GASLIGHTS TO GIGAWATTS

Gaslights to Gigawatts is a human history that tells the story of BC Hydro and its predecessors through the memories and memoirs of the people who lived it. That story begins in the1860s when gas lamps first illuminated the muddy streets of Victoria, and runs till the present era of billion-watt (gigawatt) power projects.

Through hundreds of interviews and written submissions, the book includes the stories of line workers, dam builders, sales reps, bus drivers and streetcar motormen, dietitians (someone had to teach customers how to cook on electric ovens), clerical staff, meter readers, labourers, managers and trade unionists. These are the countless people who dedicated their working lives to BC Hydro and, before it, to the BC Electric Company and the British Columbia Power Commission.