Harnessing water for power
Electricity and fast-flowing rivers are inseparable in the Pacific Northwest. In the early 1900s, harnessing the power of water to supply Bonners Ferry's ever-increasing demand for electricity was challenging. Low river flows and winter ice often brought power production to a halt. Electrical power in the city's early years, was sporadic, at best!
Private ventures light up the village
The area's first power plants were small private ventures. In 1902, local pharmacist, J.F. Cook, installed a turbine on the Moyie River, but never completed the project. The Newport Electric Light Company of Myrtle Creek provided the city's first electricity in 1905. In 1907, a new owner made improvements to the plant, added domestic water service, and renamed the business the Bonner Water & Light Company. One of these improvements was a Pelton wheel which generated electricity from 1906-1921.
By 1917, the power plant was over-taxed. The continual demand for more reliable electricity led to the city's purchase of the Myrtle Creek plant and formation of the Bonner Water and Light Department, marking the transition from private to public power.
Pelton's power wheel
A new twist on an old idea
The Pelton wheel, invented in the 1870s,
extracts energy from moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like traditional overshot wheels. A high-speed jet of water shoots into cup-shaped buckets turning the Pelton wheel. The wheel extracts almost all of the water's "impulse energy," transferring energy to the wheel and then to a turbine which generates electricity.
In with the new...
Between 1900 and 1920, the town's population grew from 349 to 1,236. Technological advances ranging from water pumps to electric irons created new uses for electricity in homes and businesses. Pumping flood water out of farmlands and electrifying sawmills created enormous new industrial energy demands.
... but not quite out with the old!
When electricity was in short supply, each section of town had power just a few hours a day. Residents kept candles and kerosene lamps on hand for back-up when the lights went out.
Pumping the city's water from the Kootenai River to storage tanks above the town also required electricity. During power outages, people reverted to using rain barrels and carrying water from the river in buckets.
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