With the discovery of gold and silver in Nevada at Goldfield and Tonopah, the need for electric power for mining operations was met in September 1905 by construction of a hydro-electric plant on Bishop Creek, which supplied 1,300 kilowatts of energy over a 113-mile-long transmission line. The Nevada Power, Mining & Milling Co., which built the project, later became the Nevada-California Power Co., and four additional plants were built using water from North, Sabrina, and South Lakes to supply power into central Nevada and south to Rhyolite. In 1964, the projects were acquired by the Southern California Edison Co.