On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 15, 1896, the streets of downtown Henderson were so packed with residents that the newspaper later said it was impossible to move along the sidewalks.
At 7:45 p.m., Mayor A.J. Worsham declared, “Let there be light,” signaling Miss Mariam Starling to press a button that sent electricity to 154 arc street lights, “and there was immediately throughout the city a brilliancy of light … and shouts of approval went up from the throats of a proud and well-pleased people,” the Gleaner reported.
That represented the start of what today is Henderson Municipal Power & Light, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary.
City streets had previously been illuminated, barely, by gas lights fueled by syngas made from coal. In the 1890s, talk began about switching to electric lights. In 1895, the Henderson City Council put the matter to voters, who overwhelmingly approved construction of an electric power plant and network of streets.
A $30,000 coal-fired power plant at the corner of Fourth and North Elm streets was the first municipally owned power plant in Western Kentucky or the lower Ohio River valley. In addition to street lights, electrical wire was strung throughout the small city of about 9,000 residents, who gradually had power extended to their homes and businesses.
Eventually, Henderson outgrew that first power plant, so a new plant — which became known as Station One — was constructed on the banks of the Ohio River at Fifth Street.
A second generating station, the much larger Station Two, was constructed at a cost of $76 million near Sebree and provided additional power not only for Henderson, but for the then-new Anaconda (now Century) Aluminum smelter.
The power plants eventually aged out — Station One was retired in 2008 when it couldn’t comply with federal environmental standards while Station Two was closed in 2019 when it had become uneconomical to operate.
But HMP&L continues providing electric power, purchased on the open market, and for decades has provided the lowest-cost electricity in the region.
“On a day like this, there’s nothing like having electricity and air conditioning,” Henderson Utility Commission Chairman Lin Shannon told a group of HMP&L employees and retirees Friday who gathered for a celebratory lunch, while Mayor Brad Staton extolled “the benefits of a municipal-owned utility.”
HMP&L also today offers high-speed fiber-optic internet service to homes and businesses.
And it’s considered a premier employer. “Best years of my life,” retired HMP&L administrative assistant Beverly Klima declared.
