! Rivals built ditches from Deer Creek to Nevada City. Lawsuits about water rights led to consolidations and the Deer Creek and Coyote Water Co. in late 1851. Ground sluicing soon gave way to hydraulic mining which was first used on Buckeye Hill by Anthony Chabot. One major company emerged in the Nevada City area, the Rock Creek, Deer Creek, and South Yuba Canal Co., in 1854. The company name was shortened to South Yuba Canal Company, in 1870 and their office was located in the historic building now occupied by the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce on the low end of Commercial Street.
This company built the first major water project ever in California---the South Yuba Canal, from 1854 to 1858. It was 16 miles long, of which 9 mi. was ditch and 7 mi. was flume, and cost $500,000. It included two tunnels totalling over two miles long. The project took so long to build because of the construction challenges, which included 1.5 miles of cliff-side construction, requiring men to work in slings hanging over the cliff!!!
This canal took water out of the South Yuba River at what is now Lake Spaulding, diverting it into the Bear River valley. Ultimately, much of the water was delivered back into the Yuba River basin at Deer Creek, near the current Scotts Flat Reservoir.
This company developed storage in the upper Yuba basin at Lake Fordyce, Meadow Lake and other locations. It became the major water company in the upper Yuba region.with over 450 miles of ditches and 20 storage reservoirs. It was the “wholesale” provider to numerous smaller ditch owners and hydraulic mining operations.
Alvinza Hayward, of Comstock wealth, became a major customer of the South Yuba Canal Co. He became interested in gaining control of the South Yuba Canal system to assure a supply of water to his Dutch Flat district mines. He got his foot in the door by loaning his top engineer, John Kilbourne Spaulding, to the South Yuba company when they were having difficulties completing the Fordyce Dam, the largest dam yet built in California.
Hayward reached agreement to purchase the South Yuba Canal Co. in October 1876. He couldn’t make the payments, though, because dry seasons caused mines to shutdown and severe winter storms caused extensive and costly damage to ditches and flumes.
Hayward then went to New York and managed to interest banker Warner Van Norden in financing the purchase. The New York corporation was called South Yuba Water and Mining Co. and took over the properties of the South Yuba Canal Co. and Hayward’s mines in 1880. This company expanded the ditch system into agricultural areas and made acquisitions in Placer County, as hydraulic mining was outlawed by the Sawyer Decision of 1884. It changed it’s name to South Yuba Water Co. in 1891, presumably to reflect the demise of hydraulic mining.
Also, to further help replace mining revenues, this company got into the electric generating business very early on. Through a subsidiary, Central California Gas and Electric Co., it constructed three projects in Placer County--Newcastle, Auburn, and Alta (1896, 1898, and 1902 respectively).
The Excelsior Ditch was built from 1854 to 1859 by the Excelsior Canal Co. to provide water for the mines in the Rough and Ready and Smartville areas. The 35 mile long ditch diverted water out of the South Yuba River over into the lower Deer Creek area west of Grass Valley and into eastern Yuba County...
The head dam was located about half-way between the existing Highway 49 bridge and Purdon Crossing, which would 36 years later be the site of the historic Nevada Power House. So, the Nevada Power House site was dictated by where the Excelsior head dam had to be in order to get the water over the saddle in the Pleasant Valley area between the South Yuba canyon and Deer Creek. This ditch company had a colorful history, but that is beyond the scope of this article.
Hydraulic Mining Ends
The high level of hydraulic mining eventually led to it’s doom. Silt and gravel from the mines were carried in muddy streams to the rivers of the lower valleys. This caused flooding in areas like Marysville because the level of the riverbed was raised substantially. Farmland was damaged by the flooding. A bitter fight ensued between the farmers and the miners and came to a head in 1884. Judge L. B. Sawyer granted a perpetual injunction against the North Bloomfield Mining Co. of Nevada County, forbidding the discharge of debris into the rivers. The effect of this was to end hydraulic mining, although it continued in limited areas where debris dams were built as permitted by the Caminetti Act of 1893. Bullards Bar and Englebright dams were the most notable of the debris dams.
Rather suddenly, then, the hundreds of miles of ditches in the area had lost their biggest and best customers. Many ditches were simply abandoned and the ditch companies that survived focused on farming and irrigation for the rest of century until hydroelectric power started to develop.
