RS-B Central

Receiving Station B is a large yard on Central Avenue, between 95th and Century, in south-central Los Angeles. The yard was built in 1927, and was expanded in the 1930s when it became the terminus for the first Boulder Dam transmission line, connected through Victorville, which was built by the DWP. Los Angeles has always been the largest consumer of power from the dam, and the department’s involvement in the construction of the 266-mile, 287,500 volt transmission line in the 1930s was one of its major engineering accomplishments, and provided more than 70% of the city’s electricity in the late 1930s and into the 1940s. As part of the system this yard contained the world’s largest electrical transformers and circuit breakers. The line connecting the dam to Los Angeles was later transferred to Southern California Edison (SCE), though this yard continues to be central to DWPs regional distribution system.