As recounted by long-time Nova Scotia Power employee Lorne Berringer, and recorded and supplemented by his son Don Berringer, another long-time employee of the company - February 2009.
In late April or very early May 1938, my Dad had an interview with Mr. Doolan, Superintendent of Transmission, Distribution and Generation for Nova Scotia Light & Power. At that time the company had two other operating divisions, the gas works run by Mr. Bully and the Transit Division run by Mr. Dawson. Mr. J.P. Hayes was Nova Scotia Light & Power's General Manager.
On May 6, 1938 my Dad first stepped on the Water Street site as a "no experience" employee in the Halifax line department. There was no formal training or apprentice program back then; however, the school of hard knocks was in session each day. He started at the bottom, digging pole holes with a 12-foot steel bar and wood handle scoop.
The Water Street footprint was much as it is today, extending from Morris Street south to Terminal Road. Shops along Water Street included painters, carpenters, mechanics, welders and more. Also along Water Street stood the gas works buildings. The retorts de-gasified the coal and stored it in two large expandable storage tanks located on the south west corner of Morris and Water Street.
The gas was sold and distributed throughout the south and north end of the city through an extensive underground piping system. Gas mains as large as 24 inches in diameter still lay dormant under the city streets.
Dad recalls that the "clay" used inside the retorts was removed and laid out along the street for about seven or eight days and then placed back inside the retort. Eventually the gas works closed in 1949.
Electrical demand began to substantially grow in the years just prior to World War II. During this same period Mr. Hayes stepped down due to a medical condition. The job was then offered to Mr. Doolan, who declined. It was subsequently filled by Mr. Norman Smith, from England.
Under Mr. Smith's direction, plant number two was completed around 1942. This plant supported the region's first cyclone boiler. A gentleman from Ontario was brought in to operate the plant.
During the war years, Nova Scotia Light & Power developed and maintained an air raid warning system in which alerts, if required, would be broadcast over commercial radio waves.
When construction of the number two generator was announced Dad clearly recalls headlines in Mr. McCurdy's Chronicle and Mr. Dennis's Herald noting the "stupidity" of the Nova Scotia Light & Power executives approving this expenditure and the burden it would impose on shareholders as there was no need and the plant would lay idle after the war was over.
During the war, if you worked for an essential service you had to be released by your employer before you could serve. Dad finally got granted permission in 1942 and served three years, hence some gaps in plant changes during this era.
After construction was completed, Mr. Smith went on to construct units three, four and five. Low stacks were initially located at the top of each of the new boilers. Units six and seven each had their own large stack which rested on the top of the power house roof. At that time, coal for the plant was brought in by a large barge. Over time, the volumes became much greater and barges were not practical any more.
During the construction of units six and seven, Dad helped to build the large (now 138Kv then 69Kv), dead-end structure on the top of the south end of the building. Prior to that time, a smaller, lower-voltage structure was located at ground level.
Once units six and seven were operating, the associated fly ash was trucked to Spryfield and used to fill in the hollows between boulders. People remarked how well things grew in the soil.
Nova Scotia Light & Power always had appliance stores and supported their sales with a repair facility. This was initially located in the Capital Building (site of Maritime Centre) along with the head office for Light & Power prior to the move to Scotia Square. When the move to Scotia Square occurred the shop went down to Water Street and occupied one of the empty gas works buildings along the street line.
In 1968-1969 the company moved the appliance shop to the "chemical" building on Sackville Street near Bedford Row. They remained there until the appliance section was folded up.
The Halifax line room moved around. Dad recalls it being next to the lamp room. A gentleman by the name of Jack Hill was the lamp lighter. Some carbon arc lamp streetlights were still in use and Jack would individually light each of these streetlamps each night.
The line room was then moved to the garage area as the meter shop now needed more room. The garage area was interesting as it contained a large number of cockroaches but also, during the war years, it gave one a great view of the prisoners of war being unloaded from Pier 20 before being marched over to where they boarded trains for the trip to Upper Canada.
Shortly after Dad's return from World War II, the Halifax line left the cockroaches behind and moved up along Water Street.
Back in the late fifties Dad was the general line foreman and I can recall looking out his office window and seeing the form work and reinforcing steel being put in place for the unit six power houses. When the powerhouse went up, Dad lost his view of the harbour. He still mentions that regularly to this day.
Shortly before 1970, then-general manager A.R. Harrington agreed the find a new home for the Halifax line room. Staff quarters were very tight and both the number and size of line trucks were getting larger and available parking was not.
Close to this time the transit division (trolley coaches) were being phased out. The electric coaches had reached the end of their expected 20-year life and HRM’s Metro Transit was born.
The company purchased the old Hillis Foundry site on Kempt Road and this was to be the new home for the line room. At the same time, Nova Scotia Light & Power became a government division and Halifax line eventually ended up at the Lakeside warehouse site in 1978.
The old green foundry building was occupied by Doug Soper's electrical group for a short time then: the building was knocked down, the front portion of the property sold. Remaining at this site today is the Kempt Road substation and the Halifax line depot.
The control room essentially remained in the same spot from its initial start to its final days when we moved to Ragged Lake in 1988. Operator names such as George Luke, Hollis Myers, Pud Stanhope, and Sam Pettipas remain clear in Dad's head. Another image that remains very clear is the control room fire of 1949. It occurred during a hurricane storm as the result of a voltage regulator catching fire.
Dad was asked to go back in and search for trapped souls. He recalls passing through the narrow passageways while the fire was going up the walls. Fortunately no one was lost that day, but the city did suffer a 12 to 14-hour blackout.
A second city-wide outage occurred in the 1955-1956 timeframe. There was no generation on Water Street that day and the line from the Valley tripped. It took three to four hours to start the Water Street plant.
The safety department was formed at the time the gas works were folded up. Tom McLellan, foreman of the gas works customer installation service crew, became the head of this one-person department.
Management had shifted Tom's installation crew to the line department to dig pole holes, and it was thought someone should be looking out for their safety.
A short time after, Tom felt a nurse was necessary and set up the office at the front of what was then the substation maintenance shop.
A training department was formed in the sixties. The year 1970 saw the company experience a five-week strike and things were changing rapidly.
In the late sixties, the construction of Tufts Cove number one began, with steam units two, three and four on the books.
Coal was king and the government had plans for other more efficient generating facilities. With Water Street now an old, "inefficient" plant operating on heavy oil, the writing was on the wall.
While exact dates are unclear I can personally recall changing generator brushes on unit number three and pulling on the sea water condenser valves during the seven-week strike of 1975. However, shortly after that, by 1978, the plant started to become quiet with only boilers operating to supply the stream sales to Nova Scotian Hotel (The Westin), Harbours Board, CNR and hot water to the now Department of Labour building on Terminal Road.
Once those customers had put their own heat supplies in place the plant became quiet and cold. In its heyday Dad believes a staff of about 700 probably worked out of the site, including many excellent, dedicated people and a few "characters".