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Seattle City Light Community Relations Records, 1982-1994

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle City Light
Title
Seattle City Light Community Relations Records
Dates
1982-1994 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.8 cubic foot, (2 boxes)
Collection Number
1201-15
Summary
Records relating to City Light's community outreach efforts.
Repository
Seattle Municipal Archives
Seattle Municipal Archives
Office of the City Clerk
City of Seattle
PO Box 94728
98124-4728
Seattle, WA
Telephone: 2062337807
Fax: 2063869025
archives@seattle.gov
Access Restrictions

Records are open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for processing this record series was provided through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

City Light provides electricity and electrical and conservation services to its public and private customers. It is the largest public utility in the Pacific Northwest. Public responsibility for electrical energy dates back to 1890 with creation of the Department of Lighting and Water Works. The formulation of this public utility stemmed from fear of monopolization by private companies and was reinforced by the inadequacy of those companies during the Great Fire of 1889. Unable to gain access to private water, much of the business district was burned to the ground. Citizens responded eagerly to the idea of publicly owned water and electricity, which was later encouraged as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s.

In 1902, Seattle voters passed a bond issue to develop hydroelectric power on the Cedar River under the administration of the Water Department. This was the nation's first municipally owned hydroelectric project. Electricity from this development began to serve customers in Seattle in 1905. A City Charter amendment in 1910 created the Lighting Department, making it a full member of the City's Board of Public Works. Under the leadership of Superintendent James D. Ross, the department developed the Skagit River hydroelectric project which began supplying power in 1924 with the completion of the Gorge Dam.

Both public and private power was supplied to Seattle until 1951 when the City purchased the local private electrical power company, the Puget Sound Power and Light Company, making the Lighting Department the sole supplier. The Boundary Project in northeastern Washington began operations in 1967 and supplied over half of City Light's power generation. By the early 21st century, approximately ten percent of City Light's income came from the sale of surplus energy to customers in the Northwest and Southwest with the remainder of City Light's financial support coming from customer revenue.

The current name of the agency was adopted in 1978 when the department was reorganized. As a municipally owned public power system, Seattle City Light is governed by elected Seattle officials. Administrative authority rests with the Superintendent and an executive team that includes the department's Chief of Staff, Service and Energy Delivery Officer, Human Resources Officer, Power Supply and Environmental Affairs Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. City Light is responsible for electrical service and streetlight service, streetlight problems, and also conservation, both residential and commercial/industrial.

City Light provides low-cost, reliable, and environmentally responsible electric power to approximately 395,000 customers in Seattle and neighboring areas, including Burien, Lake Forest Park, Normandy Park, Renton, SeaTac, Shoreline, Tukwila, and unincorporated King County. It is the ninth-largest public power system in the United States and has the lowest rates among comparably sized cities in the United States.

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Content Description

Correspondence, memoranda, presentations, scripts, and speeches relating to community outreach conducted by City Light. The series is divided into two subseries: records relating to Network on Television (NTV), City Light's monthly news video, and records relating to the Speakers Bureau, a group of City Light employees trained to educate the public about electric safety and conservation. The NTV records consist of ideas for and scripts of episodes. The Speakers Bureau records consist of drafts and final product presentations geared towards schools, various ethnic groups within the community, and the general public.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], Seattle City Light Community Relations Records, Record Series 1201-15. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

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Administrative Information

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Electric utilities--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Electric power--Washington (State)--Seattle

Corporate Names

  • Seattle City Light
  • Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Lighting

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.)

Finding aid prepared by Megan O'Shea
2011

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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