Georgetown Energy Museum
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The Georgetown Energy Museum is a functioning hydroelectric plant that provides electricity to the town. It was built in 1900 and uses water located in a reservoir located almost a mile up towards Guanella Pass. The water falls the equivalent of a 700 foot drop. The plant included a steam engine (to power one of the generators) built by the Alice Chalmers Company located in Milwaukee but only used it when the water level in the reservoir was low. In total, the plant produces 1.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power up to 1000 homes and businesses. Visitors are able to see the generators, a demonstration of electricity on a "jacob's ladder," the control room, and an old clothes washing machine dating to around 1920.
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Georgetown Energy Museum
Sources
"About GEM." Georgetown Energy Museum. Accessed November 16, 2016. http://georgetownenergymuseum.org/about.html.