Description
Pike County Light & Power Company (PCLP or Pike) was officially incorporated as a subsidiary of Orange County Public Service Company of Port Jervis, NY on May 17th, 1910 by Thomas Watts of Middletown, NY, David H. Thomas of Catasaque, PA, William A. Parshall, Herbert Senger, and David R. Thomas, all of Port Jervis, NY. Each man became a director of the corporation and owned 2 shares valued at $50 each, except for David R. Thomas who owned 92 shares. Capital raised for the start-up was $5000.
History
The company began to grow quickly and merged with two local gas companies on October 8, 1913-Pike County Gas Company and Matamoras Gas Company. Matamoras Gas Company put up $1000 in stock while both Pike County Gas and PCLP put up $5000 in stock towards the merger. The newly consolidated company was headquartered in Philadelphia and had five directors, and four officers. In 1914, Pike retained its name and merged with Milford Electric Company, Milford Township Electric Company and Westfall Electric Company.
By 1925, the office was moved to Matamoras, in Pike County, PA. Edward Bradley was the primary shareholder, owning 229 shares, with six other stockholders who each owned one share. One of those singular shareholders was Charles H. Tenney.
The Charles H. Tenney Company of Boston, Massachusetts had been buying up small utilities and merging them into larger companies. By 1926, Tenney bought Orange County Public Service Company, Inc., the parent of Pike County Light and Power, and merged it with Rockland Light and Power Company of New Jersey under the latter's name. Pike itself continued to acquire small utilities and purchased the Will Rift Light and Power Company in 1927, and by 1929, PCLP bought out Dingman Township Electric Company for the sum of $500.
In 1958, Rockland Light and Power Company of New Jersey merged with Orange and Rockland Electric Company of New York and eventually became Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R). Orange and Rockland Utilities was acquired by its current parent company, Con Edison, in 1998. Pike continued to operate as a subsidiary of O&R until 2016.
On August 31,2016, O & R officially sold Pike to Corning Natural Gas Holding Corporation located in Corning, New York. Corning also owns Leatherstocking Gas Company (a 50% JV), and Corning Natural Gas Corporation, which is its largest gas utility. Pike is Corning's first electric and gas utility.
Pike delivers electricity to approximately 4,700 customers, and natural gas to nearly 1,200 customers in northeastern Pike County, Pennsylvania. The company is experiencing natural electric load growth and will be replacing older, cast iron pipe over the next decade. PCLP plans to continue with expansion plans under its new leadership.
