A Complex Family Tree

A Complex Family Tree. Xcel Energy owns and operates the Hennepin Island hydroelectric plant.. , The complexity of the company's history reflects the transformation of the electric power industry since the late nineteenth century as smaller utilities were consolidated into larger ones., Created in 2000 by the merger of Northern States Power Company (NSP) and New Century Energies, Xcel traces its roots to a number of companies. The oldest, acquired by NSP in 1923, are the Saint Anthony Falls Water Power Company and Minneapolis Mill Company, which controlled the waterpower at Saint Anthony Falls since 1856. NSP had become independent in 1916 after being established in 1909 as a financing arm of a utilities conglomerate, Consumers Power Company., Consumers Power was created by a giant in the early power industry, H.M. Byllesby and Company of Chicago. Byllesby's first venture in Minnesota was the Washington County Light and Power Company, established in 1909. Within a year, the company had changed its name to Consumers Power Company and purchased a gas and electric utility in Stillwater, the first of many utility acquisitions throughout the Midwest. In 1912, Consumers Power acquired Minneapolis General Electric (MGE) from Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation of Boston, which had purchased MGE in 1899. MGE evolved from Minnesota Brush Electric Company, developers of the first hydroelectric plant at Saint Anthony Falls., Stone and Webster brought order to the chaos of the early days of electric service in Minneapolis. "Before 1898," a company publication reported, "the city was furnished with power and illumination by competing companies, and it was not until Stone and Webster became interested that this competition actually ceased. The present company managed by this organization represents the consolidation of several companies that at one time occupied the field and it must be said occupied it rather awkwardly.", National Safety Week display, NSP window, ca. 1920 , Photo by Brown's Photo Studios, Minnesota Historical Society, This dam in Dakota County, south of the Twin Cities, is named after engineer and entrepreneur Henry Byllesby. Born in Pittsburg in 1859, Byllesby gained experience as a young man by working for both Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, who were bitter rivals. After jobs in a number of locations, including Saint Paul and London, Byllesby established an engineering firm in Chicago and founded his electric empire. A flagship of that empire was Northern States Power Company, which operated a hydroelectric plant at the Byllesby dam until the late 1960s. Minnesota Historical Society, Minneapolis General Electric promoted its product with a Christmas light display at its office at 15 South Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis. , Minneapolis Public Library, Special Collections, Inspired by a lightning storm, Ashton Collins, a manager at the Alabama Power Company, drew the first Reddy Kilowatt in the 1920s. The company put Reddy to work promoting electricity, and other power companies soon clamored to use the charismatic figure. NSP purchased ownership rights for Reddy from Collins's descendents [sic] in 1998. Reddy has encouraged safety, decorated watches and earrings, and even starred in comic books and films. Photo by Norton and Peel, 1949. Minnesota Historical Society; Reddy Kilowatt and comics, Xcel Energy