Pelton Wheel Invented
Lester Allan Pelton invented the Pelton Water Wheel, which revolutionized the mining industry and helped to launch one of the greatest advances in the history of mankind--the hydro-electric power industry. He came to California from Ohio , at age 20, in 1850. In 1864 he became a millright at Camptonville, Yuba County. Thirteen years later in 1877/78, he started experimenting with waterwheels. This led to his discovery of the “splitter” concept which allowed nearly all of the energy to be gotten out of the water and prevented the water from fighting itself.
The first wheel that Pelton put to practical use was to power the sewing machine of his landlady, Mrs. W. G. Groves in Camptonville. This prototype wheel is on display at a Lodge in Camptonville.
He then took his patterns to the Allan Machine Shop and Foundry in Nevada City (now known as the Miners Foundry). Wheels of various types and sizes were made and tested. He received his first patent in 1880. Within 15 years, his wheels were in use in mines all over the world!
The Pelton Wheel Company was so successful that it moved to larger facilities in San Francisco, in 1887. Pelton sold his interest to A. P. Brayton, Sr., of Rankin, Brayton and Company. Pelton stayed on as a consulting engineer and later retired in Oakland.
First Electricity
The first electric power generated in Nevada County was by a small water-driven plant at the Charomat Mine in 1887. This 100 volt equipment was subsequently moved to the Idaho-Maryland Mine, where higher water pressure was available. In April 1894, the owner, John Glasson, moved to a new location on Deer Creek, 4 1/2 miles west of Grass Valley. The plant was enlarged by installing a 2000 volt, 133 cycle single phase generator. Water was taken out of Deer Creek about 3/4 mile above the power house and conveyed through the Excelsior Ditch to power two-4 foot Pelton Wheels. Glasson sold this plant to the new Nevada County Electric Power Co. in 1896. The plant was shutdown in 1899.
Players in the Drama
Alfonso Adolphus Tregidgo was a Cornishman, born in 1858. His defective eyesight prevented him from following the family tradition in the Royal Navy. So, he joined the merchant marine and in 1878 landed in Vallejo. There, he turned to his Cornish roots and worked at the St. John’s quicksilver mine near Vallejo, after which he went to the copper mines in Arizona, where he rose to Superintendent.
Eugene J. de Sabla, Jr. was a descendent of French nobility, born in Panama in 1865. He was educated in the USA and took a course in assaying, where he met George Hearst and others of Mother Lode fame. He started his work life at a copper mine in Arizona, of which his father was part owner. It was here, that he first met Tregidgo. When the mine closed, due to falling copper prices, de Sabla returned to San Francisco and became a full partner in Eugene de Sabla and Company, and managed the business. The financial panic of 1893 resulted in his decision to liquidate his father’s company.
John Martin was born in Indianapolis in 1858. He spent his boyhood in Brooklyn and since age 13 fended for himself. After experience in Alabama real estate and working for Armour in Chicago, he came to California. After working for a San Francisco coal importing firm for a time, he established his own business, the John Martin Company, which dealt in pig iron. He was the agent for the U. S. Cast Iron Pipe Company.
Romulas Riggs Colgate, born in 1858, was a grandson of the founder of the Colgate Soap and Perfume Co. The lure of the West was strong, so, he left his father's business and acquired gold-mining properties in Grass Valley and Nevada City. As fate would have it, he became an investor in the Nevada County Electric Power Co. after accidentally meeting de Sabla as he was on his way to the railway ticket agency. De Sabla was going to New York to ask his grand-uncle Peter Marie de Sabla to invest. Colgate said “So, you are the nephew of Uncle Peter Marie, I know him and have dined at his home. But why go to him for money? Maybe I can take his place!” Colgate then became a $40,000 investor for one fifth interest in the company. From that time on he became a strong financial backer of hydro-electric development.
Martin and de Sabla Become a Team
Late 1894 was the occasion when John Martin was invited to a San Francisco luncheon by a friend, Charles W. Randall, druggist and Mother Lode mine owner. Randall had also invited de Sabla, thinking that his friend, Martin might get an order to supply pipe for de Sabla’s powerhouse project. Mr. de Sabla indicated he was planning to finance and build an electric plant on the South Fork of the Yuba River, with his associate Mr. Tregidgo. The three men talked of water, generators, and other aspects of the project. The Stanley Electrical Manufacturing Co. was talked about as making the best generators for their type project. Martin did not ask for an order, as he had something else in mind...
