Join the celebration Saturday, April 15 for live music and family fun as Garland Power & Light (GP&L) celebrates 100 years of serving Garland! The FREE celebration is at Winters Park Amphitheater – 1419 Spring Creek Drive from 2 – 7 p.m. Parking is available at Hawaiian Falls, Webb MS and Spring Creek ES. Bring lawn chairs and blankets to sit, listen to music and enjoy the afternoon.
Activities and music will include:
- The Vinyl Stripes– ’40s and ’50s music @ 2:15 p.m.
- A Hard Night’s Day– Beatles music @ 4 p.m.
- Tin Man Band– Variety ’70s to today @ 5:30 p.m.
- Food trucks
- Power line work demonstrations @ 3:30 p.m. & 5:10 p.m.
- Games and bounce houses
- Face painters
- City department booths
GP&L History
For many, the roaring twenties weren’t so roaring. People were left in the dark as privately owned electric utilities chose to maximize profits, bypassing small rural communities like Garland to provide electric service to urban centers. It was during this time Garland Power & Light was born.
After the local, privately owned utility refused to give the city of Garland a commercial electric rate to power the water pump at the newly constructed water well, Garland’s leaders started to think about creating a new electric system for Garland. However, with its bond funds totally expended, the possibility of a new electric system looked grim.
Then the Fairbanks-Morse Company offered to sell the city a 100 HP generator on credit, provided the city would build its own electric distribution system and use the revenue to retire the debt.
On April 1, 1923 Garland officially entered the electric and water utility business with 300 customers and a load of 70 kilowatts. Now with more than 73,000 customers, GP&L has grown to become the fourth largest municipal utility in the State of Texas, and the 43rd largest in the nation.
But the goal of Garland Power & Light remains unchanged: to provide electric service to the citizens of Garland with a locally owned not-for-profit utility.
From the moment Garland Power & Light flipped the switch on April 1, 1923, it has had the Garland community at heart.
Garlandites who cannot make the event still benefit every day from having GP&L as the city’s municipally owned electric utility. A portion of GP&L’s revenues is returned to the city’s general fund to support municipal services. The utility reports to the City Council, which has Garland’s best interest in mind with all decisions – and seeks to keep rates stable and competitive.
Service is very reliable, with outage frequency and duration well below national averages. When outages do occur, local crews provide immediate response.
GP&L also supports the community through its annual Tree Power Free Tree Giveaway, and its support for Garland performing arts and local economic development. The GP&L EnergySaver Program helps you save money by improving the energy efficiency of your home or business.
GP&L’s involvement in transmission projects beyond Garland include bringing wind power from West Texas and increasing grid capacity into the Houston area. These investments aid local customers by generating revenue to help offset fees that must be paid to cover Garland’s share of costs associated with other transmission projects built to support the state grid.
And as renewable energy became more accessible and affordable, GP&L added wind and solar to its energy portfolio.
Together, GP&L and Garland have come a long way from the original 300 customers and 117 kilowatts of load supplied in 1923 from its original home on Avenue A. Back then, Garland leaders just wanted to take care of their own when an electric provider refused to negotiate a cost-effective commercial rate to power the pump at the city’s newly constructed water well (Garland Water Utilities celebrated 100 years in 2022).
Under local leadership, GP&L is still taking care of Garland’s own.
Information provided by Garland Power & Light.