Brighton Substation
38°32′52″N 121°24′29″W / 38.5478°N 121.4080°W
| Brighton Substation | |
|---|---|
General information | |
| Type | Electrical substation |
| Location | Sacramento, California, United States, 8180 Folsom Blvd |
Completed | 1909 |
| Owner | Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) |
| Design and construction | |
| Main contractor | Great Western Power Company |
Brighton Substation is an historic electrical substation in Sacramento, California. It was constructed by the Great Western Power Company in 1908–09 as part of a pioneering transmission system that carried hydroelectric power generated on the North Fork Feather River to the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. Brighton substation remains a critical transmission station in active operation by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) more than a century later.
History
[edit]Big Bend–Oakland system
[edit]Great Western Power Company constructed the Brighton substation as a component of the unprecedented "Stairway of Power" transmission system. In 1908, Great Western completed the Big Bend hydroelectric plant, the first powerhouse in the project.[1] When completed, the Big Bend powerhouse was the most powerful in the world.[2][3]
To deliver power from the new Big Bend powerhouse, Great Western constructed a 100kV transmission line on newly erected steel towers running approximately 155 miles from the Big Bend powerhouse, through Oroville, Marysville, Sacramento via Brighton substation, and ultimately to Oakland. When completed, the transmission line was the highest capacity and longest distance in the world.[4][5]
Brighton substation was constructed east of Sacramento in Brighton, California, near a former Pony Express station. In November 1908, Great Western ordered $156,000 in machinery for the substation and spent another $28,000 on its building. Brighton substation was designed to reduce the transmission voltage from 100 kV to 23 kV. Great Western built a second substation closer to downtown Sacramento, at Eighth and R streets, to step down power from 23 kV to 2 kV before being distributed throughout Sacramento.[6][7] Great Western completed the Brighton substation in 1909 and the Eighth and R substation in 1910.[8][9]
Expansion
[edit]As Great Western continued to expand the power generation and transmission capacity in its system, it continually expanded capacity at the Brighton substation.[10]
During the 1920s, the Brighton substation also became a connection source for the San Joaquin Valley with the addition of a 103-mile 220 kV transmission line from Brighton substation to the San Joaquin Light and Power system at Wilson substation near Merced.[11][12] The 220 kV Brighton–Merced line was the highest transmission voltage in commercial use in the United States at the time. In its 1926 survey of advances in electric transmission, the Encyclopædia Britannica noted that the maximum line voltage had risen from 110 kV to 220 kV and identified only four American 220 kV systems operating or under construction at that capacity: Big Creek, PG&E's Pit River–Vaca line, Great Western's 103-mile Brighton–Merced line, and Pennsylvania Power and Light's Wallenpaupack–Allentown line.[13]
PG&E acquired control of Great Western in 1930.
Mid-century fires and expansion
[edit]In March 1943, a lightning strike caused a fire at the Brighton substation, partially destroying it and interrupting electrical service throughout Sacramento.[14][15] In March 1952, the main transformer at Brighton substation exploded due to an overload, causing another fire.[16]
PG&E quickly repaired the substation after the fires and has continually expanded capacity at Brighton substation since 1930. In 1946, PG&E spent $270,000 on a bank of three new transformers and 22 kV switching equipment.[17] In 1950, PG&E added a new bank of four transformers at a cost of $1.4 million, and updated equipment for "additional regulation and stabilization of the voltage of power supplied from the substation."[18]
In the 1950s, Sacramento's municipal utility company, SMUD, connected two new underground 23 kV lines from Brighton substation to two new local substations.[19]
Modern facility
[edit]Brighton remains an important high-voltage transmission substation in PG&Es distribution system.
PG&E's 2009 transmission plan called for replacement of Brighton's No. 9 transformer bank with a 420 MVA, 230/115 kV transformer. The project's diagram identifies the No. 10 bank as 420 MVA and shows Brighton connected toward Rio Oso and Bellota at 230 kV and toward West Sacramento, Davis, and Grand Island at 115 kV.[20]
PG&E's current capital program includes reconstruction of the two Brighton–Grand Island 115 kV lines, including replacement of their remaining lattice steel towers and reconductoring of both circuits.[21]
In 2026, community groups collaborated with PG&E to install new fencing around the substation with vinyl wall mural art celebrating the history of transportation on and around Folsom Boulevard.[22]
Historic legacy
[edit]Around 1920, a service station directly across the street from the Brighton substation operated by Louis Basso rebranded itself the Power Inn, a reference to the substation. Basso's Power Inn gained notoriety in the 1920s after two robberies. In November 1923, Basso used a shotgun to ward off an attempted robber at the Power Inn; the robber was later tried for a murder arising from the same crime spree in a heavily publicized trial that featured Basso as a witness.[23] In September 1924, Basso and his wife were tied up during another robbery, and the robbers dangled the Bassos' infant child at gunpoint; Mrs. Basso broke free and chased after the assailants in her nightgown.[24][25] The Power Inn was also frequently in the newspapers in the 1930s with Basso regularly hosting Turkey hunts, and in 1935 Basso made news when he was charged with selling alcohol in violation of Prohibition. After Basso's death in 1941, Brighton Road was renamed Power Inn Road.[26]
In 2010, the neighborhood acquired recognition as the Power Inn district.[27]
The State of California has included Brighton substation in the California Historical Resources Information System as P-34-000889. The City of Sacramento has listed Brighton substation in its Historic Properties file as Record 048937.[28]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Hydroelectric power plant on the Feather River". CSU Chico Digital Collections. Meriam Library, CSU Chico. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ Coleman, Charles M. (1952). P.G. and E. of California: The Centennial Story of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 1852–1952. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 223.
