Alectra Incorporated , through its subsidiary Alectra Utilities Corporation , is an electricity utility and distributor that serves several municipalities in the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario . It is a municipally-owned corporation with shares in varying amounts held by the municipalities which owned its predecessor companies.
115-863: When it was founded, Alectra was described as the second largest municipally-owned electricity utility in North America after the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power . As of January 2019 it is the largest municipally-owned electricity utility in Canada, by number of customers served. Alectra was formed on January 31, 2017 by the merger of the municipally-owned utilities Enersource (serving Mississauga ), Horizon Utilities (serving Hamilton and St. Catharines ), and PowerStream which served Aurora, Alliston, Barrie, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Penetanguishene, Markham, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan. The initial formation of
230-682: A hydroelectric power plant located in San Francisquito Canyon powered by the Los Angeles Aqueduct , began generating electricity. It ultimately produced 70.5 megawatts and is still in operation, producing enough electricity for 37,500 Los Angeles homes. Three years later, in 1920, Power Plant No. 2 was added, but destroyed when the St. Francis Dam failed. However, the plant was completely rebuilt and back in service by November 1928. It remains in operation today, having
345-469: A capacity of 38,000 acre-feet ( 47,000,000 m ) and that the dam's height would be 185 feet (56 m) above stream bed level. Hurlbut wrote, in an explanation of these changes that was presented to the Board of Public Service Commissioners, that: Additional surveys and changes in the plans for this reservoir have disclosed the fact that at crest elevation of 1835 feet above sea level the reservoir will have
460-456: A capacity of 38,000 acre-feet. This 10-foot (3.0 m) increase in the dam's height over the original plan of 1923 necessitated the construction of a 588-foot (179 m) long wing dike along the top of the ridge adjacent to the western abutment in order to contain the enlarged reservoir. A distinctive aspect of the St. Francis Dam was its stepped downstream face. While the height of each step
575-421: A carpenter at Powerhouse No. 1 , rode his motorcycle past the dam about ten minutes before midnight. At the coroner's inquest, Hopewell testified he had passed Powerhouse No. 2 without seeing anything there or at the dam that caused him concern. He stated at approximately one and one-half miles (2.4 km) upstream he heard, above his motorcycle's engine noise, a rumbling much like the sound of "rocks rolling on
690-565: A demand for a larger water supply. Between 1920 and 1926, seven smaller reservoirs were built and modifications were made to raise the height of the water bureau's largest of the time, the Lower San Fernando reservoir, by seven feet, but the need for a still-larger reservoir was clear. Originally, the planned site of this new large reservoir was to be in Big Tujunga Canyon , above the community now known as Sunland , in
805-450: A height of 185 feet above the canyon floor. Both faces leading up to the crest were vertical for the final 23 feet (7.0 m). On the downstream face, this vertical section was fashioned into 24 feet (7.3 m) wide sections. A portion of these made up the spillway , which consisted of eleven panels in total divided into two groups. Each spillway section had an open area that was 18 inches (46 cm) high and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide for
920-466: A job with the city when he demonstrated his ability to recall the information. He then intervened with the company's principal stockholder, advising him to accept the city's offer of two million dollars for the system. The Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light was formed in 1911 to administer the electrical system in the city that supplied power generated by private companies. In 1922, it purchased Southern California Edison 's distribution system within
1035-442: A large dam. With both Mulholland and Van Norman convinced that the new leak was not dangerous and that the dam was safe, they returned to Los Angeles. Two and a half minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam catastrophically failed . There were no surviving eyewitnesses to the collapse, but at least five people passed the dam less than an hour before without noticing anything unusual. The last, Ace Hopewell,
1150-443: A position working with the city-owned water system. Mulholland did not produce records the city officials requested during negotiations. It was discovered that neither the requested records nor a map of the water system existed. Mulholland, who was in charge of the non-existent records, claimed that he memorized all necessary information, including the size of every inch of pipe and the age and location of every valve. Mulholland secured
1265-628: A raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of LADWP Headquarters. Wright was then investigated and sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for accepting bribes from a lawyer to ensure the approval of a three-year $ 30 million no-bid contract. LADWP veteran Martin L. Adams was confirmed by City Council as General Manager on September 13, 2019. LADWP is headquartered in a Corporate- International Style building designed by A.C. Martin & Associates and completed in May 1965. The 17-story building
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#17327732259811380-401: A storage capacity of 32,000 acre feet at elevation 1825 feet above sea level. Construction of the dam itself began five weeks later, in early August, when the first concrete was poured. In March 1925, prior to Mulholland's report to the Board of Public Service Commissioners, Hurlbut again reported to Mulholland on the progress of the St. Francis project. He stated the reservoir would now have
1495-596: Is a provision in the union contracts which requires a normal shift worked after more than one hour of overtime to be paid at double time, as well as that overtime is not based on working more than 40 hours in a week, but on working time beyond a "normal" shift. A separate study found that LADWP's yearly payroll expense per customer was $ 490, significantly higher than the nationwide median for large utilities of $ 280 per customer. In 2019–20, LADWP supplied more than 21,130 gigawatt hours (GWH) to more than 1.5 million residential and business customers, as well as about 5,200 in
