Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-28
BOMBSHELL FOR
EDISON COMPANY
WILL Be SPRUNG
PASADENA COUNCIL PREPARES
DRASTIC ORDINANCE
MAY COMPEL CONCERN TO GIVE
UP "FLAT RATE" SYSTEM
Passage of Measure Would Force
Rival of Municipal Plant to Sell 4
Electricity at Uniform
Meter Prices

4
10 retain its patronage in compeutioh
with the Crown city municipal lighting
| system, a bombshell will be exploded In
! tomorrow's session of the city councll
in the shape of an ordinance when
! will nullify the companys chlef argu-
ment for patronage, forcing 1t to aoan-
don it's fixed or fiat" rate system
and compelling it to sell electricity at
uniform meter rates.
An innocent document in itself, ana
purporting merely to fix the meter
rates at which electricity may be SOLD
| in Pasadena, the ordinace VIII, II ap-
proved, strike at the very root or the
Edison system of competing When II
prevents the fixed monthly charges
which have been given in opposition to
the city's low meter prices for current.
1t will probably force the corporation
to better the city's maximum meter
rate of cents per kilowatt-hour ana,
if enforced, to show its hand. It's nat
rates have always been more or less
of a puzzle heretofore.
That the ordinance will be adopted
seems certain in view of the fact that
about ten months ago the council
unanimously ordered it prepared. 1t
was delayed because of the unsettled
condition incident to the voting OF
bonds for extending the municipal light
ing plant, and for weeks thereafter
the subject furnished a mild sensation
in the meetings of the council when
c. ]. Crandall, whose term expired IN
May, invariably insisted the alleged
discrimination practiced by the Ed
son company among its customers
should be stopped at once by the
passage of the ordinance.
At that time the talk was all for
an ordinance to prevent this alleged
discrimination, it being charged that
some Edison customers were given
fiat rates far below those extended to
others and that the fiat rates were
given only in spots touched by the
then limited system of the city, while
residents in other sections were paying
full u 1-2-cent meter rates, the city's
Scent rate being unavailable.
Now, however, it develops that after
months of study, the legal department
has taken a new tack and VIII say
nothing about discrimination, but will
merely fix meter rates which must b
charged by any individual, firm or cor
poration doing a lighting business in
Pasadena.
What this means to the Edison com
pany is indicated by the showing
made recently with these fiat rates.
Following the moving of the local Of
fees to one of the best locations in the
city, and its Improvement in style
that would be a credit to town thrice
the size of Pasadena, the company has
been making rushing campaign for
customers, heavily advertising its fixed
rates which allow the customer to pay
a low rate monthly and use all the
electricity possible The 'all-night
porch light" front and rear, as a pro-
lection against burglary and as a
means of beautifying a neighborhood
at night, was the latest development
al hac
widely advertised.
The city is still running with its old
system and cannot extend its service
to all districts inside of two or three
weeks. Hence the ordinance is sprung
at one of the critical periods of the
mighty struggle between the city and
the corporations, a struggle which has
seemed lost to the municipality more
than once.
Refuse to Discuss Ordinance
The few Pasadena city officials who
know of the ordinance to be introduced
tomorrow refuse to talk of it before
its presentation. 1t is known. however,
it's purpose is to force the treatment of
all citizens alike in lighting rates.
The ordinance in its present form is
the result of long investigation by Citv
Attorney Wood and his assistant, w.
J. Carr, and confidence is expressed the
position taken is impregnable,
While the proposed maximum meter
rate to which the Edison company
may be forced to adhere is not known,
it is certain it is not below the city's
maximum rate of cents. Whether It'll
will remain at this or a higher figure
will rest with the council in passing the
ordinance.
Although inaugurated out of regard
for citizens who were alleged to be
the victims of discrimination and re-
framing from any participation in the
lighting war; the proposed move is by
far the most startling in the history of
the municipal light department.
The municipal lighting plant was
started here about three years ago, at a
time of great political Stress when
it was charged the administration was
negligent in pushing municipal water,
and the lighting venture was an effort
to retain the popularity Of the people.
1t grew out of alleged exorbitant rates
charged for street lighting which the
city refused to pay. The bills amount
ing to $4,000, are now involved in
suit brought by the Edison company
against the city two years since
Right at the start the Edison COM
pany began the war with a suit to
retsrain the city from entering into the
lighting business in which a score of
points were raised. Only last spring
this suit was dismissed on the eve of
trial in the United States supreme
court. the company claiming that thi i,
action was taken so that the issues
Nigh be presented in another form.
Street lights of the new system in
cluding arcs almost entirely were fred
turned on two years ago in July. The
arcs were protested against as. in gen
eral, poorer means of lighting than
the incandescent system formerly
used by the Edison company Con
tinual protests and other developments
finally ended in change in the man
agement of the municipal plant, fol
| lowing expensive reports from expert
engineers. The plant has been COM
| pletely reorganized during the last
| year and a half, and is now almost
completed with triple capacity. enough
| to care for the whole of the city's
! patronage except for the claims of the
| Edison company to it's share.
When the municipal plant was start
! ed the Edison company cut down from
a 15-cent to a 12 1-2-cent rate When
commercial service on a smell scale
was begun fiat rates were introduced
and now, with the municipal plant
( nearly finished on a large scale tho
| Edison company is exerting every effort
to retain its prestige and has been
making a strong showing Barring any
! failure of the city council to stand by
! its old decision, the move now being
| inaugurated will completely upset the
| basis of the competition. with an out
! come impossible to foretell