The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-02

CT tie sro., or BY ro"-c- transmitted from
region of cheaper coal? What is true in
this ccso will be also true of largo units
OF power devoted to other purposes.
-:n:-
we can get our common Unit In tie fol-
lowing way: A good engine, Of compound
condersinS pattern. Is capable of produc-
ing one ana one-third horse-power-hours,
!, e. one kilowatt-hour, by the consump-
tion OF about two pounds of good coal.
watcher the coal or the current be trans
mi.tcd. the engine will be used. so that,
lor rough approximation to the econo-
mics or the matter. We need only COM
pare the cost of the electric transmission
per LOO kilowatt-hours with the expense
OF freighting and handing one ton of
COAL The cost of the transmission means
here simply the interest, care and de-
pTeciation on the electrical part of the
total plant. This we can very readily
approximate. The cost of line apparatus
for fifty-mile l5,C00 volt transmission in
iarSe amount may be reckoned a; some
thing like 800 per kilowatt transmitted.
Iaking interest. labor and maintenance at
20 per cent. and assuming 5000 working
hours per year tho charge tor transmits
sion becomes over O.6 cent per kilowatt
hour. This evidently corresponds to 4
prohibitive and absurd freight rate for
the distance. Even IL by increasing the
magnitude of the transmission and rais-
ing the voltage We were able to reduce this
by one-half, we should still have cost of
transmission far greater than the cost of
transporting the necessary coal. In the
present condition of affairs it is then
quite evident that with good coal, trans
por;ation can mcrc than hold its own
against electric transmission. Even with
coal only half as good as that which we
have assumed, the same condition holds
good.
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But there Is another side to the question.
In all mining there is produced varying,
but considera ble proportion of coal which
Is urht for transportation and sale, and
now simply elcumber3 the earth. 1t Is
this coal to which VIC must look for energy
which can proiitab,y be transmitted. The
competition is not here between freight-
age and electrical transmission, but be-
tween power produced from coal costing.
perhaps. 50 or 81 per ton. and coal costing
a few cents per ton. The latter may be
poor, indeed, but. still. it is cheap fuel.
If 1t can be utilized to generate power
twenty.four hours a day. the charge for
transmission, plus the cost of fuel, may
sink so low as to fall below the fuel cost
at some outside point under consideration
For instance, the charge of O.G cent per
kilowatt-hour previously computed. may
readily sink TO o. cent at moro moder-
ate distance. and to lees than half that for
twenty-foIr-hour service, even including
culm for fuel. AT this cost it would come
into active competition with power pro-
duced on the spot, even with fairly cheap
coal and very good engines. A plant de-
iDeitts!y lnSlI4!eu 10 purI CUM, on u very
large scale, andrurning twenty-fou- hours
day with n fair load. can probably be
made to put electrical energy on the line
at or very near 0.3 cent per kilowatt hour.
Taking into account the cost of a moder-
ately long transmission. as noted above,
1t seems probable that, including the
losses of efficiency in transmission. ore
mechanical horse-power-hour could be de-
livcred anywhere within, gay radius of
tvcrty miles. at an actual cost of one-half
to two-thirds of q cent. And the horse
power-hour could certainly be sold 70" de-
cidediy less than 1t now costs the average
large consumer of power. The present
state OF the case ia that on large scale
the transmission of power from the culm
pile, or the now unworked coal mine, over
even considerable distances stands q good
chance of commercial success. The
larger the plant and the steadier the SER
vice. the greater the distance over which
power can be sent to compete with that
generated on the spot.