1610-494: Is highest, and is pumped back up at night when excess capacity is available. About 1,600 megawatts, or 22% of the total capacity, is generated at this facility. LADWP maintains a diverse and vertically integrated power generation, transmission and distribution system that spans five Western states, and delivers electricity to more than 4 million people in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles City Council voted in 2004 to direct
1725-646: Is overseen by the five-member Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, who are appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles and confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council for five-year terms. The board sets policy for the Department of Water and Power and votes on utility rates, renewable energy projects, and pension tiers for LADWP employees. The Board meets regularly on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. Currently,
1840-686: The Brown Act . On May 26, 2023, Cynthia Ruiz, the first Native American to serve on the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners was informed by the deputy mayor that she was being removed as a commissioner less than one year into her four-year term, which was confirmed that day by an email from Mayor Karen Bass , whose decision it was. George McGraw was sworn in as a commissioner on June 20, replacing Ruiz. The general manager, senior assistant general managers, chief financial officer, and managing senior assistant city attorney (under
1955-512: The Intermountain Power Plant to run on natural gas. Most of the power lines in Los Angeles were built above-ground before it became customary to run power lines below-ground. Starting in 2007, LADWP has a long-term project to upgrade the overhead power lines and convert them to underground. This difficult conversion has been slowed by budget constraints, the impact on traffic, the pursuit of other modernization projects, and
2070-679: The Los Angeles City Attorney ) manage operations. On January 31, 2014, Ron Nichols resigned as chief of the LADWP amid ongoing controversies regarding the LADWP. On February 21, 2014, Marcie L. Edwards was unanimously confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council on February 21, 2014. She is the first woman to lead the LADWP. At the time of her nomination, Edwards was Anaheim 's City Manager. Prior to her appointment as Anaheim's City Manager, Edwards served as chief of Anaheim Public Utilities for 13 years. Edwards previously worked at
2185-535: The Owens Valley , starting with its initial acquisition of water rights , as well as acquiring farms and governance of Mono Lake and Owens Lake . The LADWP played a role in the development of Hoover Dam and bringing its energy to Los Angeles. The LADWP continued to operate the Hoover Dam electrical facility alongside Southern California Edison until 1987. On October 10, 2011, the LADWP, along with
2300-534: The Pacific AC Intertie 's two 500 kV lines terminating in Los Angeles are included) is presently technically infeasible. Upgrading the overhead lines is expected to take 10 to 15 years. The upgrading of LADWP's overhead power lines consists of eliminating the V-shape brackets on the power poles that are holding up the crossarm and replacing them with cross-brackets that are put on the crossarm. Some of
2415-612: The Power Workers' Union , the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , and Unifor . Following a vote on June 28, 2017 the majority of unionized employees of Alectra and its subsidiaries agreed to be represented solely by the Power Workers' Union. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ( LADWP ) is the largest municipal utility in
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#17327732259812530-608: The St. Francis Dam , built and operated by the LADWP, collapsed catastrophically . The disaster was the second-greatest loss of life in California's history, after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. The ensuing flood caused devastation to present-day Valencia, Newhall and the cities in the Santa Clara River Valley, taking the lives of some 425 people. The high death toll was due, in part, to confusion and mis-communication by and between employees of both
2645-477: The Board is observing physical distancing measures in accordance with California Governor Gavin Newsom 's order for COVID-19 prevention. Regular meeting agendas are available to the public at least 72 hours before the Board meets. The agenda for meetings contains a brief general description of the items to be considered. The Board may consider an item not on the agenda only in limited circumstances consistent with
2760-456: The Bureau of Water Works and Supply at Powerhouse No. 1 , there was a sharp voltage drop at 11:57:30 p.m. Simultaneously, a transformer at Southern California Edison 's (SCE) Saugus substation exploded, a situation investigators later determined was caused by wires up the western hillside of San Francisquito Canyon about ninety feet above the dam's east abutment shorting . Given
2875-870: The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Cleantech Alliance, founded the LA Cleantech Incubator . In October 2022, LADWP lost a lawsuit against the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District for failure to control dust on Owens Lake near sensitive sacred tribal land claiming that they were not responsible for the pollution. The LADWP has been criticized for allowing excessive overtime. In 2018, 306 of its workers took home more than $ 100,000 in overtime pay, while
2990-429: The LADWP and Southern California Edison, who also had facilities and operations in the area. The confusion led to a lack of prompt warnings being sent to the downriver communities. Those cities included Piru, Fillmore , Santa Paula , and San Buenaventura . Mulholland assumed full responsibility for the disaster and retired the following year. The LADWP has been a leading actor in the struggle over access to water from
3105-478: The LADWP for 24 years, starting at the age of 19 as a clerk typist. In August 2016, Marcie L. Edwards announced her retirement. On August 16, 2016, the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners appointed David H. Wright Interim General Manager, and requested the City Council to confirm his appointment as permanent General Manager. Wright remained General Manager until 2019, when he resigned following
3220-431: The LADWP to generate 20% of its energy (excluding Hoover Dam) from clean sources by 2010, a goal which was met and exceeded. The LADWP expected to achieve 25 percent renewables by 2016 and 33 percent by 2020, both which have been met and exceeded. As of 2020, "green power" renewable energy sources accounted for 37% of the LADWP's capacity, including the 120 MW Pine Tree Wind Farm, the largest municipally-owned wind farm in
