The plant was renamed Plant McIntosh in 1983.Īfter 106 years as an independent, investor-owned company, Savannah Electric merged with the Atlanta-based Southern Company in 1988 and subsequently became part of one of the largest and most successful utility systems in the United States. Savannah Electric began a fuel conversion program (shifting from oil to coal) in 1977, which included the construction of the Effingham Plant in 1979.
Company leaders were challenged to find energy alternatives that were less costly and more reliable. Skyrocketing oil prices and political instability in the Middle East put a strain on the electric industry during the 1970s. In 1958 Savannah Electric’s second plant opened at Port Wentworth. The plant was updated in the 1930s and again in the 1950s. Savannah residents got relief from their sweltering climate with the introduction of air conditioning, and the increased local demand, combined with the growth of military bases and the uptake of other counties into the power system, proved to be a strain on the Riverside plant in the 1950s. Ranges, refrigerators, ovens, toasters, and irons revolutionized the kitchen and greatly increased the need for electric power. Savannah Electric and Power Company continued to expand despite the demise of the streetcar. The last streetcar ran after World War II (1941-45).Ĭourtesy of Savannah Electric and Power Company Air-Conditioning and Repositioning After the Great Depression and the mass production of cars the trolley system died, but other inventions kept the rate of growth high for Savannah Electric. Savannah Power Company sold electricity to Savannah Electric until 1921, when the two companies merged. By 1912 the company was serving more than 3,400 customers, and the Savannah Power Company built the Riverside power plant on River Street to meet the demand for electric power. The newly named Savannah Electric was now responsible for lighting the city’s recently paved streets and houses and for powering the trolleys that carried passengers along the major thoroughfares. When Brush Electric was incorporated in 1902, the company also merged with the Parsons Railway. Incandescent lights first appeared at a jewelry store on Broughton Street, and in 1893 the first private residence was wired for electric service. By the early 1890s new arc lighting illuminated the growing area south of the city. Soon four lighting towers, powered by a coal-fueled engine, rose above the city’s business district. Brush Electric Company of Savannah-the forerunner of Savannah Electric-was organized in 1882. These two inventions, along with the development of the AC/DC system for the long-distance transmission of electricity, would be instrumental to the nation’s growth. The first incandescent bulb for commercial use was developed by Thomas Edison in 1879, and the open-coil dynamo generator, which converts mechanical energy from coal or steam into electrical energy, was perfected by C. Savannah’s electric lighting and power industry developed simultaneously with the streetcar. The streetcar was especially important to Savannah’s tourism industry, and pamphlets promoting the city and its trolleys were distributed nationwide. By the 1890s Savannah had a complete street and resort railway network, and almost all major transportation companies were merged under the ownership of Henry and George Parsons.
Companies like the Suburban and West End Railway and Electric Railway Company used these existing lines to implement streetcars. The growth of Savannah after the Civil War (1861-65) was tied in large part to the construction of railroad lines that used horse-drawn cars to transport citizens and freight to the outer islands and growing suburbs. Many urban historians point to the introduction of streetcars, the earliest users of electricity on a mass scale, as fundamental to the growth and shape of the modern metropolis. Courtesy of Savannah Electric and Power Company Streetcars and Street Lamps