The Delaware Canal dropped 165 feet between Easton and Bristol, and its engineers recognized the potential to generate power from the falling water at its 23 locks. Although plans for canal-powered mills and businesses mostly faded, three ventures were undertaken: the Yardley Gristmill, the Cat & Fiddle Inn in Smithtown, and a power generating plant at Lock 22/23. In 1900, the Lehigh Power Company built a hydro-electric plant to supply the Alpha Portland Cement Company in New Jersey, along with an auxiliary coal-fired steam electric plant on the down-river side so both could operate together during flooding and canal problems. The plants entered service in 1901, but destructive floods in 1901, 1902, and 1903 ruined them and Lehigh Power went bankrupt. In 1905, Lee S. Clymer and B. F. Fackenthal formed Clymer Power and rebuilt the hydro plant, generating electricity for the Doylestown-Easton Street Railway trolley system and Uhlersville; four years later, an electric power line was strung along the canal to Easton. The plant drew water from the canal through a 200-foot concrete-lined channel, sent it through two hydro turbines, and returned it to the canal or the Delaware River, creating a strong current that sometimes drowned swimmers and horses. After the trolley line ceased operation in 1926, Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP&L) acquired Clymer Power, upgraded the equipment, and improved service to Easton. PP&L continued generating hydro-electricity until December 1954, when the plant was abandoned, and the power house is now part of Delaware Canal State Park.