About West Boylston Municipal Light Plant

WBMLP's Headquarters
WBMLP Headquarters

A Brief History of West Boylston's Municipal Light Plant

WBMLP serves approximately 3,500 residents and businesses in West Boylston, MA.

Learn more about West Boylston's local electric company by checking out our timeline below. Or read a more comprehensive history about West Boylston Light Plant here.


  • ELECTRIC BEGINNINGS

    Historical West Boylston Map

    In a town meeting in 1908, the town appointed a committee to investigate whether it was possible to bring electric street lighting to town to replace old oil and gas lamp illumination. West Boylston Municipal Light Plant was established during 2 town meetings in 1909.

    In our first year, the light plant installed 177 lights and about 12 miles of poles and wires.

    In 1934, a 3-member Light Board was established—with members who were voted into their positions by citizens.

    In the year of the Great Hurricane of 1938, the town created a compensation plan for the commissioners.

  • THE '50s, '60s & '70s

    West Boylston 1960s

    In 1951, we invested in 2-way radios so headquarters could readily communicate with our service trucks and other WBMLP personnel in the field.

    In the '60s, we built the Allard Street substation to improve service and capacity.

    In 1973, we established a computerized billing system. 12 years later, an electronic meter-reading system was introduced —increasing the accuracy of metering and billing.

    During the 1970s, we and the other Municipal Light Departments in MA won the right to buy wholesale power directly from the generation source, cutting out the middlemen and making it possible to diversify and obtain better rates. At about the same time, the Boylston and West Boylston Light Departments joined forces and built the Denton-Lovell Substation on Temple Street. Thanks to this development, both light plants now have a more stable and dependable source of power.

  • Rooftop Community Solar photo

    TECHNOLOGY & ECOLOGY

    West Boylston Municipal Light Plant receives its power from a variety of sources from Hydro, Natural Gas/Oil and Nuclear Generation to Solar and Wind. Some of the projects we are currently involved with in the Renewable Energy field are with the Berkshire Wind Power Coop, a 15MW ten turbine wind farm in the western part of MA, a modern 1.5MW Solar Field here in West Boylston on the old landfill and a 1MW Rooftop Community Solar Facility.

    The West Boylston Municipal Lighting Plant Board of Commissioners are very much aware of the need to serve the customers of West Boylston with the most reliable and economical power possible. They are also striving to develop more Alternative Power Resources to lessen our customers' dependency on Fossil Fuels, and to move West Boylston toward a more Carbon-free, Renewable Energy future.

  • WBMLP Headquarters

    POWER TO, FOR & BY OUR TOWN

    WBMLP continues to grow, evolve and innovate. We plan to become more and more involved in renewable energy - continuing our tradition of serving West Boylston with electric power delivered effectively and economically.

    Watch for announcements on Facebook and here on our website.

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