Whilst the Cleveland Brush company was now part of the Thompson Houston company most parts of the US still had city electric power companies supplying electricity to cities and major industrial consumers. The Brush Company name continued until at least the 1920's when the recognition of the General Electric brand name and conglomeration of competing electric power providers was underway.  Interconnection of distribution systems between cities and then states would become the principal utilities.  Westinghouse was a principal competitor to Brush-Thompson Houston and at the time the smaller Edison Electric company.

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By this time the establishment of telephone "trunk lines" had commenced in the N.E. states, an early map is reproduced below.  George Stockley, the original financier of the first Charles Brush venture (the Cleveland Telegraph company) had prospered to be the primary shareholder of the American Telephone and Telegraph company).   An 1893 industry director included over 40 city lighting suppliers having Brush in their name.  The Brush Electric Lighting Company of Galveston was just one of these independent lighting operations set up to meet a municipality electric power needs, often including tram or trolley bus systems