Rural Electrification – Lewiston ID

City:
Lewiston, ID

Site Type:
Electricity, Infrastructure and Utilities

New Deal Agencies:
Public Works Funding, Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

Started:
1937

Quality of Information:
Very Good

Marked:
No

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

The June 1937 issue of Western Construction News notes REA work in Idaho.

“The REA has alloted $75,000 to the Clearwater Valley Light and Power Association, Lewiston Idaho, for construction of a generating plant of 800 KW capacity.”

“The REA has alloted $400,000 to the Clearwater Valley Light & Power Association, Lewiston Idaho, for construction of 300 miles of transmission lines in Idaho and Washington.”

“In 1936, Kenneth Summers was manager at a farmer’s co-op, the Lenore Grain and Seed Grower’s Company. The machines, needed to process the grain seed, needed electricity but the nearest power line was many miles away. Despite repeated requests to the local electric utility, no reasonable agreement could be reached.

Mr. Summers, along with R.H. Wallace of Lapwai and L.P. Teats of Reubens, wrote to the newly-formed Federal Rural Electrification Administration (REA), for support in forming their own, member-owned electric cooperative. By April of 1937, Clearwater Valley Light and Power was born.”

The association still exists and has grown to service 8,200 members in 11 counties in Idaho, Washington and Oregon. An employee I talked to thinks that the plant mentioned was a small gas powered station in Kendrick which operated for a year before they started receiving all their power from the Bonneville project.

Source notes

Western Construction News June 1937

https://www.clearwaterpower.com

Local Source

Site originally submitted by Andrew Laverdiere on May 18, 2017.

Location Info


4230 Hatwai Road
Lewiston, ID 83501

Coordinates: 46.43574, -116.96453

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