Estimates for supply South and North Adelaide and Port Augusta with electric light with accompanying plans for Adelaide.

This pamphlet lays out the costs for potential tenders to supply the required infrastructure to allow the large scale electricification of Port Augusta.

Prior to the introduction of electric lighting Port Augusta's streets were lit by acetylene gas pedestal lamps. This system was replaced in 1924 when the town was lit by electricity by the Commonwealth Railways.

The Commonwealth Railways had generated its own electricity from 1913, and from 1924 supplied the Port Augusta Corporation, which then sold it to Port Augusta consumers.

In 1927 electric light poles were erected in Davenport and on the West Side so those residents could also purchase electricity (generated by the Commonwealth). However it was not until 1932 when a new Commonwealth Railways generating plant was installed that there was sufficient current to operate electric motors, which then allowed the Transcontinental newpspaer to install an electric printing press, and electric cash registers could be used in Port Augusta's retail businesses.

Electricity was a symbol of advancement, prestige and modernity and at many rural localities private companies and local government installed their own generators. However with the creation of ETSA (Electricity Trust of South Australia) in 1946, electrification of the State expanded at a more rapid rate.

Port Augusta (S. Aust.)

Anderson, R. J. Solid town: the history of Port Augusta, [Port Augusta, S. Aust.]: R.J. Anderson, 1988 (especially page 159)

The Wakefield companion to South Australian history, Kent Town, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001