3335-560: The Los Angeles City Water Company, leased the city's waterworks and provided water to the city. Hired in 1878 as a zanjero (ditch tender), William Mulholland proved to be a brilliant employee who, after doing his day's work, would study textbooks on mathematics , hydraulics and geology , thereby teaching himself geology and engineering . Mulholland quickly moved up the ranks of the Water Company and
3450-563: The Los Angeles City Water Company, which violated many of the provisions of its lease on the Los Angeles River, including secretly tunneling under the river to extract 150 times as much water as the lease allowed. As the end of the lease drew near in the mid-1890s, popular support began to build for a return to complete municipal control of the local water supply. Fred Eaton proposed that tax revenues would enable Los Angeles to provide water to its residents without charging them for
3565-754: The Mono and Owens basins is causing the LADWP to look into a number of new water sources, including a new direct connection to the California Aqueduct , increased use of recycled water, use of stormwater capture and reuse, and increased conservation. Many of the old pipelines are beginning to wear out, or are at capacity and insufficient to handle future demand. LADWP has undertaken pipeline replacement projects on many L.A. boulevards like Exposition and Olympic . In addition to Los Angeles, LADWP provides services to parts of: Over its service territory, LADWP serves four million residents and businesses. LADWP
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3680-498: The Office Engineer , gave a clarification for this change from the prior year's estimate. In his report he wrote that: ...at the St. Francis Reservoir the dam site has been cleared and the foundation trench started. All concrete placing equipment has been contracted for and it is expected actual work of pouring the concrete will start in approximately ninety days. Additional topographic surveys have been completed and disclose
3795-543: The Owens Valley and the city was eager to avoid any repeat of these expensive and time-consuming repairs. The St. Francis Dam, sometimes referred to as the San Francisquito Dam, was only the second concrete dam to be designed and built by the Bureau of Water Works and Supply. The first was the nearly dimensionally-identical Mulholland Dam , on which construction had begun one year earlier. The design of
3910-722: The Owens Valley. The LADWP operates four natural gas-fired generating stations within city boundaries, which combined with other natural gas sources, account for 24% of capacity. It receives 21% of its electricity from coal-fired plants in Utah and Arizona , but plans to transition away from coal by 2025. A further 14% is generated using nuclear power, which is from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona. It receives about 2% of its electricity from hydropower, most coming from Hoover Dam and
4025-501: The St. Francis Dam was in fact an adaptation of the Mulholland Dam, with modifications made so as to suit the site. Most of the design profiles and computation figures of stress factors for the St. Francis Dam came from this adaptation of the plans and formulas which had been used in the constructing of the Mulholland Dam. This work was done by the engineering department within the Bureau of Water Works and Supply. In describing
4140-541: The United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021–2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day (487,000 acre-ft per year) to more than four million residents and local businesses in the City of Los Angeles and several adjacent cities and communities in southwestern Los Angeles County, California . It was founded in 1902 to supply water to residents and businesses in
4255-528: The United States. LADWP is also investing in photovoltaic solar throughout the Southwest and geothermal sources in the Salton Sea area. In March 2021, LADWP joined with Mayor Eric Garcetti , United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm , leading energy scientists, and local elected officials to announce the results of the Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study ("LA100"). The study, which
4370-569: The abutments. In accord with the protocol for design, which had been established by the Engineering department during construction of the Mulholland Dam, no contraction joints were incorporated. The most notable incidents were two vertical cracks that ran down through the dam from the top; one was approximately 58 feet (18 m) west of the outlet gates and another about the same distance to the east. Mulholland, along with his Assistant Chief Engineer and General Manager Harvey Van Norman, inspected
4485-401: The agency paid $ 250 million for overtime, a new high for the agency. The most egregious example of this is a security worker who was paid $ 314,000 in overtime, on a listed base pay of $ 25,000, along with three peers who were paid more than $ 200,000 overtime each. (The nationwide median wage for security officers was $ 28,500 in 2018.) One policy which enables these large overtime payouts
4600-427: The aqueduct were damaged by an earthquake . In particular, he favored the area between where the hydroelectric power plants Powerhouses No. 1 and No. 2 were to be built, with what he perceived as favorable topography , a natural narrowing of the canyon downstream of a wide, upstream platform which would allow the creation of a large reservoir area with a minimum possible dam. A large camp had been set up to house
4715-448: The area which became the site of the St. Francis Dam, and topographical surveys for the dam, were completed by June 1923. They called for a dam built to the elevation of 1,825 ft (556 m) above sea level, which is 175 ft (53 m) above the stream bed base. These early calculations for a reservoir created by the dam revealed it would have a capacity of approximately 30,000 acre⋅ft (37,000,000 m ). On July 1, 1924,
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4830-408: The canyon residents and others traveling on the road 700 feet (210 m) to the east, as at that distance it appeared the water was coming from the abutment. On March 7, 1928, the reservoir was three inches below the spillway crest and Mulholland ordered that no more water be turned into the St. Francis Dam. Five days later, while conducting his morning rounds, Harnischfeger discovered a new leak in
