Rochester Gas and Electric Collection

Electricity came to Rochester in the form of Edison Dynamo in 1879. With the replacement of gas to electric power, electricity quickly became more than a public curiosity. In 1909, the New York Central Railroad purchased most of the Rochester Railway and Light stock with the intention to electrify its lines. In 1909, Rochester Railway and Light Company changed its name to Rochester Gas and Electric Company as it was no longer a railway company. The company began producing electricity by way of coal and hydro power.

The largest steam generating plant in the first part of the twentieth century was the Russell Station at Lake Ontario. In 1926, Rochester Gas and Electric lit the first fires that burned their coke batteries without interruption until 1952. In 1952, natural gas completely replaced coal because of its widespread availability and more efficient production methods.

Rochester Gas and Electric began to explore the first use of nuclear power in the late 1950’s along with other power providers throughout the western world. The Company opened the Robert E. Ginna nuclear power plant in 1970 in Ontario, Wayne County. The 490-megawatt plant supplied half of the company’s customers.

By 1992, Rochester Gas and Electric had 300,000 customers. In 1998 Rochester Gas and Electric closed its Beebee coal-burning station. The station generated 80 megawatts of electricity, citing the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act as a factor in the plant's closing. Rochester Gas and Electric further reduced its energy output and holdings with the transfer of ownership of the Robert E. Ginna nuclear power plant in 2004 to Constellation Generation Group of Baltimore.

In 2005 with the deregulation and restructuring of the of the power market in New York State, Rochester Gas and Electric became one of many energy providers within Rochester along with New York State Electric and Gas, both subsidiaries of Energy East. While twelve percent of customers chose alternative suppliers, 426,000 customers in the Rochester area remained with Energy East subsidiaries during a limited October through December enrollment period. Rochester Gas and Electrics remaining customers totaled 356,000. In 2005, New York State regulators approved the acquisition of Energy East of which Rochester Gas and Electric was a subsidiary, by Iberdrola, a Spanish energy firm.