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MPUs History
The origins of Manitowoc Public Utilities date back to 1889, when the city's forward-thinking aldermen solicited bids for furnishing electric lighting in the city of Manitowoc. Local businessman John Schuette offered to do so at half the cost of the nearest competitor. He was awarded the contract. In a building adjoining his flour and gristmill, Schuette installed four 20-kilowatt Edison BiPolar type generators driven by belts connected to two Corliss-Allis steam engines. Suddenly, daylight lasted until 9 p.m. throughout the year with help after dusk from the Electric Light Company. Manitowoc Waterworks Company was also established in 1889 by brothers Eugene and T.W. Gray. Their water plant was located on the Lake Michigan shore at what was then the southern city limits. While both the Grays' and Schuette's entrepreneurship may be credited with providing valuable community services, the stage was soon set for municipal ownership. Under the direction of Mayor Henry Stolze, Jr., the city purchased both the waterworks and the electric utility, in 1911 and 1914, respectively. The waterworks then served 1,811 customers and 211 fire hydrants. The electric plant, with its first steam turbine-generator, had a capacity of 810 kilowatts and served approximately 2,000 customers. Thus was born Manitowoc Public Utilities, a municipally owned and managed electric and water utility, still headquartered at the original waterworks site, though the southern city limits have moved significantly farther south. By 1935, with almost 25 years of community ownership, the value of the electric plant and the water works had grown to $2.72 million, a significant return on the original investment of less than $400,000. And MPU was operating completely without bonds or debt. MPU continually added electricity-producing capabilities to keep pace with growing community demands. By the beginning of World War II, MPU had a capacity of more than 20,000 kilowatts. Still, with industry growth and wartime contracts, there was little question of the need for more power. By the mid-1940s discussion began about the need for power plant expansion. In cooperation with Rahr Malting Company (now Busch Agricultural Resources), the utility commission approved a plan to supply steam for its large kilns. Steam and hot water sales to nearby customers expanded considerably over time. At the end of the twentieth century, extracted steam heated not only Busch Agricultural Resources, but also Lincoln High School, the Manitowoc County Courthouse and jail, Bio-Technical Resources, and First German Lutheran Church and School. By 1950 the plant addition was completed. During that decade two new turbines were added, increasing MPU's capacity to 52 megawatts. Plant power outages in the late 1950s heightened interest in possible interconnection with the state's electric grid to improve reliability. By the spring of 1961 necessary substations and transmissions lines were completed, and interconnection was achieved with Wisconsin Public Service. That same year MPU sought additional capacity and the state Public Service Commission approved the plan to purchase another 22-megawatt generator. As luck would have it, a General Electric turbo generator fitting MPU's exact specifications was in storage, having been slated for delivery to Cuba. When Fidel Castro took over that country's electric utility, the ensuing embargo effectively canceled the order. MPU saved nearly one million dollars. By the time MPU celebrated its silver anniversary in 1964, the power company supplied electricity to 11,572 customers at just 1.2 cents per kilowatt hour, one of the lowest rates in the state of Wisconsin and, indeed, the nation. The city's need for safe, fresh water also grew rapidly. In its early years, Manitowoc relied on shallow wells that penetrated the gravel strata beneath the lake bed. With no sewage treatment facility, however, citizens feared the surface lake water. But the wells could not keep up with increasing demand, and the water from them contained such a high iron content that it was often unfit for consumption. In 1944 two new wells were sunk directly east of the Lincoln High School Tower, and south of Silver Creek Park. These wells utilized a radically different design to augment the capabilities of traditional vertical shafts. Patented by the Ranney Corporation, the wells added horizontal shafts outward like the spokes of a wheel, to increase collection capacities. The need for water continued to grow, so MPU turned to Lake Michigan. To make lake water a feasible alternative, a sand filtration system was constructed. It served the community for 30 years, until the completion of a state-of-the-art microfiltration plant in the summer of 1999. With the new plant, the city finally had an absolute barrier to surface water-borne pathogens, with limited use of chlorine and other chemicals. MPU geared up for the twenty-first century with a 20-megawatt fluidized bed boiler addition in 1991, and a 25-megawatt combustion turbine and transmission lines to reinforce the electrical service to the southwest portion of the city as well as future expansion of the industrial parks west of I-43 in 1999. At the end of the millennium, MPU's capacity stood at 114 megawatts. Unlike strictly private enterprise, MPU is able to focus on the community's needs-the needs of its more than 16,000 customers-without the influence of outside investors. As a result, the families and businesses of Manitowoc benefit directly from some of the lowest utility rates in the nation. Additionally, with assets of more than $100 million, MPU is Manitowoc's largest taxpayer, adding $2 million annually to city coffers. Because of the vision of early entrepreneurs, dedicated city leaders, and an ongoing team of conscientious, community-minded utility employees, Manitowoc Public Utilities stands poised to continue its mission and to be an integral and essential component in the economic development of the community. |