4945-461: The capacity to generate 18 megawatts. On January 17, 1994, the city of Los Angeles experienced its one and only total system black-out as a result of the Northridge earthquake . Much of the power was restored within a few hours. In September 2005, a DWP worker accidentally cut power lines that caused over half of Los Angeles to be without power for one and one-half hours. On March 12, 1928,
5060-485: The career of William Mulholland , the general manager and chief engineer of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply (now the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ). In the early years of Los Angeles , the city's water supply was obtained from the Los Angeles River . This was accomplished by diverting water from the river through a series of ditches called zanjas . At that time, a private water company,
5175-410: The cause of the St. Francis Dam disaster... Mr. Van Norman and I arrived at the scene of the break around 2:30 a.m. this morning. We saw at once that the dam was completely out and that the torrential flood of water from the reservoir had left an appalling record of death and destruction in the valley below." Mulholland stated that it appeared that there had been major movement in the hills forming
5290-415: The city and the Los Angeles City Water Company began to take over the company's current water system. During negotiations it was decided that the current senior employees of the Los Angeles City Water Company would keep their jobs in order to ensure that the water system could continue to operate. It was not guaranteed that William Mulholland , who took over as superintending engineer after Eaton, would have
5405-620: The city limits. In 1937, when the Bureau purchased the power system of the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Corporation, it became the dominant power supplier in the city. That year, the bureau merged with the Bureau of Water Works and Supply to become the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). In 1939, LADWP became the sole electrical service provider for the city of Los Angeles. The Bureau first offered municipal electricity in 1917 when their Power Plant No. 1,
5520-437: The city of Los Angeles and several of its immediately adjacent communities. In 1917, LADWP began to deliver electricity to portions of the city. It has been involved in a number of controversies and media portrayals over the years, including the 1928 St. Francis Dam failure and the books Water and Power and Cadillac Desert . By the middle of the 19th century, Los Angeles's rapid population growth magnified problems with
5635-436: The city's water distribution system . At that time, a system of open, often polluted ditches , was supplying water for agricultural production but was not suited to provide water to homes. In 1853, the city council rejected as "excessive" a closed-pipe system that would serve homes directly. As a solution, the city allowed "water carriers with jugs and horse-drawn wagons…to serve the city's domestic [water] needs." By 1857
5750-533: The company was completed with the acquisition of Hydro One Brampton from the provincial government's Hydro One on February 28, 2017. Guelph Hydro (serving Guelph and Rockwood ) merged into Alectra on January 1, 2019. Following its formation, Alectra continued to hold the 50% ownership stake formerly held by PowerStream in Collus PowerStream (which services Collingwood and surrounding area) until 2017. Alectra announced on November 9, 2017 that it
5865-451: The conditions and postponed the final failure." They placed the cause of the failure on the western hillside. "The west end," the commission stated, "was founded upon a reddish conglomerate which, even when dry, was of decidedly inferior strength and which, when wet, became so soft that most of it lost almost all rock characteristics." The softening of the "reddish conglomerate" undermined the west side. "The rush of water released by failure of
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#17327732259815980-408: The coroner's inquest. On two occasions as they watched, an acceleration or surging of the flow was noticed by both men. Mulholland felt that some corrective measures were needed, although this could be done at some time in the future. For the next two hours Mulholland, Van Norman and Harnischfeger inspected the dam and various leaks and seepages, finding nothing out of the ordinary or of concern for
6095-421: The council decided that the system needed to be updated, granting William G. Dryden franchise rights to provide homes with water through a system of underground water mains. The initial system served only a few homes using a network of wooden pipes. In December 1861, heavy rains destroyed the system and Dryden gave up his franchise. The city attempted contracting out water distribution rights to others, but none of
6210-422: The cracks and judged them to be within expectation for a concrete dam the size of the St. Francis. At the beginning of April, the water level reached the area of the inactive San Francisquito Fault line in the western abutment. Some seepage began almost immediately as the water covered this area. Workers were ordered to seal off the leak, but they were not entirely successful, and water continued to permeate through
6325-419: The dam was designed without any of the additional benefits given by the arch action , which led to its profile being considered conservative, given its size. Annually, as did most other city entities, the Bureau of Water Works and Supply and the ancillary departments reported to the Board of Public Service Commissioners on the prior fiscal year 's activities. From these we know that the preliminary studies of
6440-567: The dam. The body of a woman who lived with the family was found fully clothed and wedged between two blocks of concrete near the base of the dam. This led to the suggestion she and Harnischfeger may have been inspecting the structure immediately before its failure. Neither Harnischfeger's body nor that of his six-year-old son were found. Five minutes after the collapse, the then 120-foot-high (37 m) flood wave had traveled one and one-half miles ( 2.4 km ) at an average speed of 18 miles per hour (29 km/h), destroying Powerhouse No. 2 and taking
6555-497: The days that followed, several more sections of the aqueduct were dynamited which caused a complete disruption of the flow. The near-full reservoir behind the St. Francis Dam was the only source of water from the north and withdrawals began immediately. During this time, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department received an anonymous phone call that a carload of men were on their way from Inyo County with
