City Hall Debates Municipal Power
A joint committee is appointed to investigate the feasibility of Seattle owning its own electric light plant.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Be it resolved by the board of aldermen and the house of delegates of the city of Seattle, in city council assembled, that a joint committee of the same, to consist of three members of each house, to be appointed respectively by the presidents thereof, shall be appointed as soon as possible after their appointment to investigate the question of the best method of lighting the streets of the city, and for the purpose of giving said matter consideration the advisability of the city's owning and controlling its own electric light plant, and to report their conclusions to the city council as soon as practicable, with their recommendations and with an estimate of the cost of building an electric light plant to provide the city with sufficient light by means of a public system to be owned and controlled by the city.
“The advisability of the city's owning and controlling its own electric light plant.”
This 1892 resolution marks a pivotal moment in Seattle's history, moving toward the public utility model that would eventually create Seattle City Light. Today, this legacy of public power remains a defining feature of the city's infrastructure and civic identity.
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