Here’s a very interesting post over at examiner.com:
Bob Simmons of Crosscut.com just posted an article on how the prospective buyout of Puget Sound Energy by Australia’s Macquarie Group is raising hackles among those in their service area who fear higher rates and less control. As a result, some are calling for a mass takeover by local PUDs (public utility districts)…
1941 billboard with Reddy
Which brings up this billboard, which I found in the excellent photographic database of the Seattle Municipal Archives. If it’s a little hard to read, here’s a transcript.
HOODED EXECUTIONER [dragging Reddy Kilowatt, Puget Power’s mascot, to the “chopping block for private enterprise,” axe in hand]: If we can just get “Reddy” — the others will come easier!
NARRATOR: If they do — you may be next.
This was snapped on May 14, 1941, on Aurora Avenue N. in Seattle. This particular campaign of Puget Power’s failed, as City Light completed its buyout of private utilities within the city limits ten years later. But it does demonstrate that they’ve been fighting the fight for years, and will likely pull out all the stops this time around.
A Fort Worth forum discussion on an old Reddy sign that used to be on a power plant:
I grew up in Stop Six and Poly, and moved to Ohio in 1978 when my parents passed away. I was wondering, is Reddy Kilowatt still on the side of the Handley power plant? I remember him being there, lit up at night as a kid, and if my memory serves me correctly he was quite large and neon. I have looked high and low for pics of the plant with Reddy on it but haven’t found any.
Totally unrelated to Reddy Kilowatt: I probably should mention that my new book is out. It’s published by the weird and wonderful folks at BlueQ. It’s a nice little photo book of the sad chairs of St. Louis. No, really. Discarded chairs in alleys. Abandoned chairs on street corners. Abused chairs on loading docks. You get the picture. You’re gonna like it.
When I came home from work on Friday, it was to a surprise package in the mail…from West Virginia…from someone I’ve never met before. Which is weird…that it came to my house, because usually I have things sent to Snap Snap, as someone is usually there to receive packages…so, I was thinking it was someone I knew…
Only it wasn’t…
I opened the package and what did I find?
A Reddy Kilowatt Christmas From the Kitchen vintage cookbook (and holiday decorating idea book) And I dropped dead…OK…I didn’t die, but I did cry.
Oh yes, I did.
I was so very touched that someone thought of me, and sent along something so treasured. Someone I seemingly didn’t even know…There’s not a lot of people who even know who Reddy Kilowatt is…except for one person I didn’t even think of…
Oh man, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen a life-size, live-action Reddy Kilowatt. Check it out, and be sure to watch the video:
Once upon a time, Northland TV stations made their own children’s show. The kids who watched those shows are now in their 40’s and 50’s but still fondly remember names like Captain Q and Mr. Toot. Dave Anderson tells us how a pair of fans is trying to preserve those memories…
“I’ve been doing research on this subject for nearly a decade now.” The biggest find was some actual Mr. Toot with Reddy Kilowatt footage found on an archaic reel to reel video tape. “We had to track down a company that had one of those old machines that could actually play that type of tape and have it transferred.”
“I bet I know what your favorite fish is. Electric eels!”
A cautionary tale about respecting electricity from Horace Jeffery Hodges — and note that this mishap was blamed on Willie Wirehand, not Reddy Kilowatt! ;-)…
Although I managed to maneuver the plug’s prongs into the extension’s outlet, a spark of electricity briefly illuminated the night, and I dropped the two cords in alarm without completing the connection. But we didn’t hear them fall to the ground, and I realized that they were linked and hanging somewhere in the darkness before me.
I went groping for them and closed my right hand directly on the bare prongs. A wave of power surged through my body, I saw more light than I had ever seen, and I screamed. Another wave and light. I screamed again. A third time. I screamed and collapsed, breaking the circuit.
Technology to help Americans reduce electricity use when the grid is stressed could help utilities save $120 billion on spending for new power plants and transmission lines, government officials and researchers said on Wednesday after a study in the Pacific Northwest.
Although I managed to maneuver the plug’s prongs into the extension’s outlet, a spark of electricity briefly illuminated the night, and I dropped the two cords in alarm without completing the connection. But we didn’t hear them fall to the ground, and I realized that they were linked and hanging somewhere in the darkness before me.