6670-416: The early years, the aqueduct has continued to operate well throughout its history and remains in operation today. It was during the process of building the aqueduct that Mulholland first considered sections of San Francisquito Canyon as a potential dam site. He felt that there should be a reservoir of sufficient size to provide water for Los Angeles for an extended period in the event of a drought or if
6785-400: The end of February, a notable leak began at the base of the wing dike approximately 150 feet (46 m) west of the main dam, discharging about 0.60 cubic feet per second (4.5 U.S. gallons, or 17 liters, per second). The fracture was inspected by Mulholland, who judged it to be another contraction or temperature crack and left it open to drain. During the first week of March, it was noticed that
6900-416: The engineering community when he supervised the design and construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct , which at the time was the longest aqueduct in the world. It used gravity alone to bring the water 233 miles (375 km) from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles. The project was completed in 1913, on time and under budget, despite several setbacks. Excluding incidents of sabotage by Owens Valley residents in
7015-577: The entire Santa Clara River Valley and parts of Ventura and Oxnard . At least four miles of the state's main north–south highway was under water and the town of Castaic Junction was being washed away. The flood entered the Santa Clarita River Valley at 12 mph (19 km/h). Approximately five miles downstream, near the Ventura – Los Angeles county line, a temporary construction camp SCE had set up for its 150-man crew on
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#17327732259817130-459: The entire dam left very much to be desired." The report stated, "With such a formation, the ultimate failure of this dam was inevitable, unless water could have been kept from reaching the foundation. Inspection galleries, pressure grouting, drainage wells and deep cut-off walls are commonly used to prevent or remove percolation, but it is improbable that any or all of these devices would have been adequately effective, though they would have ameliorated
7245-712: The environmental issues associated with oil-type cable. The 315 megawatt capacity Scattergood Steam Plant (Unit 3) to West Los Angeles (Receiving Station K, "Olympic") 230 kV line is having to be replaced after only 45 years of operations, due to multiple failures within this rather long single-circuit, oil-filled, "pipe type" cable. The LADWP provided about 159 billion gallons (602 million cubic meters) of water in 2019, to 735,600 water service connections, pumping it through 7,340 miles (11,813 km) of pipe . In fiscal years 2016–2020: The use of water from specific sources can vary greatly from year to year. The prospect of increased demand coupled with reduced supply from
7360-420: The face of the dam. A two-inch pipe was used to collect this seepage and was laid from the fault line down to the home of the dam keeper, Tony Harnischfeger, which he used for domestic purposes. Water that collected in the drainage pipes under the dam to relieve the hydrostatic uplift pressure was carried off in this manner as well. In April 1927 the reservoir level was brought to within 10 feet (3.0 m) of
7475-550: The federally owned and far less expensive private land in San Francisquito Canyon. The process of surveying the area and determining the location for the St. Francis Dam began in December 1922. Clearing of the site and construction began without any of the usual fanfare for a municipal project of this nature. The Los Angeles Aqueduct had become the target of frequent sabotage by angry farmers and landowners in
7590-488: The first to release its findings, titled Report of the Commission appointed by Governor C. C. Young to investigate the causes leading to the failure of the St. Francis dam near Saugus, California . The report became the most widely distributed analysis. Along with most of the other investigators, they perceived the new leak as the key to understanding the collapse, although the commission believed that "the foundation under
7705-633: The flats of the riverbank was hit. In the confusion, SCE personnel had been unable to issue a warning and 84 workers perished. Shortly before 1:30 a.m. , a Santa Clara River Valley telephone operator learned from the Pacific Long Distance Telephone Company that the St. Francis Dam had failed. She called a motorcycle officer with the State Motor Division, then began calling the homes of those in danger. The officer went door-to-door warning residents about
7820-413: The flooding, re-darkening the areas that had earlier lost power and spreading the outage to other areas served by SCE. Nonetheless, power to most of the areas not flooded was restored with power from SCE's Long Beach steam–electric generating plant . Near 1:00 a.m. the mass of water, then 55 ft (17 m) high, followed the river bed west and demolished SCE's Saugus substation, cutting power to
7935-598: The geologist and Stanford University professor emeritus, Dr. Bailey Willis , and eminent San Francisco civil engineer and past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers , Carl E. Grunsky . There were still others, such as the state railroad commission and several political entities who only sent investigators or representatives. Although they were not unanimous on all points, most commissions quickly reached their conclusions. The governor's commission met on March 19 and submitted their 79-page report to
8050-399: The governor on March 24, only eleven days after the collapse. Although this may have been sufficient time to answer what they had been directed to determine, they had been deprived of the sworn testimony at the coroner's inquest, which was scheduled to be convened March 21, the only inquiry that took into consideration factors other than geology and engineering. The need for immediate answers
8165-431: The hill." Hopewell stopped, got off his motorcycle and smoked a cigarette while checking the hillsides. The rumbling had begun to fade, and Hopewell assumed the sound was a landslide common to the area. Hopewell finished his cigarette, got back on his motorcycle and left. He was the last person to see the St. Francis Dam intact and survive. At both of the Bureau of Power and Light's receiving stations in Los Angeles and at
