Electric Power
Electric Power
The Prairie du Sac Light and Mill Company provided electricity for some of the village prior 1913. This electric power was generated by a
generator in the Banner Mill. In order to have a better and more reliable electric light service and cheaper rates, the village on June 25, 1914 adopted the
contract with Wisconsin River Power Company and began erecting poles and wires. Bonds of $13,000 were issued to pay for installation. The village of Prairie du
Sac received the first electricity from the newly finished dam in December, 1914.
J. S. Tripp helped get the dam charter from the State Legislature in 1907. Magnus Swenson and the engineering firm of Mead from Madison built the dam on sand. It was completed by the end of 1914 and produced power for the traction company in Milwaukee. Three 25 cycle generators sent power to Portage and Watertown and from there to Milwaukee on lines held up by metal towers. The contract for the power of these three generators barely covered cost. The one 60 cycle generator was the only one they were able to make money with. Wisconsin Power and Light Company gradually added four more 60 cycle units over the next twenty years. The village of Prairie du Sac was the first village that bought electricity from this dam. When the traction company in Milwaukee went out of business the three 25 cycle units were replaced with 60 cycle generators so that when the Badger Ordnance Works was started all eight units were up and running. At that time the BOW was its biggest costumer. Today it is Milwaukee Valve. The added benefit of the dam for the village was the Ad Valorem tax paid to the local school district. This amounted to $22,000 a year and with it the local school district built the Prairie du Sac High School in 1915, an addition in 1922, an auditorium and gym in 1929, and an outdoor swimming pool in 1934. By 1953, it was still $13,000 a year. At high water this dam produces about 32,000 kw of electricity at a cost of 1.5 cents a kilowatt. The village is known as "the best village by a dam site!"
