The Everett Water and Light Monopoly
A critical investigation into the extortionate rates charged by the Stone-Webster company and the case for municipal ownership.
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.
The people of Everett are now awakening to the fact that for a goodly number of years they have been the victims of the highest light and water charges on Puget Sound, at the hands of the Everett Railway, Light and Water Company—owned by the Stone-Webster street car, light, power and interurban railway trust. For a six-room house in Everett, we are charged a flat rate of $1.85 per month, plus 25 cents additional for each of the four summer months, totaling $22.20 a year. In contrast, Seattle citizens with a municipal plant pay roughly $6 a year for metered service. It is estimated that this arrangement extracts $100,000 annually from the pockets of Everett working men to fatten the dividends of eastern stockholders. Despite city charter provisions for municipal utilities, the mayor and council have failed to act, while finding funds for a $3,000 police patrol automobile. Citizens must insist on municipal plants or use the initiative and recall to demand change.
“Think of the thousands of dollars each month going out of our pockets to fatten the dividends on a lot of eastern stockholders' money.”
Everett’s struggle with private utility monopolies in 1911 echoes the ongoing modern debates about the privatization of public infrastructure and the difficulty of controlling essential service costs in a corporate-run economy.
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