8280-474: The hillside. It too was sealed in the same manner. Both of these fractures were noted to be wider at their junction with the hillside abutments and narrowed as they angled toward the top of the dam. The reservoir continued to rise steadily until early February 1928, when the water level was brought to within one foot of the spillway. During this time though, several new cracks appeared in the wing dike, and new areas of seepage began from under both abutments. Near
8395-571: The imminent flood. At the same time, a deputy sheriff drove up the valley, toward the flood, with his siren blaring, until he had to stop at Fillmore . The flood heavily damaged the towns of Fillmore, Bardsdale and Santa Paula before emptying both victims and debris into the Pacific Ocean 54 miles (87 km) downstream south of Ventura, at what is now the West Montalvo Oil Field , around 5:30 a.m. , at which point
8510-401: The inactive San Francisquito Fault line. Mulholland ordered exploratory tunnels and shafts excavated into the red conglomerate hillside to determine its characteristics and had water percolation tests performed. The results convinced him that the hill would make a satisfactory abutment for a dam should the need ever arise. A surprising aspect of the early geologic exploration came later, when
8625-467: The intention of dynamiting the dam and "to get some officers on the way as quick as possible." Within minutes, all personnel of the Bureau of Power and Light and the Bureau of Water Works and Supply either working or residing within the canyon had been notified. Cars carrying dozens of officers from both the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff's Departments rushed to the area. Although no sign of
8740-647: The known height of the flood wave, and the fact that within seventy minutes or less after the collapse the reservoir was virtually empty, the failure must have been sudden and complete. Seconds after it began, little of the dam remained standing, other than the center section and wing wall. The main dam, from west of the center section to the wing wall abutment atop the hillside, broke into several large pieces and numerous smaller pieces. All of these were washed downstream as 12.4 billion gallons (47 million m³) of water began surging down San Francisquito Canyon. The largest piece, weighing approximately 10,000 tons (9,000 metric tons)
8855-517: The largest component of the power supply was renewable energy at about 37%. The second-largest component was natural gas, at about 24%. Coal-fired power made up a further 21%. By contrast, the California investor-owned utilities SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E, had all eliminated their use of coal. In 2013, LADWP announced it would become coal-free by 2025 by divesting its 21% stake in Navajo Generating Station in 2016 and converting
8970-579: The largest storm restoration company in Eastern Canada. The company is governed by a 14-member board of directors representing the municipalities and other shareholders which owned its predecessor companies. Municipal representatives make up 13 of those directors, consisting of: 4 directors from Mississauga , 3 from Vaughan , 2 from Hamilton , 2 from Markham , 1 from Barrie , 1 from St. Catharines , and 1 from Guelph . Employees of Alectra's predecessor companies had previously been represented by
9085-582: The late Los Angeles City Councilman John Ferraro . The building was featured extensively in the 2010 science fiction thriller film Inception . Unusually for a municipal public utility , LADWP has been mentioned several times in popular culture, both fiction and nonfiction: Notes St. Francis Dam The St. Francis Dam , or the San Francisquito Dam , was a concrete gravity dam located in San Francisquito Canyon in northern Los Angeles County, California , United States, that
9200-417: The leak had approximately doubled. Due in part to some erosion taking place, Mulholland ordered an eight-inch (20.3 cm) concrete drain pipe to be installed. The pipe led the water along the dike wall, discharging it at the west abutment contact with the main dam. This gave the hillside a very saturated appearance, and the water flowing down the steps of the dam where it abutted the hill caused alarm among
9315-423: The lingering effects of a workforce reduction over the last decade. Budget issues are particularly acute in the department's transmission system, where underground transmission costs about 10 to 14 times the cost of overhead transmission, per unit length, and the technical and environmental challenges which confront such installations. Additionally, undergrounding of the three 500 kV transmission lines (five lines, if
9430-537: The lives of 64 of the 67 workmen and their families who lived nearby. This cut power to much of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Power was quickly restored via tie-lines with SCE, but as the floodwater entered the Santa Clara riverbed it overflowed the river's banks, flooding parts of present-day Valencia and Newhall . At about 12:40 a.m. SCE's two main lines into the city were destroyed by
9545-439: The muddy appearance of the water was not from the leak itself but came from where the water contacted loose soil from a newly cut access road. The leak was discharging 2 to 3 cubic feet (15 to 22 US gal; 57 to 85 L) per second of water by their approximation. Mulholland and Van Norman's concern was heightened not only by the leak's location but by the inconsistent volume of the discharge, according to their testimony at
9660-410: The need for a dam arose. Although Mulholland wrote of the unstable nature of the face of schist on the eastern side of the canyon in his annual report to the Board of Public Works in 1911, this fact was either misjudged or ignored by Stanley Dunham, the construction supervisor of the St. Francis Dam. Dunham testified, at the coroner's inquest , that tests which he had ordered yielded results which showed
9775-550: The northeast portion of the San Fernando Valley , but the high asking prices of the ranches and private land which had to be acquired were, in Mulholland's view, an attempted hold-up of the city. He ceased attempts at purchasing those lands and, either forgetful of or disregarding his earlier acknowledgement of geological problems at the site, renewed his interest in the area he had explored twelve years earlier,
9890-409: The overflow to pass. The dam also had five 30-inch (76 cm) diameter outlet pipes through the center section which were controlled by slide gates attached to the upstream face. Water began to fill the reservoir on March 12, 1926. It rose steadily and rather uneventfully, although several temperature and contraction cracks did appear in the dam, and a minor amount of seepage began to flow from under
