IBEW 1245 HOME |
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HISTORY FOCUS: •PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC •SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT •SIERRA PACIFIC POWER
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 After receiving power from Farad Power Plant on the Truckee River, the Virginia City Power Plant (shown in 1908) distributed electricity to mines and homes. (Nevada State Museum) 1: NEW COMPANIES SPRING UP Right out of the gate one problem facing any would-be union organizer was finding stable employers. As new water and power companies sprang up, they merged with or were taken over by others with dizzying speed. Another problem was the step-child status of unions at the dawn of the 20th Century. Labor unions would not become legally-recognized institutions—with federally-protected bargaining rights—until the New Deal of the 1930s. The consolidation of the electric industry in Nevada took a big leap forward in 1899 with the establishment of the Truckee River General Electric Co., which completed construction of the Farad hydroelectric plant on the Truckee River the following year. To bring power from the plant to the mines of the Comstock area, a 37-mile, 22,000-volt transmission line was constructed. |
2: HORSE TEAM AND WAGON
As electricity’s vast potential became increasingly apparent, more plants were built on the Truckee and more line was strung. In 1911, pioneers of the lineman’s craft built a line to Yerington from the newly-constructed plant at Verdi. Their supplies were packed in by mules; horse team and wagon were used to drag poles across the rugged terrain. Rivers were forded by raft, poles were set by hand. In 1923, linemen undertook another great project: construction of a 60,000-volt interconnect across the Sierra’s to allow the newly-renamed Truckee River Power Co. to tap into power from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on the other side of the range. During this period, consolidation of the industry continued apace and in 1928 the Sierra Pacific Power Co. was incorporated, absorbing the Truckee River Power Co., the first step on a long journey to becoming the dominant utility in the area. 
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