Reddy for Deregulation?

Reddy Kilowatt sparked a utility industry marketing revolution in January 1934 when Philadelphia Electric Co. began using the bulb-headed cartoon character to urge consumers to use electric appliances. During coming decades, Reddy Kilowatt became a spokesman of sorts for hundreds of electric utilities nationwide.

Power company executive Ashton Collins Sr. dreamed up Reddy Kilowatt’s lightning-like body during a thunderstorm in Alabama. The first name is a play on “ready,” and “kilowatt” was chosen because the term was widely used in the industry but little understood by consumers.

Reddy Kilowatt fell on hard times during the 1970s when he was tarred and feathered along with the electric utility industry for preaching consumption rather than conservation.

The character has vanished from the California utility scene but is still an active part of marketing campaigns run by about a dozen companies in Eastern states. The character is now used largely to support the wise use of electricity.

Reddy Kilowatt is still working for more than 100 utility companies in foreign countries. But during the late 1950s, Cuban leader Fidel Castro banished the character as an unwanted symbol of American colonialism.

Albuquerque-based Reddy Corp. International is now trying to reposition its character in the U.S. Ashton Collins Jr., son of the character’s creator and chairman of the company that owns Reddy Kilowatt’s likeness, argues that the easily recognizable “spokes-character” could play a role in a soon-to-be deregulated energy industry.

“We had to fight a rear-guard action during the 1970s,” Collins said. “But we think there’s a new window of opportunity because of his proven value among consumers. I think a new company can be found to put new life into Reddy.”