[1] Initially built to service a gold mine, the power station was expanded to supply a significant part of the North Island.

When the power station opened in October 1913 it was the largest generating plant in the country with a capacity of 6.3 megawatts (8,400 hp).

[2] The power station was bought by the NZ government in 1919 and it began to supply Cambridge, Hamilton and surrounding farming districts.

[2] Around 7:55 pm of 1 September 1928, a fire broke out in the power station's workshop and oil store, and quickly spread to the transformer house.

As a result, the supply from the station was cut, blacking out the entire upper North Island.