10005-457: The project were needed, the idea of the construction of such a massive dam of similar design, which would create a reservoir seven hundred times larger than the St. Francis, did not sit well with many in light of the recent disaster and the devastation. The bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge on December 21, 1928. The governor's commission was
10120-426: The remaining portion of the western hillside, crossing the canyon floor and up the eastern wall, a drastically different rock composition prevailed. These areas were made up of mica schist that was severely laminated, cross-faulted in many areas, and interspersed with talc . Later, although many geologists disagreed on the exact location of the area of contact between the two formations, a majority opinion placed it at
10235-855: The renowned dam engineer and consultant to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 's Boulder (Hoover) Dam Board; the Los Angeles City Council, which was chaired by the Chief of the Reclamation Service, Elwood Mead; Los Angeles County Coroner Frank Nance, and Los Angeles County District Attorney Asa Keyes . Others were convened: the Water and Power Commissioners started their own inquiry, as did the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors , who hired J. B. Lippincott. The Santa Clara River Protective Association employed
10350-414: The reservoir. In early August, opposition to Los Angeles's water projects collapsed after the indictment of its leaders for embezzlement . The city subsequently sponsored a series of repair and maintenance programs for aqueduct facilities that stimulated local employment. The St. Francis reservoir level rose once again, although not without incident. Late in 1927, a fracture was noticed which began at
10465-544: The rest coming from the Los Angeles Aqueduct system itself as the water descends from its mountain sources. The LADWP, along with raw water deliveries and lake level management from the California Department of Water Resources , also operates the Castaic Power Plant as a pumped storage facility . Water flows from the upper reservoir to the lower during the day, generating power when demand
10580-443: The rock to be hard and of the same nature throughout the entire area which became the eastern abutment. His opinion was that this area was more than suitable for construction of the dam. The population of Los Angeles was increasing rapidly. In 1900 the population was slightly over 100,000. By 1910, it had become more than three times that number at 320,000, and by 1920 the figure reached 576,673. This unexpectedly rapid growth brought
10695-418: The same day Mulholland was to submit his annual report to the Board of Public Service Commissioners, Office Engineer W. W. Hurlbut informed him that all of the preliminary work on the dam had been completed. In his report presented to the Board, Mulholland wrote that the capacity of the reservoir would be 32,000 acre-feet ( 39,000,000 m ). Hurlbut, who also presented the Board with his annual report, Report of
10810-498: The shape and type of the St. Francis Dam, the word curved is used although, by today's standards, due to the amount of curve in its radius, the dam would be considered arched , therefore making it of the arch-gravity design. It was not so called because the science of arch-gravity dams was still in its infancy. Little was known in the engineering community about the arch effect, how it worked and how loads were transmitted, other than that it did help with stability and support. As such,
10925-418: The spillway, and during most of May the water level was within 3 feet (0.91 m) of overflowing. There were no large changes in the amount of the seepage that was collected and, month after month, the pipe flowed about one-third full. This was an insignificant amount for a dam the size of the St. Francis, and on this subject Mulholland said, "Of all the dams I have built and of all the dams I have ever seen, it
11040-410: The systems resulting from these contracts were successful. The city's previous attempts to allow others to develop a water system on its behalf prompted the city council to relinquish its rights to the water in the Los Angeles River in 1868. The city of Los Angeles could no longer benefit from their municipal water distribution business. John S. Griffen, Solomon Lazard , and Prudent Beaudry , created
11155-430: The threat that brought all this about materialized, for many days after, the canyon resembled an armed encampment. The Daily Record of High Water Elevations of the St. Francis Dam shows that between May 27 and June 30 alone, 7000 to 8000 acre-feet of water was withdrawn. Through June and July the Owens Valley fight continued, as did interruptions in the flow from the aqueduct. This in turn caused continued withdrawals from
11270-447: The two remaining sections of the dam remained upright. As the reservoir lowered, water undercut the already undermined eastern portion, which twisted and fell backwards toward the eastern hillside, breaking into three sections. Harnischfeger and his family were most likely among the first casualties caught in the initial 140 feet (43 m) high flood wave, which swept over their cottage about one-quarter mile (400 m) downstream from
11385-463: The use of water directly. During Eaton's nine-year term as the superintending engineer of the Los Angeles City Water Company, he headed a large expansion of the company's water system. Eaton left his position in 1886 when he was elected City Engineer. In early 1897, city engineers created plans for an updated water system and the Los Angeles City Water Company's lease was not be renewed beyond its expiration date, July 21, 1898. In early 1898, talks between
11500-466: The wave was almost two miles ( 3 km ) wide and still traveling at 6 mph (9.7 km/h). Newspapers across the country carried accounts of the disaster. The front page of the Los Angeles Times ran four stories, including aerial photos of the collapsed dam and the ruins of Santa Paula. In a statement, Mulholland said, "I would not venture at this time to express a positive opinion as to
11615-417: The west abutment. Concerned not only because other leaks had appeared in this same area in the past but more so that the muddy color of the runoff he observed could indicate the water was eroding the foundation of the dam, he immediately alerted Mulholland. After arriving, both Mulholland and Van Norman began inspecting the area of the leak. Van Norman found the source and by following the runoff, determined that
