In 1893 the citizens of Independence voted by a 572 majority to build a municipal light plant. This building was located where Veterans Park is today. The flood of 1947 caused damage to the plant so they decided to move to a better location. In 1948, construction began on a new building at the present site. At that time, the Mayor and City Council governed the Light Plant. Those members were Mayor Charles Jones, Councilmen W.M. Armstrong, L.A. Bastian, M.J. Carmody, Foster Miller, Ralph Farris, M.W. Osburn and E.A. Plank. The Superintendent was Raymond E. Guernsey. In 1961, the city voted to have the Light Plant governed by a board of trustees. The following is a list of board members and the years they served: Alvin Lynes 1961-1976, George Burk 1961-1982, Fred Ulm 1961-1977, Rudolph S. Leytze 1975-1995, Carl Kruempel 1977-1994, Donald D. Brown 1982-1985, Burnell Haven 1986-1991, William J. Hickey 1992-2009, Robert M. Cook 2006-2011, Edwin E. Armstead 1996-2001, Brian K. Meyer 2002-2013, Ronald D. Pierce 2002-2003, Terry M. Toale 2002-2005, Steve Elliott 2004-2009, Bryan R. Palmer 2006-2011, Cyndi S. Bergeson 2010-2014, Linda Dugan 2012 -2014, Gerald C. Stelter 2010-Present, Leon Bachman 2012-2017, Stephany Harvey 2014-present, Steve Elliott 2014-2016, Amber Hunt 2014 – 2017, Lance Fricke 2016 -present, Becki Davis 2018-2019, Mike Lenius 2018-present, Amber Hunt 2019-present.
Telecommunications
In the year 2000, the Independence Light & Power utility added telecommunications to our services, including a locally owned cable television system and high-speed data network.
Independence Light & Power is moving ahead rapidly with technological improvements and innovative ways to link our customers to the ever-expanding world of telecommunications. We look forward to continuing our growth and improvements and providing the citizens of the Independence area a direct connection to the limitlessness information super-highway.