Tregidgo became part owner of the Peabody Mine in Grass Valley, after he left Arizona. He had become troubled by the high cost and inefficiency of steam power for pumping and other operations. He then conceived of the idea of supplying electric power to the mines from reading an account of transmission of electric power from Tripoli to Rome, Italy, and after hearing of early experiments in California. He decided to build a hydro plant on the South Yuba River, to serve, not only his own mine, but others in Grass Valley and Nevada City. By this time, he had hooked-up again with de Sabla who had also acquired an interest in the Peabody Mine.
It was, also, around this time that Martin had become aware of the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Co. through a Mr. Lindner, an electrician who had shown him a letter from the Stanley company, The letter authorized Lindner to sell Stanley products on a commission basis.
Martin, intrigued by the earlier luncheon talk, went to Pittsfield, Mass. where he obtained an interview with William Stanley, the inventor and head of the company. Martin had no electrical training, but he must have been very convincing, because they gave him the California agency for their products!
One day, two or three months later, Martin and de Sabla encountered each other on Montgomery Street in San Francisco. Martin said “I’m ready now for your order” and de Sabla replied “What order?”, thinking that Martin had forgotten all about their previous luncheon discussion.
Martin and de Sabla were then brought together into a remarkable team. They reportedly reached their agreement while staying at Nevada City’s National Hotel. The story goes that the business negotiations took place in the hotel’s bar and later adjourned to Suite 74! Thus, it can be said, that the National Hotel is the birthplace of PG&E, because the agreement made there led to a hectic 10 year period of development and acquisitions, and the creation of PG&E in October, 1905!
Nevada “Rome” Power House
Tregidgo and de Sabla actually first started the project by building a crib-style dam on the South Yuba River in 1891, according to one account. This seems unlikely to this writer, because incorporation did not take place until 1892, and the first attempt was probably 1892. In any event, the dam was washed out in the severe spring floods.
The Nevada County Electric Power Co. was incorporated on September 22, 1892, well before the historic Folsom project was envisioned and decided upon. Officers included Tregidgo as President, de Sabla as Vice-President and Fred Searls, Attorney. A financial depression then put the project on hold until 1895.
The Nevada head dam, located about 1&1/2 miles above the Purdon Crossing, was started on August 1, 1895 and completed within four months. It was made of logs piled crib-fashion, 28 feet high and 107 feet wide at the top. Before the cribs could be filled with rock and gravel, the river began rising rapidly, stopping the work. Fortunately, the “slickens” washed down and filled every nook and cranny of the crib-work, packing it solid with deposits, better than it could have been done by the men! The head dam, years later, was fortified with a granite wall on the downstream face, 12 feet thick at the base and 2 feet at the top.
The flume, in itself a major project, was started July 6 and completed by November 28, 1895. It was 6’ wide by 4 1/2’ deep, 3 1/2 miles long, using 1,250,000 feet of lumber and 110 men for four months.The flume had a gradient of 26 2/3 feet per mile and could carry 5800 miner’s inches of water to the penstock above the power house site.
The power house site was selected at the head dam of the Excelsior Ditch, which had been installed about 40 years earlier. This was a logical site because the water diverted to the power house could be returned to the river without infringing on the water rights of the Excelsior.
The site was in a beautiful narrow mountain river canyon, but it was not a pretty picture from a construction standpoint. The machinery had to be brought in via rail to Nevada City from Colfax on the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad and then hauled by wagon to the site.
The road above Nevada City had to be widened and two additional miles built to a location above Devil’s Slide. Six to 12 horse teams hauled the machinery to the staging point at the end of the road, which was about 900 feet higher in elevation than the power house site. From there, the equipment was lowered down the 1700 foot slope, “Emigrant Gap style”, first on wagons, then using heavy log sleds. The steepest slopes ranged from 32 to 39 degrees. Generally, three 1&1/2 inch manila ropes were used to control the load by wrapping each several turns around a tree trunk.
The two Stanley generators, each consisted of six pieces, with the heaviest weighing 11,200 pounds.The largest item in size was the water receiver, which was 19 feet long, 4 feet in diameter and weighed 4 tons.
