Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-02-08
UNIT OF ELEC-
TRICAL ENERGY
Watt and kilowatt Hours and Their
Relative Value Explained-Flx-
Ing Rates for Lights, etc.

ncidtivc value GNPIoihCu
Ing Rates for Lights, etc.
Few people understand the term
or unit" of electrical energy called
the watt" hour and the "kilowatt'
hour.
Shorn of all technical verbiage her
are the figures:
One thousand watts equal one kilo-
watt
Hence 1000 watt hours equal one
kilowatt hour, which means that an
amount OF current consumed either in
| lighting, heating or other power"
in one hours time Is based on the
watt or kilowatt unit.
Thus when we say: ''Ten cents a
thousand watt hours it is the same
as when we say "Ten cents kilo-
watt hour"
A concrete example follows:
Burning one 16 candle power lamp
consumes about so watts of current
or energy, per hour, equaling, there
fore, so watt hours. If the lamp Is
burned hours per day it equals 25O
watt hours. For 80 days 1t means
that the lamp will consume 1900 watt
hours or 71a klowatt hours. If the
charge LIS zoe per 1000 watts, or zoe
per kilowatt hour, the cost of the one
16 candle power lamp per month Is
$3.50.
The average meter rate for light
ing in large cities is fran &c per
kilowatt hour, or 100 watt hours, for
large monthly consumation to 15c
kilowatt hour or 1000 watt hours,
for one to three light customer.
A balanced load" rate for day
light consumption of power, used In
cooking, with electric ranges, and
other family appliances, is further
reduced to a figure as low as &c per
1000 watt hours. When the daylight
load under these rates reaches the
maximum the generating plant is bal
anced and its working conditions are
ideal-a circumstance that rarely II
ever happens in actual practice.
If the load for the electric gene
rator could be balanced both night
and day the rates for power would be
very much cheaper than they usually
are. In actual practice it works en-
tilely different: For instance, A wants
a 10 horsepower motor to do his
work during s hours of the "a hours
per day. The generator plant must
set aside 10 horsepower of energy
from it's total output in order to have
the 10 horsepower, contracted for,
when the customer requires it, even
though the plant can find no use
whatever for that 10 horsepower for
the other 16 hours of the day. The
question under constant discussion
then is what rate is a fair rate,
taking into consideration size OF
plant, it's kiloowatt capacity, it's max
imum and minimum power service.
At the Twin Falls, Idaho, plant the
balanced load" is severe PROB
lem. During the summer months the
requirements for power for irrigation
purposes is enormous; in winter this
power is not required, and yet all the
fixed charges" repairs, maintenance
deterioration, interest, labor, etc., is
exactly the same, whether all the
power is used or whether 1t ism T.
The result is a large surplus OF pow
err on hand unused. To yield some
income, therefore, from this large
waste, the people were encouraged
to use this waste power to heal
their homes during the winter and
rate was made for heating purposes
outside of rates for power and nght
ing, that enabled the householder tt
dispense with coal entirely.
The net result of this peculiar SIT
uation is that each householder, III N
be a business man with his shop, OF
! flee or store separate from his home
| pays two or three different rates TO
the same electricity generated at tn
same generating plant. Naturall'
! the people complain that the rates 10
everything but heating are unjus
and the cry goes out for "singl
rate" based on the price Of the heal
ing rate, which is less than the tota
cost OF actual production Of all tn
electric energy produced.
II A different price Is made for
II continuous load'' running electri
II motors in shops, factories, mines
/ mills, etc. This rate is usually ba'
Il ed on figure per million watt hour
II For instance:
/ A 100 horsepower motoer operatin
III "a hours per day would consume
u 8 days fifty-three million seven hui
dred and twelve thousand watt houl
II of energy. Suppose the charge We
IN cents per 100 watt hours, ia