LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — September 11, 1936 was an electrifying date for Southern Nevada.
On this day Hoover Dam began generating power to the area.
Lake Mead began filling with water in February of 1935, but it took more than year for the levels to get high enough to produce electricity.
Once it did, the first three turbine generators on the nevada side went online. In March of ’37, Arizona’s first generator started working, and in Sept. of 39, four more went online.
That made Hoover Dam’s power plant the largest hydroelectric facility in the world at that time.
These days the dam provides electricity to not only Nevada and Arizona, but also to a huge swath of Southern California including the greater Los Angeles Area.
Power generation has allowed the dam to be self-sustaining.
Proceeds not only repaid its 50-year construction loan, but also continue to finance its multimillion dollar operating budget.
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