Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
Gold mining along the American River and other rivers and streams in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains of California allowed unparalleled development and population growth in San Francisco during the 1850s. The demands and
wealth of the area allowed Peter and James Donahue to establish the San Francisco Gas Company in 1852. In 1905, the San Francisco
Gas Company merged with the California Gas and Electric Corporation to form the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, more commonly known
as PG&E. The combined power company would continue developing hydroelectric power resources in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of
California.
In the 1930s and 1940s this activity intensified by acquiring large undeveloped parcels of land in the water shed areas
of the Sierra for its hydroelectric projects. This included large tracks of land from the American Trust company who owned much of
the Rubicon River water shed and the 280 acres of Rubicon Springs. In the process of creating a water system from the high mountain
lakes and rivers to support their electric production, PG&E employees and their contractors used the Rubicon road and, most likely,
camped out near the abandoned Rubicon Springs hotel during dam and canal construction.
Once having consolidated the water system
for their hydroelectric projects, PG&E began selling surplus land in the Sierras, which would include the property of Rubicon
Soda Springs. The company (PG&E) sold the property on July 3, 1974 to the Yuba River Lumber Company.