1904 – 1972

Charles Ricou

As far as provision of illumination through electricity in Macau was concerned, the “winning” country was France, since it was French subjects in Indochina who obtained the monopoly for the exploration of this service. In 1904, “Leal Senado”, and Marius Bert, a French citizen, signed the first contract for the supply of electricity to the city of Macau. According to the terms of the contract, the concession was valid for a period of 30 years and it was the concessionaire’s responsibility to supply electricity for public and private illumination. The agreement was only valid for the Macau peninsula and did not include the islands of Taipa and Coloane. The concessionaire was permitted to change the cast iron streetlights, which at that time used petroleum as an energy source. The document also makes reference to the existence of 400 incandescent street lamps equivalent to 16 candles each and 30 of voltaic arc, being more powerful, equivalent to 600 candles.

On 8th February 1906, a deed of trespass of the earlier concession was signed between Marius Bert and the Societé Electrique d’Extrême-Orient, with its headquarters in Indochina. Thereafter, Lucien Balliste was the representative of the company in Macau. In 1909, another trespass of the concession of the same company was given to the French citizen Charles Ricou, who was obliged to constitute a new company. On 6th June 1910, the first Board of Directors meeting was held at 10 Queen’s Road, Hong Kong. A new incorporated company “The Macau Electric Lighting Co. & Ltd”, abbreviated to MELCO, was formed.

The transference of Electric Contract to Charles Ricou in (1909)	Street lamppost next to the Summer House of the Governor, in Flora Quarter, in 1915	Street lamppost in front of the Court of Justice Building, at Rua da Praia de Grande, in 1920

The first twelve years of operation of MELCO was a turbulent period mainly involving the particular personality of the General Manager and founder of MELCO, Frenchman Charles Ricou. It is a fact though that he was the one responsible for the introduction of electricity illumination in Macau. Besides this, he created the first airline company in Macau (Macau Aerial Transport). Charles Ricou was also involved in ice and refrigeration companies and tried many times to obtain exclusive rights for the supply of water to the city.

In 1922 Ricou left the territory, and in July 1924 he donated all the aeronautic equipment from his adventures on the south China coast to his motherland. After Charles Ricou’s departure, the number two man at MELCO, an Englishman, Frederic Johnson Gellion took charge of the company. This started a phase of improvement of relations with the local Government, and in 1923 MELCO and “Leal Senado” formally declared a truce by signing an agreement with a “sincere desire to put an end to the barren and absolutely useless quarrels”.

The period leading up to the Second World War was a peaceful expansion era for MELCO. The pioneering but belligerent figure of Ricou gave way to his consensus- oriented right-hand man. In a notable public relations

Allusive publicity about MELCO

campaign, MELCO tried to make its presence felt in the daily life of the population using the famous motto “MELCO at your service”. As a result of this campaign, they were able to introduce to the people of Macau the new symbols of modern life: the iron, the fan, the coffee machine, the kettle, the heater, the radiator, all, of course, electric.

At that time, electricity began to contribute to the characteristic colourful streets of the city at night, and above all, in the commercial zones. MELCO recommended: “to improve your sales, you need well-illuminated shop windows”.

Promotions were not just limited to shop windows. In early 1928, the press made references to the installation of one more illuminated advertisement, one “gigantic advertisement” that was assembled by MELCO for the British American Tobacco Company, in Rua do Campo.

With a good public image, MELCO continued for a long period to cultivate its philosophy of success. The same optimism still characterized the propaganda of MELCO for over 10 years when the War of the Pacific was about to start. “The price of coal rises; firewood is extremely expensive; oil is no longer cheap; however, it is clear that the cost of electricity is stable” stated an advertisement published in January of 1941. An instance of optimism that would not last for long.

During the first years of World War II, Macau not only lived in peace, but it was in a phase of relative prosperity due to the neutral position taken by Portugal in this era of conflict. According to some people living in Macau at that time “electric light bulbs deeply illuminated the gracious contour of the mount and bays” and Avenue Almeida Ribeiro, the famous commercial zone of Macau was very well illuminated. This proved that business people had taken into account the suggestions of Gellion.

On the dawn of 8th December 1941, Hong Kong was invaded by the Japanese troops, bringing the war closer to Macau. Despite the neutral stand taken by the Portuguese territory, the Japanese began to control the arrivals and departures of the boats, creating serious problems of supply of essential products, among which was coal, an indispensable product for the production of electricity.

Allusive publicity about MELCO

About a month after the arrival of the Japanese in Hong Kong, the Administrator of the Macau Council announced various restrictive measures regarding the consumption of electricity including the elimination of neon lights, and in general all decorative illumination. The use of heaters, fans and air conditioners, except in hospitals, was not permitted. Moreover, electricity was only available between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 7 p.m. until dawn.

