City of Newberry celebrates 125 years of electric service

NEWBERRY – Last week, the City of Newberry celebrated 125 years of electric service. The “birthday party” was held at The Newberry Museum.

As one of the first municipal electric providers in the state, Utility Director Tim Baker said the city had been in the electric business much longer than many other electric providers in the area.

While the city has been providing electric service for 125 years, Baker said their system was not 125 years old.

“We have made and continue to make significant investments and upgrades to our system,” he said.

Mayor Foster Senn provided those in attendance with a history of the city’s electric system, sharing that before 1896, the town of Newberry did not have electricity and that large providers in South Carolina weren’t interested in coming to Newberry at that time.

“The local leaders decided they couldn’t wait and needed to do it themselves,” he said. “The Commission of Public Works gave a contract of $8,209 to General Electric to construct an electric powerhouse.”

Senn said that the state legislature had passed a constitution amendment in March of 1896 that incorporated cities and towns could put it before the voters to sell bonds to borrow money for the construction of electric plants and water systems.

“I think that’s something we can be proud of,” he said. “The 4,000 citizens of Newberry voted that we needed to bring electricity to this town, we will pay the debt, pay a little extra in taxes to get that in Newberry and they did.”

A gentleman from Newberry, Senn said, didn’t like the idea and sued Mayor Herbert Henry Evans, and the city council to stop it. The case went to the Supreme Court, who dismissed the lawsuit, and the town of Newberry was able to issue $42,000 of bonds for an electric system and improvements to the water system.

The electric powerhouse in Newberry was a coal plant and in 1908, a short rail line was built from the coal chute at the railroad depot on Main Street to the powerhouse to deliver coal for electricity. There was a rail car run by a two-horsepower motor at the powerhouse.

“If you read the history, this was cutting edge at the time for a town and they really had a good plan,” Senn said.

In 1914, city council gave approval to purchase power from the Southern Power Company for a 10-year contract. The company had been established by the Duke brothers in 1905 and changed the company name to Duke in 1924.

While Newberry had already achieved economic success in the 1880-1890s in the Newberry Cotton Mill in West End, it really increased in the early 1900s, Senn said which could be attributed to the establishment of electricity.

“I’m glad we can celebrate the birthday today of electricity in Newberry,” Senn said. “We celebrate those 4,000 citizens, leaders and staff that made sure Newberry had electricity. And we celebrate today that quality customer service every day and innovation that continues to be the hallmarks of the City of Newberry Electric Department.”

City Manager Matt DeWitt said when he thought about 125 years of electric service, the word quality is what came to mind.

“I think that’s what we can be proud of here at the City of Newberry,” he said. “We continue to put out a quality product for our citizens.”

DeWitt said he was proud of the innovation of the City of Newberry, their commitment to its citizens and city council’s commitment to providing quality services.

“We especially thank our crews that keep the lights on and keep things running because without you, we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “We appreciate the work that you all do each and every day.”

Those in attendance sang “Happy Birthday” before cutting a cake to celebrate the milestone.

The City of Newberry’s Utilities Department, Baker said, sponsored the Newberry Museum’s industry exhibit and would be on display for a couple of months at the museum for those wanting a glimpse into the history of Newberry’s electricity.