The Power House was built on a solid granite shelf. The floor was 18 inch thick concrete anchored by 3/4 inch rods, which were sulfur-cemented into 18 inch deep holes drilled down into the granite. The canyon was so narrow that, the 10 bedroom boarding house was built on the opposite side of the river and was reached by a suspension footbridge.
The penstock was 298 feet long, with a head of 190 feet. It tapered down from 48 to 44 to 42 inches to the receiver. The receiver delivered water to the two sets of 2--34 1/2 inch Pelton Wheels through 2--3 inch jets on each wheel.
The main electrical equipment consisted of two Stanley generators, making 400 revolutions per minute. Each generator produced 300 kilowatts of two-phase, 133 cycle power at 5000 volts.
A wood pole line was constructed 8 miles to Nevada City and Grass Valley, using 30 foot poles with two crossarms and 8--No. 3 B&S bare copper wires supported by triple-petticoat white porcelain insulators. The pole line Right-of-Way was cleared 60 feet wide.
On the business side, de Sabla had been signing up customers in the mining districts and his assistant, J. E. Poindestre, was soliciting orders for electric lights from business firms and owners of residences.
Technical problems delayed the successful operation from December 1895 to February 1896. But finally on February 5, there was success! As reported by the “The Daily Transcript” the following day “The electric lights of the Nevada County Electric Power Company were turned on at 6 o’clock last evening for the first time and attracted considerable attention. The lights were quite brilliant and the office of the company on Pine St. received many visitors. The lights were burned in Lane’s livery stable, the Morgan House at Grass Valley and the company’s office, these being the only places wired and connected thus far, but in a few days many other business places and residences will be connected and lights furnished them. The officials of the company felt very much pleased over the excellent beginning made and promise that it will not be long that power, as well as lights can be furnished to all who desire it.”
Throughout the first phase of the Nevada Power House project, Tregidgo was in charge of construction, Martin handled the delivery and installation of the machinery, with much help from Engineer E.E. Stark, and de Sabla brought in the customers. Tregidgo continued as Operating Superintendent until October, 1896, when he left for new adventure in Alaska’s Klondike gold rush!
The High Head and Lake Vera
But success created more demand! Plans were made to provide additional capacity by utilizing South Yuba water which got to the power house by a round-about way. They would use water delivered into the Rock Creek ditch via the South Yuba Canal, then owned by Warner Van Norden
And--this was when Romulas Riggs Colgate came to the rescue. His financing allowed the expansion to go forward.
A 327 foot long by 54 foot high crib-dam was started on March 1, 1898 to back-up water into a partially excavated basin that had formerly been the scene of hydraulic mining. It was completed in November. The new Lake Vera, named after one of de Sabla’s daughters, covered 42 acres and could furnish a constant flow of 1000 miner’s inches for 30 days.
The power house was expanded by adding a new building just down stream from the existing one.Two more generators were added, which more than doubled the plant output.
The Lake Vera viaduct was 2&3/4 miles long and had a gradient so gradual it took 1 hour. and 5 minutes. for water to reach the forebay. It consisted of 2340 feet of flume, 11,400 feet of ditch (most of it an old mining ditch) to a small forebay on the hillside, probably in the vicinity of the “staging” spot for lowering equipment down the canyon. Two thirds of the way along the way, the Meyers Ravine required an inverted siphon to be used to cross the gorge. The siphon was 36 inch pipe and 668 feet long.
At this point, it would be appropriate to discuss the question-- “Is it the Rome Power House or the Nevada Power House?” John Martin had this to say “ But it’s a joke-- the calling of that little plant the ‘Rome’ power house. It is the Nevada power house. The nickname came about in this way: Romulas R. Colgate was associated with me later in establishing the plant at Colgate, over on the Middle Yuba. After that big one had been named for him, some of us got to referring to the little fellow over on the South Yuba as the ‘Rome” power plant, “Rome” being the familiar shortening of Colgate’s first name.” It is clear, however, that “Rome ‘ became the name of choice and even PG&E records use that name. And, after all “Isn’t ‘Rome’ a more romantic name for a power house ‘in the middle of no where’ than ‘Nevada’?”
