Before Electricity

On the late evening of September 13, a gracious woman and fantastic cook, passed away after 85 good years and a brief illness. Miss Ruby, my husband’s grandmother, spent her entire life in Northwestern Alabama.

After her funeral, I joined the extended family over a traditional southern spread complete with black-eyed peas and fried apple pies. As I shooed away a yellow jacket, I almost fell out of my chair when I heard one of the cousins tell a story about their childhood. She said - “you remember, that was before we had electricity.” Umm, did I hear that correctly? You remember a time when there was no electricity?

Yessir. Older folks in the Tennessee Valley - and I’m not just talking about the octogenarians - have clear memories of living in homes B.E. (before electricity). This was hard to believe, as we were just a stone’s throw from the Tennessee River, nestled between Wilson and Wheeler dams, just upstream from Colbert Coal plant, and downstream of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

Miss Ruby got married around the time the Rural Electrification Act was signed, so even though power plants were going up all along the river, it took a while for the distribution system to bring the electricity to rural homes. She lived to witness a huge boom, and gradual decline, of a local power industry.

Ruby’s husband Britton was a veteran of WWII and Korea, a mason, and a career pipefitter for TVA. Men like Britton literally electrified the Tennessee Valley. He also knew how to “save money” by drilling a little hole in an elecric meter, sticking a piece of straw in it, and slow down the the wheel.

Not long after the area was electrified, the low cost power attracted other major industries along the Tennessee River including aluminum, paper, and manufacturing. The nearby city of Huntsville boomed as German rocket scientists including Werner Von Braun moved in after WWII to launch the space program as we know it today. Huntsville still thrives on the defense and aerospace. Areas around Huntsville were not so lucky, as manufacturing moved offshore, and talented craft personnel were left to work at Wal Mart or move out of the area.

The region’s power industry could be stimulated once again during this critical time of new energy development. TVA is planning to restart Bellefonte nuclear power plant, again. And with all the engineering talent in Huntsville and nearby Knoxville, the low cost of living would make the Tennessee Valley an ideal place for a clean tech startup with a manufacturing component (solar, fuel cells, instrumentation and controls) to gain a foothold.

I think Ruby and Britton would like it very much if the area would come alive once again with the optimism that comes with thriving industry, and a sense of community that is built when people come together to build something important.