Leal Senado ended up calling itself the supplier of electricity and created the Autonomous Department of the Leal Senado for Electricity

MELCO newspaper advertisement concerning electricity tariffs

(Serviços Autónomos de Electricidade do Leal Senado). The war would continue for about two years, and before it ended, it affected again the electricity concessionaire. On 16th January 1945, planes of the third American naval squadron operating in the pacific bombed several parts of the city of Macau, one of which was the MELCO power station. This was definitely a lowlight in the history of the company. After the end of the war, the concession returned to MELCO (in November 1945), at a time when the use of electricity for illumination had already been in existence for four decades.

By 1951, there were innumerable industries using electricity, and the monthly production of the MELCO power station was about one million kW. The generators had a capacity of 4295 kW and the number of customers was around fifteen thousand. At that time, MELCO had about 350 employees, a number that justified the existence of the famous MELCO Club, which for decades was one of the most important entertainment centres in Macau. It is also important to mention the existence of the “CEM and SAAM Workers Association”, which consisted of workers of the concessionaires of electricity and water. To this day, this association is still very active.

Despite all the vigour, the war had left deep marks on the local economy. In a century of rapid technological evolution, the equipment used by the concessionaire was quite old and had not been updated. Nevertheless, perhaps due to weak municipal control, MELCO cont

Work and pay slip of a MELCO worker (1935 - 1943)

inued to register profits, which totaled MOP1 million by 1951.

At the same time, voices were raised against the company’s policy for its refusal to

make necessary technological upgrades. One of these voices was from the Governor, Lopes dos Santos, who in 1962, during another crisis concerning MELCO, described the situation as: “an obsolete power station, with high losses in the network … (with) a tariff system that does not take into account the interests of the public”.

On 31st July 1966, the concession for the exclusive supply of electricity to the city of Macau that had been granted to The Macau Electric Lighting Company Limited expired. The contract that had been signed in 1932 had been extended for another thirty years, the concession initially being made to Marius Bert and later transferred to Charles Ricou. The poor service provided by the concessionaire along with the strained relations between the company and Leal Senado, led the Gover

nment to advertise an international tender for the exclusive supply of electric power to Macau. This was seen as a move to change over

Identity card of a Meter Reader of MELCO, 1946

from MELCO, but it was not successful because MELCO was the only company that submitted a bid.

The deed of the new concession contract with MELCO was signed on January 15th 1968, but was officially in force from August 1st 1966, to ensure continuity of the previous contract, which expired on July 31st 1966. Furthermore, the new contract was to be valid for 24 years, expiring on July 31st 1990.

December 1966 was a period of great social unrest in Macau (the so-called 1,2,3 events), whic

h created an environment of uncertainty and a lack of confidence among the business community in Macau. For instance, the fuel supplier of MELCO demanded prompt payments. In this period, the concessionaire used the exist

ence of these difficulties to declare that it did not have the conditions to fulfill the new contract of concession until the end of its stated period of 24 year

s. In 1968, MELCO informed the Government that Macau would run out of electricity within 2 years, as MELCO was not in a position to keep up with the progress of the city. By 1969 the company was unable to meet the demands of new customers.

Group of MELCO workers

Due to these circumstances, the “Ministério do Ultramar” (Portuguese Ministry for the Exterior), constituted in 1970 a work group to analyse the electric power situation in Macau. Manuel Vidigal, superior inspector of the ministry, was sent to Macau for this purpose. The results of this study, were summarized in a 50 page report, mentioning that Macau “was going through a period of high growth, but the growth was being constricted due to a lack of electricity”.

Describing the situation of MELCO, the author mentions that in 1970 the power generators of the power stations working at peak load were able to supply only about two-thirds of the normal consumption needs. Consequently, the famous Lisboa Casino Hotel had one group of generators of 2000 CV and had ordered another one. It was also unable to open more rooms due to a lack of electricity. Factories were unable to function normally as they had power for only part of their equipment and that too was unstable, constantly putting their equipment at risk, as it was impossible to get an acceptable voltage level. The elevators of the hotels and high-rise buildings were not functioning properly; new buildings could not be used as MELCO was unable to supply electricity. Telecommunications of CTT and hospital equipment suffered serious disturbances. Air conditioners in houses and offices were unable to function properly and frequently had problems. Fluorescent tubes could not be turned on and incandescent bulbs were weakly lit. Only persistent housewives were able to get their electrical appliances to work. The engineers described the situation as “chaotic”.