The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-12-10
ELECTRIC POWER FROM MONTANA CO.
WILL SOON Be A REALITY IN DISTRICT
AIMING COMPANIES CONSTRUCT STATE LNE-WiREs RE-
PORTED STRUNG TO MULLAN AND RURKg-lMPoRT.
ANcE OF ELECTRIC POWER TO MINING.

According to reports Of progress be-
,.o made In extending the transmits
s,on lines from the Idaho Montana
summit, 1t will not be many weeks un-
~ the Montana Power company will
he furnishing electric power to several
Of the mines Of this district and in po-
sitlon to extend its lines to others that
may desire it's service. There is an In
tImation, however, that owing to the
construction placed upon the law by
the Idaho public utilities commission,
the company will not at present do
business direct in this district. While
the laws provision is somewhat OBJ
scure as to its meaning, the commits
sion has ruled that it requires public
utility companies desiring to do busi-
ness in Idaho to file certificate of
necessity" to be approved by the com
mission. In other words, the utility
company must show that there is a
field to Justify its entrance and that it
will be for the benefit Of the public. 1t
must be apparent to any one familiaT
with the Coeur d'Alene district that
there is ample room here for second
electric power company and that its
coming will in all probability result in
great benefit to the mining industry.
May Delay Filing Certificate.
owing to the bitter controversy fol-
lowing the ruling of the commission on
the Certificate of necessity which in
yolyed the right to do business of two
great power companies in south Idaho,
and to the effort that is now being
made to place needless restrictions on
the overhead construction of electric
power lines, it may be assumed that
the Montana Power company regarded
this as an unfavorable time TO raise
the question of its necessity in the
Occur d'Alene field. In any event, for
reasons satisfactory to the company, II
is stated that the Montana company is
constructing it's line to the Idaho line
only, and from that point the mining
companies which are to be served
have secured the rights of way and
are erecting the lines at their own eX-
pense. The Montana Power company
will furnish the juice, but will no.
own the lines by which it is trans
mitted to the mines. The Miner has
this information from what it believes
to be a reliable source. The arrange
ment can be regarded as only tempor-
airy and is adopted for reasons best
known to the company. That it "ill
eventually enter this field under its
own corporate name and with an APP
proved certificate of necessity hard
ly admits Of doubt.
Companies to Be Served.
It is understood that the Federal
tMornlng mine) Hercules and Tama-
rack Custer have entered into con-
tracts with the Montana company, and
the wires are rapidly being extended
to those properties 1t was stated a
few days ago that the wires had been
strung to Burke, where the connection
can be made with the Hercules, and to
the Morning at Mulan, and 1t was
stated yesterday that poles are being
placed across the divide from Canyon
creek to the Tamarack- Custer mine.
1t was also stated that the
last named company had notified the
Washington Water Power company
that 1t would discontinue its service on
certain date.
There Is big business here for both
the Washington and Montana compan-
les and the entire district will profit by
the double service.