The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1903-04-03

NofcSSteT oA the plani Oh the NOE-
cester Electric Light Company and
the cost of maintaining this plant
under municipal control.
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN At
TEMPTING. TO OBTAIN A CORRECT
STATEMENT OF COSTS FROM
MUNICIPAL PLANTS.
AS the cost of fuel, hours of burn
ing and electric energy used In the
lamps differ in nearly every city, as
the items of interest paid on account
of the plant, depreciation of ma
ehinery, etc, and of taxes lost are
usually ignored in the printed re-
ports sent out from these plants,
and ii Ia necessary to figure these
costs upon a Worcester basis, In
order to reach An intelligent con-
elusion in comparing the results ar
rived at in other cities with our
own, your committee caused blank
inquiries sent to ffty cities and
towns owning and operating NUM-
eipal lighting plants outside the
state of NJ Massachusetts,
The territory covered by these i'm
quiries included practically the
entire United States, and the replies
were expected To clearly indicate
the local conditions and cost Of
street lighting in the municipal
plants OF this country.
Unfortunately fos this purpose,
seventeen cities only replied 10 the
question asked; of this seventeen
the replies received from nine were
so incomplete as " rendersthe data
of no value, leaving only eight
plants outside the state the data
from which were sufficient To be
of use.
PRICE LOWER THAN MI
SICIPAL COST.
The cost Of street lights as report
ed by these eight cities, plus the
difference in cost of coal in these
eight cities aud la Worcester, plus
the items u interest paid, depre-
andtaxes host (which were
omitted in every easel, shows the
average cost per lamp-hour would
be "a CENTS II the plants were loeat-
ed In this city.
Inasmuch as tbe price paid IN
this city for street arcs is rs cents
per lamp-hour, or 0.6 cent cheaper
than the cost of the same light.
burned under equal conditions. in
the municipal plants outside the
state. your committee abandoned
this line Of investigation and took
up the municipal plants within the
state.
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING SYSTEM FOR
MASSACHUSETTS, PLANTS.
Massachusetts cities and towns
owning their own lighting plants
are obliged to- keep their books se-
cording 10 system adopted by the
state board of gas and electric light
and 10 charge items
of expense to the general aecoant
design ated by the board.
This system Is identical with that
prescribed by the board for tho com
Panies. and affords the only correct
basis of comparing the costs of pro-
dnction by the municipal plAns and
the companies.
MUNICIPAL COST NEARLY DOUBLE
CONTRACT PRICE IN MAssACHU-
SETS.
The average cost per lamp-hour OF
the street arcs furnished by the mu-
nlcipal plants In the state, rs shown
by the reports of the board, is 4.A
cents, while the price paid In this
city is 2.S cents per lamp-hour since
July /, 1901. II must not be for
gotten that, with two exceptions
the municipal plants In Massaehu
sets burn a 300-watt lamp, while We
use a J0O-watt lamp in this city.
Adding the cost OF coal necessary
to produce a 5O0-watt instead OF 1
300-watt lamp, the cost per lamp pc
boar would be increased from as
to ass cents, a sum very nearl,
double that now paid for stree
lights by the city of Worcester.
DEFICIT on COMMERCIAL BUSINESS
INCREASES COST FoR TAxPAYERs
1t is undoubtedly true that TIN
cost of street lights in cities of thi
state. operating municipal plants, Il
largely affected by the amount o
commercial business done by tn
plant, as large deficit In CONNER
cial operation adds to the cost o
the street lights, while a small
deficit In commercial lighting cor
respondingiy lessons the cost Of tn
street service.
IT lie also true that the condition
and amount of commercial business
4 - -. $500 -