- ↑ "Industrial Development in Superior California During the Past Week". Sacramento Bee. December 26, 1908. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
This is the largest generating plant in the world, its full capacity being greater than that of any other electric plan yet constructed.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: miscellaneous url (link) - ↑ "Stairway of Power documentary" (PDF). PG&E. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
When it was completed, the 10,000 kilowatt powerhouse supplied a 100 kilovolt transmission line with over a thousand steel towers that snaked 155 miles through the Sacramento Valley to reach Oakland. At the time, it was the longest and highest voltage transmission line in California, but other companies were also developing new lines to meet the state's growing demand for power and Big Bend only held its title for a year.
- ↑ "Great Western Power Company Is Pushing Its Work Rapidly". Sacramento Bee. 4 June 1908. p. 5. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
Erecting first tower: Antioch 3/30/08 [photos]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: miscellaneous url (link) - ↑ "Controversy Over Power Franchise At End". Vol. 116, no. 77. Sacramento Daily Union. 8 November 1908. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Operations of Great Power Company". Vol. 115, no. 76. 11 May 1908. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
The Great Western will very soon begin the erection of a large substation in this city. ... As has already been reported, the power line of the Great Western Power company will be the largest in the world.
- ↑ "Ready to Flash Power to Bay: Great Western Company Makes Successful Line Test". Vol. 118, no. 54. 18 October 1909. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Great Western To Build Soon". Sacramento Bee. 21 January 1910. p. 14. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: miscellaneous url (link) - ↑ "Great Western Company Is Increasing Energy Distribution". Vol. 238, no. 26765. Sacramento Daily Union. 27 June 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
Construction work involving the expenditure of approximately $1,000,000 is nearing completion on the properties of the Great Western Power Company of California at Brighton, in the Sacramento district at the Las Plumas power plant in the Feather River Canyon and at El Cerrito near Richmond.
- ↑ Coleman, Charles M. (1952). P.G. and E. of California: The Centennial Story of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 1852–1952. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 293–294.
- ↑ "Great Western Plans New Work: Power Company Program Calls for $11,500,000 Expenditure". Vol. 238, no. 27343. Sacramento Daily Union. 27 January 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
$2,000,000 is required for a 220,000 volt steel tower transmission line between Brighton substation, near Sacramento, and Merced, intercepting the Great Western system with that of the San Joaquin light and power corporation, and making available in the great San Joaquin valley power generated from water stored in the Lake Almanor reservoir.
- ↑ "Electricity, Transmission of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (13th ed.). 1926. p. 950.
- ↑ "City Plunged In Darkness, Power Hit". Vol. 139, no. 72242 at p. 1. Sacramento Daily Union. 10 March 1943. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
Lightning struck Brighton substation of the PGE power distribution system at 9 p.m. yesterday during an intense rain and electrical storm, and half of the city of Sacramento was plunged into darkness.
- ↑ "Electric Storm Breaks Many Refrigerators". Vol. 139, no. 72244 at p. 6. Sacramento Daily Union. 12 March 1943. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
refrigerator repairmen were busy yesterday answering calls from householders whose refrigerator motors had burned out because of a reported drop in voltage at their homes. ... The PGE's Brighton substation was partially destroyed by fire when struck by lightning...
- ↑ "Power Is Cut By Explosion". Vol. 152, no. 75 at page 24. Sacramento Daily Union. 2 March 1952. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
The explosion of the main transformer at the Brighton substation ... disrupted power in parts of Sacramento and its suburbs yesterday ... The blast set fire to an oil breaker and oil drum at the station. An auxiliary unit will be used until the regular transformer is repaired...
- ↑ "PGE to Spend $350,000 in City". Vol. 147, no. 73347 at p. 1. Sacramento Daily Union. 28 March 1946. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
Major item among the projects is a $270,000 enlargement of the capacity of Brighton substation on Folsom Boulevard at Brighton Road, one of the most important substations serving Sacramento. A bank of three new transformers with a total capacity of 30,000 horse-power, together with related 22,000-volt switching equipment, will be installed at the Brighton replacing lower capacity equipment now in use.
- ↑ "Power Boosted By 2 Projects". Vol. 151, no. 75199 at p. 9. Sacramento Daily Union. 6 April 1950. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
enlargment of Brighton Substation at Folsom Boulevard and Brighton Road.
- ↑ "SMUD Installs More Cables". Vol. 154, no. 76005 at p. 9. Sacramento Daily Union. 28 July 1953. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ PG&E's 2009 Electric Transmission Grid Expansion Plan (Report). Pacific Gas and Electric Company. March 5, 2009. p. 3-14.
- ↑ Quarterly General Order 131-E Report (PDF) (Report). California Public Utilities Commission. 2026. p. 25.
- ↑ "Folsom Blvd Coalition". Folsom Blvd Coalition. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Dr. Arbogast Slaying Is Re-Enacted". Vol. 235, no. 26548 at p. 2. Sacramento Daily Union. 23 November 1923. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Woman, Clad in Night Clothes, Pursues Six Armed Bandits". Vol. 238, no. 26841 at p. 1. Sacramento Daily Union. 11 September 1924. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Police Say John Davis Is Fugitive". Vol. 238, no. 26847 at p. 2. Sacramento Daily Union. 17 September 1924. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ Alcala, Carlos (27 February 2009). "The Inn-side Story on Power Inn Road". Sacramento Bee. pp. J1, J7. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: miscellaneous url (link) - ↑ Wasserman, Jim (25 April 2010). "Power Inn Gears Up for Smart Makeover". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: miscellaneous url (link) - ↑ Historical Resources Survey (PDF) (Report). City of Sacramento. p. 127.