Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-29
REPLIES TO PLEA
FOR 8-CENT RATE
Good Government Organization
Answers Citizens Commit
tee Statement
ENGINEER SUPPLIES FACTS
E. F. Scattergood's Figures Used
to Show FaIIacy of CON-
panieS' Contention

VI l4OS AIlBtlCSs WlAASll ID WOAfAAH6 hOh
alone for the election of George H.
Stewart and Frederick J. Whiffen as
members Of the city council, but also
to sustain the referendum on the Z
cent lighting ordinance, issues the fol-
lowing statement in answer to the
statement of the so-called "citizens
committee" and bearing on the light
ing situation generally.
The facts upon which this statement
is based were supplied by the board of
public utilities at the request of the
Good Government organization, and the
technical data contained in the state
ment were worked out by r. +. Scat
tergood, chief electrical engineer of the
Los Angeles aqueduct power bureau.
The statement follows:
THE REPLY
1t is apparent from this circular
that the "citizens' committee" was
organized at the instance of the
power companies.
This committee purports to base
its approval of the light ordinance
upon "the facts submitted" by the
companies, and does not claim or
pretend to have made any investi-
cation whatever of the question
whether the rates prescribed In the
ordinance are just and reasonable,
so far as the consumer Is concerned.
The ordinance was adopted after
a careful investigation of the mat
ter of reasonable rates, continuing
for period of about four months.
This is In striking contrast to the
method of the so-called "citizens'
committee" which claims to have
been formed for the purpose of ac-
complishing q fair adjustment be-
tween the city and the companies,
and yet the committee, without any
nFpfonCa Of HAVING fnUaetfoofa1 ha
merits of the rate ordinance and
within one week after It's organiza-
ton, issues q circular condemning
the ordinance and urging its defeat
by the voters.
TABLE OF COST
The following tabulation of generat-
ing costs, selling price to electric rail-
ways and the amounts of electrical
energy used within the city limits for
various purposes are taken from the
sworn statements of the companies to
the council and additional statements
to the board OF public utilities, as called
attention to by Mr.. Scattergood in his
testimony at the hearing before the
council, and are given to show how the
electric railway companies are favored
in rates at the expense of other light
and power consumers:
Pacific Light Average
and Power Co. Edison for BOTH
Generating cost in
cents per kiowatt
hour, allowing
per cent the
investment O6h 1.4b LOO
Selling price in
cents per kilowatt
hour 20 electric
railways ......... 0625 ora 0.65
hlowatt ours
sold in Los An
geles in 1909 for
light and power
exclusive OF rail-
railways ..,...... 14,N6,6S 16,96426o G,242O93
Kilowatt ours
sold In Los An
geles in 1909 to
railway compn's. ss,25sE5 2e.12s.o1s lis. .SS1 4so
This shows that the Pacific Light and
Power company, In accordance with
their own statement, is selling about S5
per cent of its electrical energy, mar
keted within the city limits, to Mr.
Huntington's railway companies at a
price about 23 per cent below the aver
age cost of generation, allowing but 6
per cent interest on the investment. 1t
shows that the Edison company Is SELL
ing more than half the electrical energy
marketed by 1t within the city limits
to railway companies at approximately
one-half the average cost of generation,
in accordance with its own statement.
The average selling price to railways
is 35 per cent below the average gener-
ating cost, and an amount nearly four
times the amount of energy used for
all other purposes, making it necessary
to charge against other consumers a
generating cost of approximately IA
cents per kilowatt hour, three and one
half times the price of 65 cents to rail-
way companies. 1t is true that 1t costs
about one-third to one-half moro to
generate for lighting purposes than for
railway purposes because of the char
~ tho had hnt fhQf fc
thing like three and one-half times.
from which 1t is manifest that Mr..
Huntington and his railway companies
have lively interest in supporting the
lighting companies in their attempts to
charge other consumers excessive rates.
The false argument, given under the
heading Large Power Sales Mean
Cheap Light" as presented by the
manager of the Pacific Light and
Power company, Mr.. Balch, in his
statement, of which this is a reprint In
substance, is also manifest from the
above tabulation.
THREE ENGINEERS
In reply to the claim that the public
utilities board and the council acted
without proper consideration and in
vestigation and without giving the
power companies an opportunity to be
heard, 1t is only necessary to state that
the public utilities board consulted with
three competent engineers, following
up the matter of securing data during
a period of some four months; that
these engineers made Independent esti-
mates of what 1t should cost to deliver
electrical energy for lighting under the
conditions existing in and about this
city, and that two of them carefully
examined the reports submitted by the
lighting companies, with the result that
each of the three, working indepen-
IDENTIFY, arrived at the same conclusion,
to the effect that 7-cent base rate
would allow a proper return on the
value OF the investment, and that in
every instance in which there was not
opportunity to make the necessary in
vestigation to place an Independent
value on the investment the companies
statements on valuation were assumed
to be correct.
NO EXCEPTTONS
'In arriving at these conclusions no
exceptions were taken to the state
ments presented by the companies ex-
cept after investigation, and each of
these exceptions was specifically men
toned at the hearing before the coun-