The provision of electricity in Queensland (Australia's second largest state in terms of physical area) required a considerable degree of pioneering, innovation, and commitment. Queensland proved to be a pioneer in the supply of electricity in Australia, with the first public demonstration in Australia, the first recorded use for public purposes in the country, the first Parliament House in Australia and the first commercial operations in Australia all occurring in Brisbane.
Generation and limited distribution was initially the responsibility of local authorities, until a central state-based authority to coordinate the generation and distribution of electrical power was established in 1938. In the late 1990s, the electricity sector was restructured to enable integration with the National Electricity Market (NEM).
The history of power generation and distribution in Queensland can be considered in three major phases: Initial local generation and distribution; creation of a statewide body and the consequent creation of an extensive network; and the restructure to enable integration with the NEM.
Queensland is the most decentralised mainland state, and initial local generation and distribution was the only viable option for the supply of electricity in many instances. The creation of regional, and then a statewide network from 1945 enabled economies of scale and reliability to be obtained, particularly by generating plants. Within a decade of the statewide network being completed, the establishment of the NEM provided new commercial opportunities for generators and improved reliability of supply.
Initial local generation and distribution
1882-1925 In 1882, a demonstration of what electricity could do was conducted with eight arc lights along Queen Street in Brisbane, the capital and largest city in Queensland. Power was supplied by a 10 hp generator driven by a small engine in a foundry in Adelaide Street. This was Australia's first recorded use of electricity for public purposes.
The first practical use of electricity was for lighting in the Government Printing Office in George Street in April 1883. In 1886, arc lights were in use at the Roma Street Railway Yards and in the same year, an underground cable connected the Parliament House from the Printing Office, the first of any Parliament House in Australia. The supervision of the laying of cable was done by E.C. Barton, who formed a company with C.F. White and in 1888 built a power house in Edison Lane behind the General Post Office with a generating capacity of 30 kW. The General Post Office became the first consumer of electricity in Australia and Barton and White the first electricity supplier in Australia. Adjoining shops were supplied by overhead wires, becoming the first non-government customers.
In 1896, Barton ceased his partnership with White and established the Brisbane Electric Supply Co., which in 1899 relocated from Edison Lane to Ann St. In 1904 the company renamed itself the City Electric Lighting Co. (CEL). Growing demand resulted in CEL building a new power station in William St in 1910 with a capacity of 1.2 MW, with the 0.5 MW plant relocated from Ann St in the same year and a further 0.7 MW capacity added the following year. In 1914 CEL converted to AC generation, DC being used until that time.
In the meantime the Brisbane Tramway Co. decided to electrify its network, and in 1897 it built Queensland's first significant power station at Countess Street, generating 0.9 MW @ 550 VDC, with capacity expanded to 4.05 MW by 1915 as the network was progressively electrified, as well as the construction of a second plant at Light Street with a capacity of 1.05 MW in 1913.
The first regional electricity supply was established in the far western town of Thargomindah. A street lighting system was installed in 1892, and in 1898 commenced generating electricity using Australia's first hydro-electric plant, using the water pressure from a water bore, a system which remained until replaced by diesel generators in 1951.
The Rockhampton Gas & Coke Co. began to supply electricity in that city in 1892, with the Rockhampton City Council assuming responsibility for electricity supplies in 1924. Electricity was supplied in Charters Towers in 1897, Toowoomba in 1905, Warwick in 1912 and Barcaldine in 1915, each by a local power station. Ipswich was supplied by CEL building Queensland's first significant transmission line, a 5 kV line extending 40 km to the town in 1917. Local power stations began operating in Dalby and Longreach in 1921, Townsville in 1922 using coal from Collinsville supplied by the newly opened railway line, and Home Hill in the same year for Queensland's first significant irrigation program. The Goondiwindi power station was established in 1924, and those in Cairns and Kingaroy the following year.
1925-1938 In 1925, The greater Brisbane City Council (BCC) was created, from the old City of Brisbane, City of South Brisbane and various smaller Towns (Hamilton, Ithaca, Sandgate, Toowong, Windsor and Wynnum) and Shires (Balmoral, Belmont, Coorparoo, Enoggera, Kedron, Moggill, Sherwood, Stephens, Taringa, Tingalpa, Toombul and Yeerongpilly).
CEL held the 'franchise' for the former Brisbane and South Brisbane Council areas, and when the BCC decided to take over the generation and distribution of electricity, it offered to purchase CEL in 1926, the offer being rejected. Council had taken over the tramways network with three small powerhouses, none with enough capacity for expansion of the electricity network. To be able to expand, Council decided to construct a new powerhouse, and in 1928, the New Farm Powerhouse (now known as the Brisbane Powerhouse) became operational. The station had an initial capacity of 18.75 MW, expanding to 93.75 MW upon completion. The Countess St power station was decommissioned in the same year.
