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Public Service Company
| In 1927, F.O. Stanley sold the Fall River
Hydroelectric Plant to the Stanley Corporation. The Stanley Corporation tried to keep up with
skyrocketing demand by extending the power lines to more and more cottages. The
Stanley Hotel built a coal plant that year, so extra electricity from the plant
could be released for sale. The Stanley Corporation made other improvements,
such as raising the dam at Cascade Lake to allow for more water pressure in the
penstock. However, the Corporation's ownership of the plant was short lived, and
in 1928 Public Service Company of Colorado took over ownership of the small
plant. |
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Public Service Company continued to upgrade
the plant in hopes that they could keep supply in check with the demand people
in the Estes Park area had for electricity. They switched the plant from a
single phase unit to a three phase hook up, which meant that the switchboard and
the Western Electric generator had to be altered. This also allowed almost twice
as much power to be produced. In 1928 and 1929, the entire distribution system
was rebuilt. In 1931, a second addition was made to the plant. A third room now
housed a Fairbanks Morse 50 horsepower diesel generator, so power was no longer
dependent on the Fall River for generation. The diesel could produce electricity
whether or not stream flow in the Fall River was high.
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A third unit still couldn't keep up with
demand. In 1933, Public Service Company enhanced the dam on Fall River, doubling
the capacity of the Cascade Lake reservoir. In 1938, they added onto the second
addition and installed a huge 6-cylinder 300 horsepower Fairbanks Morse diesel
and a 200 kilowatt generator. This unit is no longer visible in the plant today,
but explains the large open space in the room housing the 1931 diesel unit. In
1945, Public Service Company sold the hydroplant to the Town of Estes Park, who
owns the plant currently, although it was shut down by the furious waters of the Lawn Lake
Flood in 1982. |
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