Over time, investors acquired and combined small firms, expanded their territories, and created what we now call "the electrical grid."
As electricity came to be seen as a necessity, government stepped in, regulating the supply and distribution of power to ensure equity in rates and access to power for all.
Today, electricity in Maine is distributed several small local utilities and four major ones – Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., Central Maine Power Co., Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative, and Maine Public Service. Central Maine Power Co. alone comprises more than 130 former companies such as gas distributors, street railways, and community power and light companies.
By its 60th year in 1959, CMP had 225,000 customers. Since 2000, the major utilities no longer own generating capacity, but take bids from the many companies that maintain power stations in Maine and beyond.
Developed by Thomas Duncan for alternating current arc-lamp systems, this meter measures the number of amperes consumed by a series of 10 lamps over time.
Companies supplying electric power sought a meter that would accurately record all types of usage.
William Stanley, who started a company in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, developed this meter that was attempted to eliminate friction caused by the jewel bearings.
The hollow steel shaft is mounted between two magnets, which are adjusted so that the disk "floats" between the magnets.
Oliver Shallenberger had developed an integrating-type watt-hour meter for Westinghouse that fit well with the industry’s need for a watt-hour meter, but it was heavy and expensive.
H. P. Davis and Frank Conrad developed this lightweight and less expensive round-type meter.
Usually, an electric meter is read and then the customer is billed for the electricity used.
In 1899, using the model of prepaid gas metering, General Electric adapted a Thomson Recording Wattmeter with an external collection device; the customer paid in advance.
Many manufactures followed with models of their own.
This model had been in development for some time before its introduction in 1911, but Sangamo had to wait for the Tesla patents, owned by Westinghouse, to expire.
This induction-type meter uses fluctuations in magnetic fields to turn the rotating disk, while a drag, or lag, magnet keeps the disk turning at a rate proportional to the current.
Introduced in 1924, the Westinghouse OB meter was smaller than its predecessor, the OA (and most present-day meters), and, instead of cast iron, its housing was made out of stamped steel.
Tools
Setting up utility poles and installing electrical cable are two of the primary duties of the lineman. Specialized tools such as wrenches, wire-splicing clamps, and insulated hammers and pliers, were developed to help the lineman make sure that electrical and mechanical connections on utility line are safe and strong.
The Klein Tools lag-screw wrench was manufactured specifically to fit the standard sizes of hardware common in the electrical industry and so was used frequently by Central Maine Power Co. linemen.
A warning tag used by Cumberland County Power & Light Company reads, "This meter is disconnected from service. We will be pleased to supply you with electric service. Kindly call at the office to make application."
The Roebling Alligator wrench fit many different sizes of bolts and nuts and was one of many types of wrenches electrical linemen used in their daily work.
The McIntyre splicing sleeve was invented in the 1880s, but did not become popular with Central Maine Power Co. linemen until the 1920s.
The copper or aluminum sleeves used in the McIntyre splice provided more surface area than other methods, and subsequently more friction, to the splice when it was placed under tension.
Wrapping one of the conductor strands at each end of the splice further secured the sleeve.
Central Maine Power Company linemen used this cable-splicing method, named the "Western Union" splice until the 1920s, when McIntyre splicing method became more popular.
The round turns of the splice are designed to tighten as the two wires pull away from one another.
An enterprising Central Maine Power lineman constructed his own insulated tool in about 1920 by replacing this hammer's wooden handle with a steel pipe, and then covering the pipe with braided fiberglass cloth and rubber insulation.
Safety equipment was especially important for the line workers who erected utility poles and strung cable.
The ratchet sleeve twister is one of a number of specialized tools developed to help the lineman who install electrical cable ensure that both the electrical and mechanical connections on utility line are safe and strong.
