Residents in the Elliston and Shawsville area of Montgomery County have faced historical challenges and plenty of frustration with electric reliability.
A new book, entitled “The Eastern Montgomery Power Struggle,” looks back over time and how some of those residents pushed for better service. Author Richard Sarver examines the ins and outs of the struggle. He said electricity is great, when you have it.
In his book, Sarver points out when it goes out suddenly, normal life ceases to exist. When it goes out frequently, people become upset.
“Members of a rural community in Virginia had grown weary of the numerous power outages they were experiencing,” he said.
The years during this time were 1989 through 2024.
“The Eastern Montgomery Power Struggle”, according to Sarver, is the story of how a group of citizens in a rural part of Montgomery County grew increasingly dissatisfied with the poor quality of service provided by their electric utility company, the Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative, and the actions they took to force Craig-Botetourt to improve.
“Some key points described in this story are the complacency of Craig-Botetourt in regard to the all-too-frequent power outages their customers were experiencing, the lack of concern by the director of the State Corporation Commission, the anger and frustration experienced by many of Craig-Botetourt’s customers, and the willingness of the late (Virginia) Senator Madison Marye to take a stand on behalf of his constituents,” Sarver said.
The late Marye served in the Senate of Virginia from 1973 to 2002. He represented parts of southwest Virginia and maintained a farm and residence in the Shawsville area.
At that time, Marye presented a petition from disgruntled Craig-Botetourt customers to the State Corporation Commission explaining the problems with the electric service and demanding change.
When SCC commissioner Preston Shannon responded dismissively to the petition, Marye wrote to him and insisted that the concerns of the citizens were legitimate and that something should be done.
Approximately 500 households were affected by the electric service provided by Craig Botetourt.
Sarver retired from the steel industry in 2024 and started volunteering at the Meadowbrook Museum in Shawsville. From there, he learned there was not much representation from the Eastern Montgomery area in historical recording. Thus, he decided to write the book.
The author said the response has been positive, and the booklet is quite popular among residents of the Ironto, Bradshaw and Elliston communities. It has been accepted into the collections of two local public libraries, in Glenvar and Shawsville.
Sarver has written three other books including another one that examines a piece of local history.
Sarver’s second book chronicles the history of the North Fork and Bradshaw Telephone Company, which served the Ironto and Bradshaw communities from its founding in 1911 until it was superseded by the C&P telephone company in 1966.
His two other books examine the steel trade and several personal stories.
“The Taking the Heat – A Steelworker’s Story” was published in 2012 and details his decades-long career as a steelworker. The second is a documentary style book about an innovative steel-making process that was pioneered at Roanoke Electric Steel in 1962. It is titled “Roanoke’s Other Star” and was published in 2017.
“The Eastern Montgomery Power Struggle” is available for $6 at the Meadowbrook Museum in Shawsville. All proceeds from this book go directly to the Meadowbrook Museum.
