Golden has had electric power since 1887. M.T. Morrill was working as a schoolteacher in Georgetown in the 1880s, but was keenly interested in electrical power generation. As a sideline, he built the first electric light plant in Georgetown. When the time came for the City of Georgetown to contract for a larger scale plant, they gave the job to someone else.
Georgetown’s loss was Golden’s gain. Morrill moved his equipment to Golden in 1887 and persuaded our City Council to allow him to illuminate our streets. He and his wife both attended classes at the School of Mines to expand their engineering skills.
Upon receiving approval from the City in August of 1887, Morrill and his team immediately began sinking poles and stringing wires. By December of that year, we had lights on our principal streets and in some of the buildings. Opera House events became very bright, dazzling affairs.
Morrill’s firm was called the Golden Illuminating Company because at that time, “illuminating” was seen as the main job of a power company–there were few other uses for electricity in 1887. Rates were determined by “Candle Power” and time of day. Customers purchased their lamps, fixtures, and cords from the power company.
Within a few years, other uses began to develop. Golden had an “electric steam laundry,” which was located right at the power plant. The Transcript acquired electric presses and became one of the company’s biggest customers. One of the downtown merchants (Nick Koenig) acquired an electric cigar lighter and that was a focus point of his advertising for months to follow.
The plant ran on steam and so burned coal. The number and size of boilers increased as demand for electricity increased. Imagine having a coal-burning power station half a block east of Washington Avenue! Over the years, the possibility of using water power was discussed, but water was so precious that people didn’t like the idea of allowing anything to interfere with the flow of water to Golden. In about 1906, the Golden Illuminating Company began buying its power from a Denver firm and was able to stop generating it on Jackson St.
In 1903, the City renewed its contract with the Golden Illuminating Company, effectively granting Morrill a monopoly on electric lighting in the Golden area. The arrangement was mutually beneficial. With continuous equipment upgrades, the company was able to reduce the cost to consumers by 20% in 1907.
Morrill sold the company in 1915 and died two years later. He is buried in the Golden Cemetery.
