Chapter 125: A Utility?
Two weeks after King Edward’s visit to Oriel Estate, another royal letter arrived.
Unlike the previous invitation, this one contained very little ceremony. There were no elaborate greetings or lengthy expressions of gratitude. Instead, it got straight to the point.
Baron Ernest Teucher was requested to attend a private meeting at the Royal Palace regarding the future application of electrical lighting within the Kingdom of Belfast.
The wording remained polite.
The timing, however, was another matter entirely.
The meeting had been scheduled only four days away.
Hollen stood beside Ernest’s desk and read the letter a second time before folding it neatly and setting it down.
"They moved quickly."
Without looking up, Ernest continued reviewing a maintenance report for one of the hydroelectric turbines.
"They usually do," he replied calmly. "Especially when they see something they want."
Hollen folded his arms. "The king wants light."
Ernest finally lifted his eyes from the report.
"The king wants more than light."
That answer made Hollen pause.
He pulled out the chair across the desk and sat down, studying Ernest’s expression more carefully.
"What do you mean?"
Ernest placed the report aside and leaned back.
"When King Edward toured Oriel Estate, he wasn’t looking at my house." He tapped the edge of the desk thoughtfully. "He was imagining the Royal Palace. Government ministries. Military workshops. Factories. Maybe even entire cities."
The realization slowly spread across Hollen’s face.
"You think he’ll ask you to electrify the capital."
"I think he’ll begin with the palace."
"And after that?"
"Everything else."
Hollen let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.
"How expensive is ’everything else’?"
Ernest didn’t answer immediately.
That brief hesitation was enough to make Hollen uneasy.
"Ernest."
"It’s very expensive."
"That’s not a number."
"No." Ernest gave a faint smile. "But it’s an accurate warning."
Hollen rubbed his forehead.
Years of working beside Ernest had taught him how to recognize those moments when an idea crossed the invisible line between ambitious and absurd.
A new soap factory cost several million riels.
Large steam engine contracts reached into the tens of millions.
Opening new mines demanded investments approaching one hundred million before a single profitable shipment ever left the ground.
Electrifying an entire city belonged to a completely different world.
The light bulb itself was small.
The network required to keep that bulb glowing was anything but.
Four days later, Ernest’s carriage rolled through the gates of the Royal Capital beneath a cold blanket of gray clouds.
The journey from Oriel Estate had given him plenty of time to review his calculations.
Again.
And again.
Every revision changed a few figures. Some material costs rose while others fell. Certain construction methods reduced labor requirements, while different layouts shortened transmission distances.
He could reduce expenses by limiting the first customers.
He could use treated wooden utility poles instead of iron supports.
He could focus only on government buildings and major roads instead of attempting to connect private homes.
Each revision improved the estimate slightly.
None of them solved the real problem.
Electricity demanded enormous infrastructure before it generated meaningful returns.
The carriage finally came to a stop inside the palace courtyard shortly after noon.
A palace servant was already waiting near the entrance.
"Baron Teucher," the man said respectfully. "His Majesty and the Prime Minister are expecting you."
Ernest stepped down from the carriage and followed him into the palace.
The corridors were as magnificent as ever.
Marble floors reflected the daylight pouring through tall windows.
Paintings of previous monarchs lined the walls.
Crystal chandeliers hung overhead.
Yet as Ernest walked deeper into the palace, he found himself noticing something entirely different.
Every hallway still depended on candles.
Servants moved from room to room carrying fresh bundles of wax. Others climbed ladders to replace burned-out candles inside the enormous chandeliers. Oil lamps flickered inside smaller offices, filling the air with the faint smell of smoke while slowly staining the ceilings with soot.
The palace employed dozens of servants whose only responsibility was maintaining light after sunset.
Replacing all of that with electricity would save an astonishing amount of labor.
Ironically, that would be the easiest part of the project.
The servant stopped before a pair of heavy wooden doors and pushed them open.
Inside, King Edward and Prime Minister Lord Ashford were already waiting.
Large maps covered nearly the entire table.
Ernest recognized them immediately.
They weren’t military maps.
They showed cities.
The Royal Capital.
Helmarte.
Northport.
Eastgate.
Several provincial centers.
His eyes lingered on them for only a second before he understood exactly where this meeting was headed.
King Edward smiled warmly.
"Baron Teucher."
"Your Majesty."
Ernest bowed before turning toward the Prime Minister.
"Prime Minister."
Lord Ashford inclined his head politely.
"It is good to see you again."
"The pleasure is mine."
King Edward gestured toward an empty chair.
"Please, sit."
Ernest took the offered seat.
"This discussion may require some time."
That sentence alone told him everything.
Tea arrived before the meeting formally began.
The servant poured each cup in silence before bowing and quietly leaving the room.
As soon as the door closed, King Edward rested both hands on the table.
"I’ve been thinking about your estate."