The Lake Vera Dam burst on April 2, 1905, when a 29 foot by 30 foot section gave way causing outflow that dropped water level 1one inch per minute. At the time of failure the water was 52 feet deep, two feet below the top of the 54 foot dam. Workmen stopped the flow with wood and cement. Afterwards, the dam operated with a 40’ foot height and diminished flow capacity of 1000 miner’s inches for 10 days instead of 30 days.
The Lake Vera expansion became known as the “High Head” plant, at 785 feet and the original plant as the “Low Head” at 190 feet. The high head plant was the highest ever at that time, and kept that record for several years. In conjunction with this, the ‘normal’ flow of the South Yuba flume was reduced from 5800 to 3800 miner’s inches.
When, in 1900, still more power was demanded, the “owners” extended 23,000 volt line from their new Colgate plant to Grass Valley.
The Nevada “Rome” Power House operated 15 years , until 1910. It was shutdown, as obsolete, when the power on the system was changed from two-phase 133 cycle to 3-phase 60 cycle, the standard of today.
Yuba Power House
The Nevada Power House launched a whole new industry--the electric hydropower industry! Martin, de Sabla and Colgate continued on, their next project being the Yuba Power House along the Browns Valley Irrigation District Ditch near Dry Creek in Yuba County, at a place called Wild Hog Glory. This project took advantage of the 300 foot fall between two ditches and the fact that BVID had lost it’s ability to levy taxes to maintain it’s ditches.
The Yuba Power Company was formed for this project, which agreed to take over the maintenance of BVID’s 20 mile ditch and flume system, which diverted water out of the North Yuba River above Bullards Bar. This plant produced 1,050 kilowatts from three Pelton Wheels and 3-350 kilowatt generators. It’s one 42 inch penstock had a head of 295 feet. The electricity was delivered to the Browns Valley mines, the Buckeye Mill and the Woolen Mills in Marysville, and the gold dredgers at Oroville. It was put in service on March 21, 1898. It’s life was relatively short, as obsolescence and economic factors caused it’s closing in 1911.
Colgate Power House
The company then reformed itself as the Yuba Electric Power Company, with capitalization of $1 million. This new company then embarked on it’s most famous project--the Colgate Power House.
The Sacramento electric streetcars did not have a reliable source of energy from the Folsom Power House because of the foibles of nature--the “dry years” of 1897 and 1898. The Folsom plant relied on a huge volume of water because the plant only had a head of 55 feet. It had been expanded in it’s second year by adding a second plant below the first utilizing the remaining 26 foot drop to the river, but even this was insufficient!
A contract was signed on May 25, 1899, to deliver power to the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Co. , in Sacramento, by September 1 that same year. The Colgate project was pushed through to completion in 5 months and eleven days, a monumental achievement considering what had to be done. (If tried today, it would probably still be in the EIR process!) Power was , in fact, delivered to Sacramento on September 4, only four days late.
This plant would utilize water from the Yuba River at a diversion point near Bullards Bar, 7.6 miles above the power house site. The existing BVID flume was replaced with one more than twice as big and a few feet above it. This required 8,000,000 feet of lumber, which came from a lumber mill, built for this project, over in the Slate Range, north of Camptonville. The new flume was 7 feet wide and 6 feet deep and could carry 23,000 cubic feet per minute. The penstocks had a head of 700 feet.
The power house was a solid structure, made from rock. It was huge, by all comparisons with the first installation, having 4 generators, totaling 3420 kilowatt, three times the size of either the Nevada or Yuba plants.
Power was generated at 2200 volts at both 133 cycles and 60 cycles, which would become the standard. Part of the 60 cycle power was stepped-up in voltage to 22,000 volts for transmission to Sacramento, a distance of 61 miles. In 1900, this voltage was raised to 40,000 and several years later to 60,000 volts. A 133 cycle tie-line was built to Grass Valley to supplement the power supply to the mines.
The second installation immediately followed the first, this time to make world history! At this point, the Nevada County Electric Power Co. and the Yuba Electric Power Co. were consolidated under a new corporation--the Bay Counties Power Co., in June 1900. This new company, with de Sabla as President, would embark on a “visionary” project--long distance high voltage transmission, the longest and highest voltage in the world!!!
Transmission lines were built, all the way to Oakland, a distance of 142 miles, again to serve the railway transit--the Oakland Transit Company. This transmission project included the monumental task of spanning the Carquinez Straits with a 4,427 foot crossing, nearly three times as long as any previous crossing. Colgate power was delivered to Oakland on April 27, 1901 at the initial voltage of 40,000 volts and later increased to 60,000 volts in 1903.
