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The early years: lighting up the City of Perth:
Above - Installation of power lines on the corner of Pier and Wellington Streets, 1893.
Source: The History of Electricity in Western Australia, published by Western Power Corporation.
Western Australia’s prosperity has depended upon the development of electricity services around the state. Electricity was introduced to Western Australia by the enterprising Mr C.J. Otte and his company, the Western Australian Electric Light and Power Company, in 1888. A small electric plant with a 40 horsepower portable engine and 15kW dynamo were installed in Mr Otte’s premises next to the Criterion Hotel in Howick Street (now Hay Street) Perth.
The Perth Town Hall became the first building to receive a permanent electricity supply in Western Australia on 4 December 1891. In 1892, the first electric street light was erected by the WA Electric Light and Power Company. The Perth Gas Company operated the state’s first power station from Wellington Street in 1894. The power station (110 volts direct current) supplied electricity to the Perth Town Hall, Wesley Church and Wigg & Son.
Above - Corner of Hay and Barrack Streets in 1898 - Perth Town Hall is on the left.
Source: The History of Electricity in Western Australia, published by Western Power Corporation.
The Goldfields towns of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Coolgardie embraced modern electric street lights in 1897. Small, independently owned power stations swung into action in Perth suburbs and south-western towns from 1900 onwards. Perth people enjoyed an electric tram service, which began to operate in the city from 1899.
Electricity was mainly used for lighting in the home during the first half of the twentieth century and WA’s first electric stove was introduced in Kalgoorlie in 1905 by Mr Curle Smith, who devised and patented his own version of the new-fangled invention. In 1913, construction commenced on WA’s first major power station, the East Perth Power Station, and it initially generated 12MW.
 Next Section >> SEC brings power to the bush.
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