Avalanche Destroys the Jordan Power Plant

In 1907, the Kern River 75-kV transmission line was constructed to bring electricity from the Kern River Hydro Plant to Southern California. It was the highest voltage transmission line in the nation at the time, and gained attention for being the first...

Orville Ensign, an engineer at Edison Electric Company, which became Southern California Edison in 1909, invented the porcelain insulator. It replaced glass designs that were originally built for telegraph lines, but unable to support heavier electric...

Southern California Edison relied mostly on hydro generation until the mid-1920s. A severe drought from 1921-24 left the company with inadequate water supply to meet demand. SCE leased private steam plants owned by manufacturing industries such as cement...