The Colgate plant, at final capacity, could produce about 15,000 kilowatts. Colgate, with its seven generators, held it’s place, as a major plant, for several years. It suffered major fire damage in 1946 and was replaced in 1949 by a single “state-of-the-art” new generator producing 25,000 kilowatt. And, today the Yuba County Water Agency Colgate Power Plant stands in it’s place, with two huge generators producing 425,000 kilowatt with two of the largest “pelton wheels” in the world!
Consolidations Lead To PG&E
All of these first three projects on the Yuba River created “wealth”, both in terms of money and vision. Up until now, de Sabla and Martin had focused on certain individual customers based on obvious need. They now realized their next step had to be to get into the broad retail business. Bay Counties was, in effect, a wholesale company--so they formed California Central Gas and Electric Co. in March 1901 to start acquiring the town systems throughout northern California. John Martin served as President, since he virtually owned this new company, and de Sabla served on the board.
They proceeded by purchasing the gas and electric systems in Woodland, Marysville, Chico, Petaluma, San Rafael, Nevada County, Santa Rosa,Napa and Colusa that first year. In it’s second year Colgate became an investor, along with others, to allow continued expansion.
The next step was to bring Bay Counties and the California Central G&E together under a new umbrella company that would place de Sabla and Martin at the head of electric and gas development in the northern part of the state. Also, this consolidation would present a solid company which could then obtain financing for new projects and acquisitions they had in mind.
So, the California Gas and Electric Company was formed in December 1901, with Colgate as President,and de Sabla and Martin as VP’s. They set about making more acquisitions including Oakland Gas Light and Heat Co.(their first large market in the San Francisco area), the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Co.(including the historic Folsom plant), Fresno G&E Co., Standard Electric Co. on the Mokelumne, and United G&E Co. on the San Francisco peninsula. Their final major acquisitions were the South Yuba Water Company and Central California G&E Co., from Warner Van Norden. They, sort of, ended up going full circle--back to Nevada County where they started!
This set the stage for the final major step--the purchase of the San Francisco Gas and Electric Co., in order to obtain the San Francisco market. It should be mentioned that, in the meantime, in 1903, Colgate sold his interest to de Sabla and to a new player--Frank G. Drum. De Sabla and Drum opened conversations with W. B. Bourn, President of San Francisco Gas and Electric Co. and obtained informal approval of a proposal for their company to purchase the San Francisco company.
They then went to New York to arrange financing with the investment brokerage firm of N. W. Halsey and Co.. This led to a new corporation--the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., incorporated October 10, 1905 with capital of $20,000,000 in common stock and $10,000,000 in cumulative preferred. Issues of $14,500,000 of trust bonds and debentures were also authorized. When it was all said and done, the SFG&E owners ended up with the bonds ( and no say in the management), the CG&E owners ended up with the preferred stock and Halsey held all but 15 shares of the common stock. Although not in the official record, it was understood, though, that Halsey shared his PG&E common stock with de Sabla, Martin, and Drum, one fifth each with one fifth remaining to the company treasury. On January 2, 1906, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. assumed control of the two companies, which continued to operate under their existing names for several years. Halsey was Chairman of the Board, John A. Britton was the President and Drum the First Vice-President.
As a final footnote, 1906 was not a good year for this new company, as the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18 almost caused bankruptcy. Within a few years, however, with Drum’s leadership, it recovered and started embarking on new projects.
The first PG&E project was the Deer Creek Power House at Scotts Flat, in 1908. Their next project, a major one, was the Drum-Spaulding project, which started in 1912. This included the largest concrete arch-style dam ever constructed up to that time, and reached 275 feet high in three stages by 1919.
So--it can only be concluded that the “vision” and the “seeds” of this great enterprise did come from the Yuba River in Nevada and Yuba Counties! A testament to this is the fact that throughout PG&E’s history, Martin and de Sabla are referred to as the “Fathers” of PG&E. Perhaps the Yuba River could be considered the “Mother”!
Written and/or Compiled by A. Dale Johnson
Copyright 1997, all rights reserved.
Source information is available
by contacting the author
at: dalejohn@oro.net
or 530-272-7039.
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