São Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company, also known as Light São Paulo or simply Light (), was a privately owned utility company operating in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Brazil from 1899 until 1981.

History

Canadians William Mackenzie and

Frederick Stark Pearson Frederick Stark Pearson (July 3, 1861 – May 7, 1915) was an American electrical engineer and entrepreneur. Biography Dr. Frederick Stark Pearson was the son of Ambrose and Hannah (Edgerly) Pearson. He graduated from Tufts University in 1883 w ...

founded the São Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company in 1899. In 1900 Light São Paulo began operating the first

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line in the city of São Paulo which ran to

Barra Funda Barra Funda is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. As of 2020, the estimated population was 2,551. References See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul This is a list of the municipalities in the state of ...

Work began in 1901 on the

hydroelectric plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

Santana de Parnaíba Santana de Parnaíba is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 142,301 (2020 est.) in an area of . It was founded in 1625 near the Tietê River by Susan ...

. It opened in 1905. In 1905 the company installed the first electric street lights on Rua Barão de Itapetininga. In 1906 the company constructed a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

Guarapiranga __NOTOC__ The Reservoir of Guarapiranga (Represa de Guarapiranga) is a reservoir in the southern area of the city of São Paulo, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Construction The Reservoir of Guarapiranga was constructed in 1906 by the São Pau ...

. In 1907 they installed 50 more lights on Rua Direita, Rua 15 de Novembro, and Rua São Bento. The company signed a contract with the state of

for the first time in 1911. By 1916 they had installed 8,605 gas lights and 864 electric street lamps in the city.

Successors

SPTL&P's tramways were acquired by Companhia Municipal de Transportes Coletivos in 1946, SPTL&P line disappeared in the early 1960s and eventually the city's remaining tram routes by 1968 with buses or trolleybuses. In 1916 the telephone companies merged to create the Companhia Telefônica Brasileira (CTB) and now succeeded by what is now

Telebrás Telebras is a Brazilian telecommunications company which was the state-owned monopoly telephone system. It was broken up in July 1998 into twelve separate companies, nicknamed the 'Baby Bras' companies, that were auctioned to private bidders. The ...

. During the 1930s, while Fábio da Silva Prado was mayor, electric light was brought to the rest of the city. This expansion continued under Prestes Maia in the following decades. In 1947 the utility companies were nationalized. In 1981 the city government under Mayor

Paulo Maluf Paulo Salim Maluf (; born 3 September 1931) is a Brazilian politician with a career spanning over four decades and many functions, including those of State Governor of São Paulo, Mayor of the City of São Paulo, Congressman and Presidential cand ...

created

Eletropaulo Enel Distribuição São Paulo ''(Enel Distribution São Paulo)'', former Eletropaulo Metropolitana and AES Eletropaulo, is a major Brazilian power distributor in the state of São Paulo, created in the breakup of the old state-owned power distrib ...

References

Electric power companies of Brazil Defunct energy companies of Brazil Energy companies disestablished in 1981 Energy companies established in 1899 1899 establishments in Brazil 1981 disestablishments in Brazil {{energy-company-stub