Ernest glanced briefly toward the city maps.
"I suspected as much."
The king laughed.
"Have I become that predictable?"
"Only a little."
Lord Ashford opened a leather notebook and dipped his pen into ink.
"We invited you because His Majesty wishes to understand what would be required to install electrical lighting throughout the Royal Palace."
Ernest nodded.
"The palace can certainly be electrified."
King Edward’s eyes brightened.
"Excellent."
"Relatively easily."
The Prime Minister paused in the middle of writing.
"Relatively?"
Ernest looked around the spacious office.
"The palace is one property under one owner. Construction can be organized centrally. Maintenance responsibilities are clear. We can survey every room, determine how many lamps are needed, install wiring, build a generating station, and train palace personnel to operate the system."
King Edward folded his arms.
"How much electricity would such a system require?"
"That depends entirely on how much of the palace you wish to illuminate."
The king answered without hesitation.
"All of it."
Ernest almost smiled.
"Of course."
He glanced toward the palace visible through the windows.
The Royal Palace stretched across an enormous section of land.
There were hundreds of rooms.
Audience halls.
Administrative offices.
Libraries.
Kitchens.
Servants’ quarters.
Storage buildings.
Workshops.
Barracks.
Gardens.
Stables.
Even after months of designing electrical systems, the sheer size of the complex remained impressive.
He performed a rough calculation in his head.
"For the main palace," he said after several moments, "approximately three hundred kilowatts should provide sufficient capacity."
King Edward exchanged a glance with Lord Ashford.
Neither man truly understood what that number represented.
Lord Ashford wrote it down anyway.
Ernest continued before they could ask.
"That would support several thousand electric lamps while leaving reserve capacity for pumps, workshops, and future equipment."
The king looked surprised.
"My estate currently consumes around one hundred forty kilowatts during the dry season. The Royal Palace is significantly larger and considerably more active."
King Edward leaned forward.
"Could your hydroelectric station supply us?"
"No."
The answer came so quickly that the hopeful look on the king’s face faded immediately.
"Not even if we extended transmission lines from Oriel Estate?"
"The station at Beryl was designed specifically for Oriel Estate and the surrounding industrial workshops. It has reserve capacity, but nowhere near enough to power the Royal Capital."
He paused before adding another concern.
"Even if capacity weren’t an issue, transmitting electricity over such a long distance would introduce significant losses."
Lord Ashford leaned forward.
"So we require another generating station."
"Yes."
"Another hydroelectric station?"
"Possibly."
Ernest stood and approached the large map of the capital.
Tracing the river east of Belfast with one finger, he said, "This river carries more water than the one at Beryl, but the elevation difference is much smaller. A low-head hydroelectric station could be constructed using multiple turbines, although the civil engineering work would be substantial."
King Edward pointed toward another section of the map.
"What about coal?"
Ernest nodded.
"A steam-powered generating station may actually be the more practical solution."
Both men looked up with renewed interest.
Before either could misunderstand, Ernest immediately explained.
"A boiler heats water until it becomes steam. That steam drives either a reciprocating engine or a turbine. The rotating shaft turns a generator, and the generator produces electricity."
The king smiled.
"So steam power serves another purpose."
"Yes."
"And coal can simply be transported into the city."
"Far more easily than relocating a river."
Lord Ashford studied the map thoughtfully.
"How large would such a station need to be?"
"For the palace alone?" Ernest answered. "Not particularly large. A generating station capable of producing roughly five hundred kilowatts would provide sufficient reserve capacity for future expansion."
"Cost?"
Ernest mentally reviewed the figures one last time before answering.
"Approximately twelve million riels for the generating station itself."
He paused briefly.
"The palace wiring, switchboards, underground conduits in sensitive locations, safety equipment, and personnel training would require another six million."
Lord Ashford stopped writing.
"Eighteen million riels."
"Approximately."
King Edward surprised both men by nodding.
"Less than I expected."
Ernest met the king’s gaze.
"For the palace."
Those three words changed the atmosphere inside the room.
Lord Ashford slowly lowered his pen onto the notebook.
"And if we wished for something... larger?"
Ernest’s eyes drifted toward the city maps spread across the table.
There it was.
The true purpose of today’s meeting.
King Edward noticed exactly where he was looking.
"I saw the streets surrounding Oriel Estate."
"The electric lamps."
"Yes."
The king walked toward the map of the Royal Capital and rested one hand on its center.
"Every major city becomes dangerous after sunset. Markets close. Workshops shorten their operating hours. Patrols struggle to see. Fires spread because every building depends upon candles and oil lamps."
His finger traced several of the city’s main avenues.
"What would it take," he asked quietly, "to light the Royal Capital?"
Ernest remained silent.
Not because he lacked the answer.
Because answering too quickly would hide the true scale of what the king was asking.
Lighting a palace was an engineering contract.
Lighting a city meant creating an entire public utility from nothing.