The National Electric Light Association (NELA) was a national United States trade association that included the operators of electric central power generation stations, electrical supply companies, electrical engineers, scientists, educational institutions and interested individuals. Founded in 1885 by George S. Bowen, Franklin S. Terry and Charles A. Brown, it represented the interests of private companies involved in the fledgling electric power industry that included companies like General Electric, Westinghouse and most of the country's electric companies. The NELA played a dominant role in promoting the interests and expansion of the U.S. commercial electric industry. The association's conventions became a major clearinghouse for technical papers covering the entire field of electricity and its development, with a special focus on the components needed for centralized power stations or power plants. In 1895 the association sponsored a conference that led to the issue of the first edition of the U.S. National Electrical Code. Its rapid growth mirrored the development of electricity in the U.S. that included regional and statewide affiliations across the country and Canada. It was the forerunner of the Edison Electric Institute (founded in 1933). Its highly aggressive battle against municipal ownership of electric production led to extensive federal hearings between 1928 and 1935 that resulted in its demise. Its logo is an early depiction of Ohm's law which is "C equals E divided by R," or "the current strength in any circuit is equal to the electromotive force divided by the resistance," or the basic law of electricity. It was established in 1827 by Dr. G. S. Ohm.
Structure During its first convention, the NELA set up a formal structure that included a constitution and a governing body made up of elected officers using committees to carry out the interests of its members. By 1904, the NELA had 588 members that were broken down into major classes. The membership included all of the major electric suppliers, like Edison Electric Company that later became General Electric as well as most of the larger electric generating companies from the east to west coast. The list of honorary members included Baron Alphonse James de Rothschild, Charles A. Coffin (the head of General Electric), George Westinghouse, Lord Kelvin, Charles F. Brush, Thomas A. Edison, Prof. Elihu Thomson, and Nikola Tesla. Tesla read his technical paper on "Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena" at the 1893 convention in St. Louis. By 1921, the NELA had eight different classes of membership with over 11,000 members including companies, associations and individuals from other countries.
The NELA had nearly 30 different committees in place that came together during its conventions. These committees that included geographical representatives from the industry broken down by region and state-affiliated associations and industry representatives coordinated the distribution of reports on best practices and standards of the industry from the ratings of light bulbs, safety, accounting practices, engineering designs of equipment to advertising, public relations and legislative campaigns.
Each year, the NELA selected a new president to lead the association from an executive of a major electric power company. For example, in 1898 Sam Insull from the Commonwealth Edison Company was selected the same year that his hometown of Chicago hosted the June 7–9 event. The president would preside over the convention that included an introductory speech that summarized the major events of the year. Part of Insull's speech stunned attendees as he promoted the idea that electric companies were natural monopolies that should be regulated at the state rather than local level. Within fifteen years, his idea would sweep the nation.
The association maintained a modest year-round staff in New York City. They managed the group's budget, produced and distributed its reports and coordinated the conventions along with the host electric company. Prior to 1905, events were three days long but jumped to five-days by 1910. In 1907, the association introduced a monthly Bulletin that was distributed to all members. By 1910, the NELA was approaching 7,000 members, with its main office maintaining an exchange network of 114 trade and company journals being produced by its members in 1922.
Each convention was organized to draw prominent media coverage. Exhibitions that included dazzling displays of lighting and the latest electric appliances were modeled after the wildly popular 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It was always held at a high-profile luxury hotel. The convention's publicity included local and national celebrities. Opening ceremonies for the convention and exhibition included a welcome speech by the host city's mayor. Each day would have a morning and evening session that started with a live presentation of a major paper followed by a discussion on the topic by those in attendance. This was followed by entertainment, trips to the exhibition hall or local company's central electric power station.
History
The National Electric Light Association's (NELA) formation and activities parallel the history of the U.S. electric industry and early development of energy use via electricity and its role in lighting. Electric lighting started with the use of Arc lamps, soon followed by Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan's incandescent light bulb. Most indoor lighting prior to this was done by wood fireplaces, candles, Whale oil, or kerosene in buildings. While the invention of arc lamps for street lighting in larger urban areas date back to the beginning of the 19th century. The first Power stations used hydro-electric power that evolved from watermills and centuries of mechanical development. Edison's Pearl Street Station was the first commercial steam powered central station where coal-fed boilers were used to produce electricity by generators.
