City Hall Scrambles to Power Tacoma
As the power trust exerts pressure, Tacoma’s leadership struggles to staff the Nisqually plant.
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Mayor Linck and the city council are currently wrestling with the problem of securing an engineer to take charge of the Nisqually power plant, while simultaneously considering the proposition of building a steam plant to run until the permanent waterpower facility is finished. The effort of the power trust to embarrass the city has caused concern among officials, though the lighting department remains unbothered. City Electrician Lauzon believes the city can make arrangements with the St. Paul mill or another local firm to put in an extra generator and furnish power next winter to tide the city over until the Nisqually plant comes online. Engineer Sylvester of Spokane and the Northwestern Engineering Corporation have both applied for the position, though some councilmen favor a candidate who has previous experience building power plants in the region.
“The effort of the power trust to embarrass the city has thrown some of the city officials into consternation.”
Tacoma’s long-standing tradition of public power—the Nisqually project mentioned here—continues to be a defining feature of the city’s civic identity, contrasting sharply with the private monopolies that often dominate utility landscapes elsewhere.
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