Texas Almanac, 1943-1944 Page: 286
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286 TEXAS ALMANAC -1943-1944.
Power-Texas Electric Grid.
Springing up of new wartime factories,
expansion of existing industrial plants, and
installation of numerous military units over
the state during the past two years have ac-
celerated demands for electricity, and, at the
same time, have emphasized the importance
of the electric industry in Texas, which has
been able to meet every need of the war
program for electric power without curtail-
ment of normal civilian uses
The electric power industry in Texas is the
result of some sixty years of planning and
building since the first power plant in Texas
was constructed in Galveston during the early
eighties. The development of the industry
was slow and entirely in local communities
until as late as 1910, but in 1912 a new era
was inaugurated by Texas Power & Light
Company when it began the construction of
the first high-voltage transmission line in
Texas from Waco through Hillsboro to Fort
Worth, from Hillsboro to Waxahachie to
Ferris, and from Ferris north to Trinity
Heights (a substation near Dallas) and south
to Corsicana
Completion of these lines the following year
marked the beginning of an electric utility
expansion period which was to make power
available to farmers and to the small commu-
nities as well as the large cities throughout
Texas for industrial, commercial and domestic
uses. The years following saw rapid expan-
sion of the electric power industry, so that
by 1930 Texas had a widespread network of
transmission lines, interconnected to form a
Texas power grid which extended into every
part of the state and was fed by strategically
located generating stations of the Texas
power companies
Power Industry in 1942.
In 1942, Texas had 200* plants with an in-
stalled generating capacity of 1.280,688 kilo-
olatts or 1,707,584 horsepower The major
portion of this capacity is installed in twenty-
six large generating stations and operated by
eleven companies. Of the 200 electric plants
in Texas, fifty-one are steam twenty-five are
hydro plants (both public and priate) and
124 are internal combustion plants.* About
11 per cent of the total generating capacity in
the state is hydro-electric
In 1913 there were 200 miles of 60,000-volt
line Today there is a network of more than
8,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines
of 60.000 volts and over, and some 20,000 miles
of lines of 11,000 volts and over The 200
miles of 60,000-volt lines existing in 1913
constitute today an important part of this
Texas power grid system.
From this transmission network radiate
many thousands of miles of lower voltage
lines to serve more than 920,000t Texas homes
and 181,200t other customers, including com-
mercial and industrial customers
This network of transmission lines, built
up principally during the ten years prior to
1935, has provided the means for power com-
panies to supply without delay ample power
for war production in Texas whenever and
wherever it was needed. Not only this. but
Texas power companies were able to supply
electric power to the drouth-stricken Tennes-
see Valley Authority area for nearly a year
in 1941 to help relieve a power shortage in
the Southeastern States When power was
needed to produce aluminum in Arkansas.
eleven private power companies of eight
neighboring states formed the SouthwesternPower Pool to supply electric energy to this
war industry, which requires more power
than the entire state of Arkansas had used
before Texas Power & Light Company and
Southwestern Gas & Electric Company are
the Texas companies which are members of
this power pool.
In 1941, the power industry in Texas gener-
ated more than 4,640,000,000t kilowatt-hours
to supply electric services to about 1,100,000t
customers in more than 1,600 towns, villages
and communities.
Texas power companies employ approxi-
mately 11.750 persons and have an annual
pay roll of approximately $19.000,000 They
pay taxes of about $19.300,000 annually, of
which 65 per cent are federal taxes.
Rural Electrification.
Electrification of rural areas in Texas,
started shortly after the advent of transmis-
sion line electric service, has continued until
today about 116,000 farms are supplied with
electric light and power As a result of this
extension of electric service, thousands of
farmers now have the benefits of adequate
lighting and the use of power-driven machin-
ery in the performance of what previously
were burdensome tasks. According to a re-
port of the Rural Electrification Administra-
tion, Texas has made more progress than any
other state in rural electrification during the
last few years.
Rates for electric service in Texas compare
favorably with those of the highly industrial-
ized centers of the East. Residential rates,
for example, have been decreased 35 to 60
per cent during the last twelve years.
HOME LOAN ASSOCIATIONS.
Operating in Texas were 126 insured build-
ing and loan associations and federal savings
and loan associations as of Jan. 1, 1943, ac-
cording to the report of the Federal Home
Loan Bank of Little Rock, Ark. Of these,
thirty-four were operating under state char-
ters and ninety-two under federal charters.
In addition, there were in Texas about eight-
een building and loan associations with state
charters that were not within the insurance
system of the Federal Savings and Loan In-
surance Corporation Total assets of the
Texas federal savings and loan associations
(those having federal charters) as of Dec. 31,
1942, amounted to approximately $62,429,000.
Assets of the insured building and loan asso-
ciations with state charters, those that were
members of the federal insurance system,
amounted to $42,566,744 Assets of the unin-
sured state organizations as of this date had
not been reported As of Dec. 31, 1941, there
were a total of fifty-two domestic and four
out-of-state building and loan associations re-
porting to the Texas State Banking Depart-
ment. with total assets of $47,313,641 09 and
$38,837,605 13, respectively.
Texas is within the district of the Federal
Home Loan Bank of Little Rock. together
with the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mis-
sissippi and New Mexico This bank series
for member building and loan and federal
savings and loan associations purposes similar
to those of the Fedeial Reserve Bank for
member banking institutions
* "Electrical World," statistical issue, Jan 23,
1943
+Edison Electric Institute Statistical Bulletin
No 9, March, 1942
$"Facts About the Power and Light Industry in
Texas," J M Harris, Austin.I Automotive Brushes-Brewery Brushes-Cotton Gin Brushes-Dairy Brushes-Flour Mill Brushes
Linter Brushes-Office Building Brushes--Fruit Brushes-Textile Mill Brushes-Rug Cleaning Brushes
MAGNOLIA BRUSH MANUFACTURING CO.
"Pioncer Brush Makers of the South"
212 N. WALTON C-4863 DALLAS
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Texas Almanac, 1943-1944, book, 1943; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117165/m1/288/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.