Illuminating Scranton Plant
"Illuminating Plant" of Scranton Electric, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Two General Electric Generators generated a total of 4.9 Megawatts, with steam supplied by six boilers. Steam was used to heat local houses and businesses. Scranton was the largest city that AG&E served at that time.
AEP Retirees & Alumni 
The plant pictured above appears to be the one described in “Electrical World” magazine issue of Sept. 2, 1911 (p.549-550). That article says one of the generators was driven by a 3,000 horsepower Corliss steam engine. (Steam engines were commonly used in power plants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before steam turbines were developed into reliable machines and replaced steam engines as prime movers.) The plant’s output was 135 and 250 volt Direct Current. The system was later converted to Alternating Current.
The six boilers were of the Stirling water tube design fitted with Dutch ovens for burning culm which are fine pieces of anthracite coal. A coal mine was
William W. Corbitt, in his book “AND THERE WAS LIGHT, The Story of AEP – Its First 85 Years –1906-1991”, writes that Scranton Electric Co.and its predecessors date back to the 1880s. The company was acquired by AEP (then known as American Gas and Electric, AG&E) in 1907. In May 1946 AEP divested itself of Scranton Electric by order of the SEC and sold Scranton Electric to the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.
Dick Pawliger (AEP employee 1959-1999)