On February 25, 1885, NELA held its first convention in Chicago Illinois with an estimated 90 people in attendance. Its first president was the Baltimore-based J. Frank Morrison known for his electric company and political experience, he served for the first three years. The founding meeting was organized by George S. Bowen, Franklin S. Terry, and Charles A. Brown. Franklin S. Terry was known for having organized a number of local and then regional Incandescent light bulb companies that included the National Electric Lamp Company that was merged with General Electric in 1911. Charles Brown was the head of the Western Electric Company, an electrical engineering and manufacturing company that served as the primary supplier to AT&T and the Bell Operating Companies. George Bowen was the founder of the Elgin Electric Light Company of Elgin Illinois and the head of the Chicago & Pacific railway company.
From its founding, until 1891, the NELA held semi-annual conventions, when it switched to annual events that were hosted by various cities across the United States. These conventions had a number of major goals that included formal presentations by scientists and engineers on the subjects of municipal street lights, residential lights, appliances, central power station construction and operations. The conventions also included major exhibitions of the latest appliances, motors, and equipment being produced by electric supply companies. In addition, the convention was meant to help newly formed electric generating companies discuss the latest innovations in the transmission of electricity. The conventions with its lighting exhibitions quickly became a major promotional tool for the electric industry that NELA would soon represent as membership expanded nationwide over the next few years. The turnout from around the country for the first convention convinced the attendees that this should become a regular event as a constitution was set up along with committees to coordinate future conventions.
The second convention was August 18–19, 1885 in New York City. At this convention discussions were held about how to run a central power station, what kinds of members could join and debates between Electric arc vs. incandescent lighting. It was reported that roughly 350,000 arc and incandescent lights were already in operation around the country by 1886. The NELA's earliest public relations concern was with Insurance Companies as a result of Edison's public demonstrations known as the war of the currents. Its conventions were already starting to include exhibitions by supply companies. A number of committees were set up to deal with a broad variety of issues that were rapidly evolving at this early date of the industry's development with a strong focus on statistics, both as internal feedback for the industry but also for promotion.
By the third convention at Baltimore, finding a space big enough for all the exhibitors became a problem. The 1887 convention at Philadelphia was the first year the NELA took up the issue of Alternating current as a possible source of long-distance transmission and power, while the number of delegates jumped to 344 with its summer convention at Boston. Topics from how to insulate wires to storage batteries and motors were just beginning to be discussed. By 1888, one of the major issues was whether put all electrical wiring underground as was the demand in New York City and the growing problem of competing electric company lines on a single electric pole. During their 1889 convention in Chicago, the NELA statistics bureau pointed out that there were now 2.7 million arc and incandescent lights in the country or nearly a tenfold increase in three years. By 1892 the NELA had 26 Honorary members, 90 active members and 111 associate members in the association.
Between 1900 and 1902 the NELA conventions included 16 papers, 4 reports and their first discussions about appliances, standardized accounting practices and consumer complaints. In 1903, however, the number of published papers and reports started to skyrocket with 14 papers and 5 reports that were published in two volumes with major pieces on corporate consolidation and the promotion of electric signs. This grew again in 1904 with 16 papers, 18 reports 3 discussions and 3 additional special reports (appendixes) with the convention expanding to a week-long event. The highlights included presentations on legislation, long-distance transmission, electric heating, advertising methods and remote control of appliances. 1905 had 16 papers and 16 reports with more discussions on advertising and networking with alliances as well as a separate report on municipal ownership that was not released as well as the introduction to the idea of co-operation within the industry to organize and promote its agenda across a broad array of issues.
Electric Industry Co-operation 1890–1905
NELA's conventions played a prominent role in bringing manufacturers, engineers and central station companies together to share information about issues the newly emerging industry faced. The three-day conventions would include around five technical papers and debates on lighting, motors, circuits and central station hardware that included the popular exhibits of equipment being produced. During this early period, there were no appliances being produced.
In one of its most important early contributions between 1890 and 1897, the NELA led a campaign that brought seven other national associations together, including the Underwriters National Electric Association, known today as the National Fire Protection Association, along with the insurance industry to produce the National Electrical Code.