IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020 - 86

was a major step for the Foote brothers,
but transmissions at higher voltages
over longer distances were already in
place elsewhere when their plant began
operating (Table 2).
Two important events in the history
of hydroelectric power in Michigan took
place in 1904 in Maine: the incorporations
of Commonwealth Power Company and

Grand Rapids-Muskegon Water Power
Company. Commonwealth Power Company was a consolidation of William A.
Foote's various utilities. Commonwealth
Power existed from 1905 to 1914, with
William as president and James as general
superintendent. Grand Rapids-Muskegon
Water Power Company became Grand
Rapids-Muskegon Power Company soon

figure 7. An arc streetlight on Main Street (now Michigan Avenue) east of
Jackson Street in Jackson, Michigan, in 1889. (Source: adapted from R. H. Baker,
Jackson, Mich. Resources, Jackson, Michigan: B.F. Conrad and Company, 1889.)
Rogers Dam
Powerhouse

Croton Dam
Powerhouse

1908

72,000 V

Muskegon River

72,000 V

110,000 V
10 MW

Casnovia
Muskegon

72,000 V

72,000 V
Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids

figure 8. The 72,000-V and 110,000-V transmission lines of the Grand Rapids-
Muskegon Power Company in 1908. Lower-voltage trunk lines are omitted.
86

ieee power & energy magazine

after it was formed. It existed from 1906
to 1914; more information is provided later in the article. Commonwealth Power,
Grand Rapids-Muskegon Power, and
nine other Michigan electric companies
were absorbed in November 1914 by Consumers Power Company, which had been
incorporated in Maine in 1910. Consumers Power changed its name to Consumers
Energy in 1997.
American Electrician (New York)
of June 1904 reported that George
Erwin of Muskegon was interested
in the construction of three dams on
the Muskegon River and erecting an
electrical powerhouse at each dam for
transmitting power to Grand Rapids,
Big Rapids, and Muskegon. Engineering News (New York) of 5 January
1905 had the following announcement:
The Grand Rapids-Muskegon
Water Power Company, recently
organized under Maine laws with
$1,000,000 capital, will build one
or more dams on the Muskegon
River, as its needs may require, develop water power for commercial
use in Grand Rapids, Muskegon,
Big Rapids and other places. The
first dam will be built at Rogers
bridge, about six miles below Big
Rapids. Preliminary work upon
this is already well under way. It
will cost about $400,000. Thomas
Hume, of Muskegon, is Pres.;
Thomas Monroe, of Muskegon,
and W. A. Foote, of Jackson, are
Vice-presidents; Geo. L. Erwin, of
Muskegon, is Secy., and John G.
Emery, Treas.
Thomas Hume of Muskegon was
a partner in a pine lands and lumber
business and president of a furnituremaking company. Thomas Munroe (not
Monroe) was president of a bank in
Muskegon. George L. Erwin had a real
estate business in Muskegon and had
been buying up flowage rights along the
Muskegon River, anticipating its use for
hydroelectric projects. The partnership
of these three Muskegon businessmen with William A. Foote would
quickly lead to spectacular success.
The American Institute of Electrical Engineers held a special meeting
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