The Poleo Hydroelectric Power Station(1) on the Poleo-Santacaterina road, in the Molino district, stands on the orographical left side of the Gogna torrent.
It was built in 1889 at the time of the re-organisation of the first Schio water system which was fed by the water from the Poleo mill; its water intake from the Gogna Valley had to be abandoned due to a typhoid epidemic which broke out in the town in 1885 and was believed to have been caused by frequent breaks in the water system which polluted the water.

The plant was designed by the engineer Letter in order provide the town with electric energy and guarantee a service for public and private lighting by using the water from the water system, as had been proposed by the Schio industrialist Luigi Cazzola.
The water came from the ‘Secco’ Corn Mill spring, below Santacaterina, and the energy obtained from the 330-m fall initially produced 80 HP.

The German company Reinacher & Otto built the hydraulic and electric structures in exchange for a thirty-year concession of energy distribution and a sum of money, with automatic redemption of the work after the same number of years.

At the official inauguration on the 21st August 1889 at Poleo, a column of water was projected for more than a 100 m into the air and this plant became the first in the Veneto region and the second in Italy.
In the 30s, two De Pretto turbines(2) were installed with two generators operating alternatively, and the power station remained active up to 1975.

Since 1987, the Municipality of Schio has provided for the renovation of the building and electric and hydraulic installation, the addition of the water intake from Corobolli, the installation of a new Pelton twin-turbine(3) and automated control systems. The plant was put back into operation in 1991 producing a maximum power of 196 KW and an annual energy output of over 1,000,000 KWh.

The power station, nearly hidden by the hidden by the vegetation(4), is divided into three sections which run parallel to the left bank of the torrent above the wall supporting the embankment, and the main body of the building on two levels leans against the slope.
Just below, the storage portico, the room housing the first machine and later the transformers, and the turbine room are arranged in sequence; the floor above this room is for the accomodation(5) of the caretakers’ family.
The narrow, rather low distribution cabin, with its two power lines can also still be seen.
The essential structure of the edifice stands out among the surrounding dwellings and its industrial features can be seen in the typical low-arched windows, the wide windows with their iron grilles in the main room, the use of terracotta for bordering the openings and decorating the lower part of the complex with a zigzag relief pattern which runs along the garret, and the slightly prominent white window-sills which show up against the pink paintwork.
Access to the building is by means of a staircase leading to the machine room(6), in the middle of which the turbine and generators are kept; the chain(7) of the bridge crane, which was once used to lift or move heavy machinery or parts to be repaired, hangs from the high ceiling.
Also worth noting is the cabin(8) with its old handle-operated telephone(9) and the control panel(10) made of grey Chiampo marble, the insulating material which used to hold the plant control instruments(11).
On the right is a small workshop(12) with a vaulted ceiling: it has a long workbench with spanners, wooden and iron tongs of various sizes hung up in an orderly way, as well as other purposely hand-made tools for the power station.
From the central hall, we enter the building where the new operating hydraulic plant is located, which can be compared to the original one.
The final section of the duct which was used to feed water to the turbines can be seen through an opening in the floor on one side of the hall.