Town Notice: Front Royal celebrates Public Power Week

Front Royal is celebrating Public Power Week October 3rd through 9th, along with more than 2,000 other localities providing community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities throughout America.

In recognition of Public Power Week, the Front Royal Town Council presented a proclamation to the Energy Services Department at their September 27th meeting. “Front Royal Energy has been providing quality and reliable service to customers in the Town and parts of Warren County for over 123 years,” said Vice Mayor Lori Cockrell. “This is a non-stop service with dedicated employees who work hard to keep our lights on 24/7. We are proud of our employees who provide local, affordable energy to 8,000 customers.”

The Energy Services Department is a self-supported enterprise fund. All operational costs are covered by the electric rate structure.

The mission of the Energy Services Department is to meet all electrical power needs safely while keeping power outages to a minimum and in extreme conditions restoring power as quickly as possible.

Learn the history of electric service in Front Royal.

In 1891, the Royal Power Company received a franchise from the Town to serve electricity. The company built a small steam electric generating plant on East 4th Street by Happy Creek and went into operation around 1892, serving a few customers and Town street lights.

In 1893, the company went bankrupt and went out of business. In 1894, the Town Council authorized a referendum to borrow $8,000.00 to buy the power plant and lines. So, in 1894, the Town of Front Royal starting supplying electricity to Town citizens.

In 1904, the Town purchased the Kenner’s Dam and started construction of a hydro generator plant to supplement the steam plant to accommodate the power needs for the Town. The Riverton Hydro Plant served the Town customers until 1930.

From 1894 until 1918, the Town of Front Royal was able to produce all its electrical needs. But in 1918, the Town had to supplement its energy requirements from an outside source, which was contracted through the Northern Virginia Power Company. By 1930, the Town was put into a position of establishing a wholesale power contract in some ways similar to the way we have been doing business to date.

In 2007, the Town of Front Royal started to acquire generation assets with the buy-in of two (2) coal-fired power plants and is currently investigating other renewable energies such as hydro, wind, and biomass. Today, the Town serves almost 8,000 customers in Town and in the county along Browntown Road.