In 1940, Muscatine Water and Light doubled the capacity of its electric plant with the addition of a new boiler and generator — Unit 5. It was the third time the utility had doubled its output in less than 15 years. The brick and steel addition to house the new equipment measured 128 by 87 feet, and its roofline was equivalent to a seven-story building!
The Public Works Administration, a Depression-era agency designed to get the nation back on its feet, subsidized 45% of the cost of the new addition. Another Roosevelt-era economic development agency, the Works Project Administration, footed the entire $14,000 cost of building a new water pump housed at the Lucas Street reservoir.
Through the Depression and in the years leading up to World War II, Muscatine Water and Light did not have work for all its employees, but rather than laying anyone off, it served as a clearinghouse for employment information.
Although the utility had doubled capacity at its electric plant twice before, the situation in 1940 was different. During World War II, the need for electrical energy increased by leaps and bounds. In July 1939, the electric utility served a peak load of 3,724 kilowatts (kW). The maximum load reached in 1941 was 6,472 kw, and on one afternoon in 1942, it was 7,049 kW.
Electric power production was an essential part of the nation’s defense plans. In September 1940, Muscatine Water and Light was asked to send delegates to the National Power Policy Committee meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure an, “adequate and dependable supply of energy for national defense.”
Encountering another legacy of the New Deal, in 1941, workers at Water and Light petitioned to organize a labor union. Local 240 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers negotiated with the board of water and light. Most of the employees received 10% pay increases. Vacation and sick leave issues were settled, and a contract was signed in October.
The attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 prompted utilities across the nation to be on alert. The board asked the plant operator to keep doors locked and install floodlighting. In January 1942, a full-time guard was hired for the power plant.
Manpower was in short supply; lineman Seward Hathaway was “loaned out” to work on the construction of a US Army hospital, and substation operators Robert Moore and Ralph Zybarth left for the US Army and US Navy respectively. Replacements were hard to find; vacations were curtailed.
By 1942, copper was almost impossible to find and wooden poles hard to locate. Fuel rationing meant meter reading and service work were sometimes hampered.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh) sales rose dramatically since the late 1930s. One of the main reasons for the increase was the establishment of defense industries in Muscatine. However, a planned generation expansion would have to be put off until after the war. The war years were a time of “make-do” for Muscatine Water and Light.
The regular meeting of the board of water and light trustees on Aug. 14, 1945, was shorter than expected. The war was over. There was a celebration to attend and work to do!
