THE RECENT DECISION OF BENICIA’S CITY COUNCIL to convert from Pacific Gas & Electric to Marin Clean Energy is reminiscent of earlier times. The Herald carried an article on Jan. 6, 1938 reporting that the utility applied for a franchise to deliver gas and electricity to the city. The proposal included a limit of 25 years for the franchise, and the franchise document was published in its entirety on page 2.

It was a different era for the city. Where today the city is close to being built out and there is a large Industrial Park, the Benicia of 1938 was mostly farmland. The Arsenal didn’t become part of the city until 1963.

Also, many of the city’s houses didn’t have gas or electrical delivery, and whole new systems needed to be constructed — the gas line supplying houses on West Second Street, for example, which was installed in 1954.

The April 7, 1938 edition of the then-weekly Herald reported that PG&E attorney P. E. Sloan addressed the City Council and discussed the “various angles which the company and city are working on.” The Council elected to postpone any agreement for the next meeting to give them a chance to “fully study the matters presented.” (A more pressing issue at the meeting was that a record $75 was collected in fines by the police. Such fines were a major source of funding for the police. The town baseball team also needed a subsidy and a new fire prevention ordinance was passed.)

The PG&E franchise was adopted at the following meeting and duly reported in The Herald on May 5, 1938. Ordinance No. 204-S was passed and after publication was set to become effective within 10 days after passage and publication. No persons objected, and after the meeting everyone decamped to “Winks” on First Street for libations.

In the subsequent 77 years, the city and the PG&E grid grew as houses and industries were constructed. In 1964, as Benicia purchased the Arsenal from the U.S. government for $4.5 million, PG&E purchased the electrical system, also from the government, for mere thousands of dollars. Southern Pacific purchased the railroad tracks and rights-of-way. The sewer system became the property of the city, as did the roads. The telephone system was purchased by Pacific Bell. The other big development of the 1960s, the large Southampton subdivision, also required a substantial utility infrastructure.

Dr. Jim Lessenger is a freelance reporter for The Herald. This article has nothing to do with any of the organizations for which he volunteers.

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