The Bid to Bottle Up Tacoma
A proposed electrical franchise sparked a bitter fight between City Hall and a powerful private utility corporation over the future of the city's power grid.
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The ordinance introduced at the last city council meeting, granting a new power franchise to the Tacoma Railway and Power Company, is an attempt to secure a monopoly on power and light. If secured, the company could bottle up Tacoma tighter than the Northern Pacific ever did. The ordinance, introduced by Councilman Lamborn, is nearly identical to a franchise vetoed by Mayor L. D. Campbell a year ago. It includes a loophole that would allow the company to furnish electric lighting, directly competing with the city's own light plant and depriving the city of revenue. While the franchise requires a small payment on gross earnings, it lacks the strict price and service conditions found in the contract of the rival Snoqualmie Falls Power Company. Without these protections, the city risks paying higher costs and eventually losing control of its own public utilities.
“With that monopoly once secured, the T. R. P. can bottle up Tacoma tighter than the Northern Pacific ever did.”
This 1904 fight over public power infrastructure reflects the perpetual tension in Tacoma regarding the ownership of essential services. Today, Tacoma Power remains a public utility, a direct historical win for the faction that opposed this corporate monopoly during the early 20th century.
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