11730-488: The western abutment and ran diagonally upwards and toward the center section for a distance. As with others, Mulholland inspected the fracture, judged it to be another contraction crack and ordered it filled with oakum and grouted to seal off any seepage. At the same time, another fracture appeared in a corresponding position on the eastern portion of the dam, starting at the crest near the last spillway section and running downward at an angle for sixty-five feet before ending at
11845-570: The western buttress of the dam, adding that three eminent geologists, Robert T. Hill , C. F. Tolman and D.W. Murphy, had been hired by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners to determine if this was the cause. There were at least a dozen investigations into the disaster. With unprecedented speed, eight of these had begun by the weekend following the collapse. Almost all involved investigative panels of prominent engineers and geologists. The more notable of these groups and committees were those sponsored by Governor C. C. Young , headed by A. J. Wiley,
11960-574: The wooden power poles are being replaced with metal poles. Also included in the upgrade of overhead power lines, are the upgrades of the insulators for the lower voltage distribution power lines, which are more modern than the old-fashioned ceramic insulators. The new modern insulators for lower voltage distribution lines look identical to Southern California Edison's distribution insulators. The department recently completed two 230 kV underground projects using an innovative cable technology which does not utilize oil as an insulator. The oilless cable mitigates
12075-407: The workers near this area, and Mulholland used his spare time becoming familiar with the area's geological features. In the area where the dam would later be situated, Mulholland found the mid- and upper portion of the western hillside consisted mainly of a reddish-colored conglomerate and sandstone formation that had small veins of gypsum interspersed within it. Below the red conglomerate, down
12190-411: Was a constant 5 feet (1.5 m), the width of each step was unique to its respective elevation above sea level. This width varied between 5.5 feet (1.7 m) near the stream bed base at 1,650 feet (500 m) and decreased to 1.45 feet (0.44 m) at an elevation of 1,816 feet (554 m), the base of the spillways and upright panels. When completed on May 4, 1926, the stairstep-faced dam rose to
12305-495: Was an integral part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct . It was located in San Francisquito Canyon of the Sierra Pelona Mountains , about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of the present day city of Santa Clarita . However, a defective soil foundation and design flaws led to the dam's collapse just two years after its completion. Its failure ended
12420-443: Was built between 1924 and 1926. The dam failed catastrophically in 1928, killing at least 431 people in the subsequent flood, in what is considered to have been one of the worst American civil engineering disasters of the 20th century and the third-greatest loss of life in California history. The dam was built to serve the growing water needs of the city of Los Angeles , creating a large regulating and storage reservoir that
12535-416: Was conducted by renewable energy experts at the U.S. Department of Energy 's National Renewable Energy Laboratory , laid out a pathway for LADWP to achieve a 100% renewable energy grid as early as 2035 and by 2045 at the latest. The pathway includes significant deployment of renewable and zero-carbon energy by 2035, including wind and solar resources accounting for 69% to 87% of generated power. As of 2020,
12650-472: Was constructed on Bunker Hill with the purpose of consolidating 11 building offices scattered across Downtown Los Angeles and housing LADWP's 3,200 employees. On September 21, 2012, it was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument . The General Office Building of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power was renamed the John Ferraro Building on November 16, 2000, after
12765-422: Was found about three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) below the dam site. Somewhat similarly, the dam portion east of the center section had also broken into several larger and smaller pieces. Unlike the western side, most of these came to rest near the base of the standing section. The largest fragments fell across the lower portion of the standing section, coming to rest partially on its upstream face. Initially,
12880-605: Was promoted to superintendent in 1886. In 1902, the City of Los Angeles ended its lease with the Water Company and took control over the city's water supply. The Los Angeles City Council established the Water Department – renamed the Bureau of Water Works and Supply in 1911 – with Mulholland as its superintendent. Mulholland was concurrently named as the Bureau's chief engineer following the organization's name change. Mulholland achieved great recognition among members of
12995-1366: Was selling its ownership stake in Collus PowerStream back to the Town of Collingwood, with the Town announcing that it was selling Collus PowerStream to EPCOR Utilities . On January 5th, 2021, Alectra acquired power restoration company Holland Power Services based in Maugerville, New Brunswick . Holland Power Services operates throughout the east coast of Canada and the United States and has 5 locations: 1 in New Brunswick (headquarters), 2 in Ontario, 1 in Quebec , and 1 in Maine, USA. On June 10th, 2024, Alectra announced their acquisition of another power restoration company, Gagnon Line Construction, based in Grand Falls/Grand Sault, New Brunswick . Gagnon Line Construction has two locations: 1 in New Brunswick, and 1 in Quebec. The acquisition of both Holland Power Services and Gagnon Line Construction makes Alectra
13110-559: Was the driest dam of its size I ever saw." The seepage data recorded during the 1926–1927 period shows that the dam was an exceptionally dry structure. On May 27, 1927, the problems in the Owens Valley escalated once again with the dynamiting of a large section of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, part of the California Water Wars . A second incident took place a few days later, destroying another large section. In
13225-534: Was understandable, having its roots in the Swing – Johnson Bill in Congress . This bill, which had first been filed in 1922, and failed to be voted on in three successive Congresses, was again before Congress at the time. This bill ultimately provided the funding for constructing the Hoover Dam. Supporters and responsible leaders alike realized the jeopardy in which the bill stood. Although the water and electricity from
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