| 1941- 45 World War II has a profound effect on the Department, especially due to its coastal location. The plant is enclosed with a chain link fence topped by barbed wire, and is locked and guarded each night. Blackout restrictions require all street lights on the Neck and along the waterfront to be turned off. Other lamps are made smaller or are shaded or painted. Street lighting goes back to the "moon schedule" of lighting only during dark nights. Five employees of the Light Department enter the armed forces.
1946 Emery Goodwin retires in April after 46 years of service. He is succeeded temporarily by Frank E. Snow, then by William Goodwin. Growth of the Town's permanent population shifts peak electric demand to the winter. The Department's generation equipment is now used primarily during winter peak periods, with most energy requirements purchased.
1947 A new generator is installed, a Fairbanks Morse Diesel with a 1,136-kilowatt output, to handle post-war demand. The next year, a diesel generator from 1938 is rebuilt. Three years later, the last of the plant's steam generation is retired.
1950 Clifton substation, the Town's first, is completed in 1954 while the Department continues upgrading the entire distribution system to higher 4,160-volt lines. The original wooden horse stable is torn down in 1955 and is replaced by a concrete block garage big enough for 10 cars and trucks. In 1957, Beacon substation is completed and a 23,000-volt line is built from Swampscott to Village Street, as the Town continues its post-war expansion.
1962 Dropping rates made possible by low fuel costs and equipment efficiencies result in 144 all-electric homes by 1962. Eventually, some 450 homes go totally electric.
1965 The "Northeast Blackout" of November 9 finds local residents "cool and calm," according to newspaper accounts. Light Department generators are able to supply part of the Town's needs on a rotating basis until the regional power supply is restored.
1969 The Department's offices move from the Rechabite Building on Pleasant Street into much-needed larger quarters above the plant on Commercial Street. Village substation, the Town's third, is energized.
1970-75 A second 23,000-volt line from Salem to the new Village substation brings increased reliability in 1970, the same year Richard Bailey is named manager. A new generating station is approved at the 1973 Town Meeting, and goes on-line in 1975. The new Wilkins station has two 2,750-kilowatt generators used during peak use periods to hold down costs and assure reliability.
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