For this quarter's luncheon meeting, we are having a joint meeting with the Pikes Peak Life Members Affinity Group. The meeting will be held at The Space Foundation Discovery Center in Colorado Springs. Our featured speaker will be Al Schaffer, who is a retired member of the Pikes Peak LMAG. His topic will be The Ames Hydro Power Plant: The First HV AC Transmission Anywhere. 

In 1888-90, the battle for the dominant form of electrical power was underway between Thomas Edison/GE and Nicolas Tesla/Westinghouse in New York. In Colorado, the Gold King Mine was going bankrupt powering its Gold Mill with steam fueled by wood hauled by donkeys. Lucian Nunn, Telluride banker & investor in the Gold King Mine & brother, Paul Nunn, an engineer convinced Westinghouse to become the first Hydro power plant using AC generator, AC transmission line, and AC generators to operate the Gold King Mine operations. This presentation tells the story this first design, how equipment was delivered to Mine by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, how the facility was built and 3KV transmission was run for 2.6 miles to the Gold Mill. After several iterations, the current Ames Power Plant has been operational since 1905 generating 3.6 MW of power.

Lunch will be provided as an assortment of box lunches from Panera. Please make your choice of box lunch with your registration. An assortment of sodas and bottled water will also be provided. Please note any special dietary requirements in the Special Requests field with your registration.

An optional tour of the Space Foundation Discovery Center will be available following the meeting ($7.50 admission fee). 

About the Discovery Center: The Space Foundation Discovery Center is the region's first and only dedicated space, science and technology center.