The canal is strongly associated with the early development of Riverside and the citrus industry. Furthermore, the Highgrove Drop is also associated with the first commercially significant hydroelectric plant in California. The Riverside Water Company provided Riverside and its environs with irrigation water. One of their canals, the Warm Water Canal, dropped 40 feet where the canal crossed Iowa Avenue just south of Spring Street. Charles R. Lloyd from San Francisco, the home of California Electric Light, had the idea of using that drop to generate electricity. . By the spring of 1888, the direct current (DC) generators produced about 225 kW of electricity to light the streets of Riverside and Colton. On Sunday, March 28, 1915, a transformer overheated and exploded. The Highgrove power-plant burned to the ground, along with all its equipment and records.