CEL opened the Bulimba A (also known as Gibson Island) power station in 1926 with an initial capacity of 12.5 MW, this being expanded to 92.5 MW by 1944. The William St power station was closed in 1931, and the plant sold to the Evans & Deakin engineering company. No longer able to expand its customer base in Brisbane, CEL commenced a program of rural electrification, which by 1933 was supplying the Lockyer Valley, by 1935 had connected to Cleveland, Tingalpa, Beenleigh, Coomera, Tamborine and Waterford and towns within Pine Shire such as Strathpine and Petrie, and by 1936 extended to Mt Cotton, Bethania, Pimpama, Ormeau, Kingston, Dayboro, Samford and Redcliffe.
Stand alone power stations continued to be built, opening in Nambour and Winton in 1927, Murgon in 1929, Clermont in 1930 and Killarney in 1931, the year that Oakey was supplied from Toowoomba. Power generation in the Cairns region was expanded in 1935 with the opening of Queensland's first significant hydro-electric power station at Barron Falls, containing 3 x 1.32 MW generators, this being considered more cost effective than railing coal from the Bowen Basin. The expanded capacity enabled Atherton and Gordonvale to be supplied from that year.
Meanwhile, electricity began being supplied to individual towns by non-government sources, such as the Butter Factory in Toogoolawah, which supplied that town in 1927, and then built a transmission line to supply Esk and Lowood in the same year, and was reported as having connected the "entire Brisbane (River) Valley" by 1936. The Butter Factories in Nanango and Allora supplied those towns from 1933, as did a sawmill in Wondai in the same year.
1935 saw the State Government hold a Royal Commission into the electricity industry, it recommending a 'consolidated approach' to expansion of supply, which resulted in the creation of the State Electricity Commission of Queensland (SECQ) in 1938 to coordinate further works.
BCC 11 kV Electricity Supply Department Substations Former Council AreaYear Electricity transferred to BCC Ithaca 1926 Yerongpilly 1928 Hamilton 1930 Balmoral 1930 Coorparoo 1930 Stephens 1930 Sherwood 1931 Wynnum 1932 Taringa 1932 Windsor 1933 Toowong 1934 Toombul 1934 Enoggera 1935 In addition to supplying the tramways network, the New Farm Powerhouse also allowed for the construction of an 11 kV network to supply power for electric light. Previously CEL had supplied these area under 10 year orders, but with Council having a new powerhouse, they slowly inherited the new areas of supply as each order expired. By 1935, only the old City of Brisbane and City of South Brisbane were still supplied by CEL, with the rest of Brisbane supplied by the BCC Electricity Supply Department.
Four initial 11 kV Substations were constructed in 1928 by Council at: Victoria Park (No.4), Lang Park (No. 6), Victoria Street, Woolloongabba (No. 9) and Cairns St, Kangaroo Point (No.11). By 1930 they had constructed four more 11 kV Substations: Balmoral (No. 12), Stephens (now Moorooka) (No. 13), Hamilton (No. 5), and Coorparoo (No. 10). These substations were supplied with 11 kV, and had to transform down to 5 kV, which was the voltage that CEL had constructed in these areas. The primary purpose initially was to supply residential areas with electric light, as electricity was an expensive commodity, and most houses did not use it for any other purposes.
These substations were constructed in accordance with the designs of long-term City Architect Alfred Herbert Foster (1873 – 23 March 1932). He joined the old City of Brisbane in 1913 as an Architectural Assistant to the City Engineer, and was made City Architect upon the formation of the greater Brisbane City Council. Harold Austen Erwood (c. 1884 – 1947) was Foster's long term assistant and successor, working as an Architect with Foster at the old City of Brisbane, from 1914, then at the greater Brisbane City Council after 1925, until Foster's death in 1932. Erwood had to wait to be appointed City Architect however, and was still waiting in August 1932. BCC finally changed his designation from Chief Architectural Assistant to Chief Architect on 30 April 1933. Reyburn Jameson (c. 1880 – 1950) was employed as an assistant architect from 1926 to 1929. South African born Jameson was previously employed as a draftsman by CEL from 1918 to 1920 and the City of Brisbane from 1921 to 1922. All three men appear to have been made Registered Architects from 14 June 1929, when the Architects Registration Act 1929 was enacted.
The substation buildings near or in residential areas were designed by Foster to fit in with residential areas, with similar designs employed by his successor Erwood.
Details of the brick building substations by Foster and Erwood are below.