South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-01-15

installation was not large enough,
the machinery had nevertheless
earned enough money TO buy a new
large 3.0O0 X " unit steam turbine
and accessories which was done with
the old machines still in excellent
working condition and delivering
their rated capacity every day
Therefore. instead OF putting aside
a large sum of money for deprecia-
ton reserve, we have invested the
money as was needed. Seven and
one-half per cent G 1-2) is being
charged TO depreciation in accord
ance with rules prescribed by the
Indiana public service commission.
This refers TO the entire physical
property of the plant.
Report of 1915 Business.
while the figures for the past
year are not as yet made up, / have
compiled a list of revenue, opera
ton and construction statistics:
During 1915 revenue ...........S 235, 170. 60
Operation and maintenance ex-
pense OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 1S3,4l2. %
o l. -
Total investment in our plant
up 10 Jan. l. 1915. was. ..... S5SS. 2O4. ~
Construction in 1913 .......... 12l.69O.57
Investment to Jan. 1. 1916. 500. $40. D
Total invested by city......... 349,44134
Total invested from earnings $3.50, 1913. 9s
This shows that the plant has
earned and invested more money
than the total investment made from
taxation. and we still have the plant
Taking into consideration the
seven years the plant have been in
operation you will note that the total
output during that time was 81
571,5 X W. and the revenue for
the same period was .04145 cents
per K w hour. or 1898, O63.2S. And
if we use the former rate of ten
X w output on a basis Of 21,571,577
K W .06145 or a revenue of ST.
324,94S.17. The difference is the
amount saved to the taxpayer in our
city, or a saving of S431,SS4.S9
Also during these years while this
figure shows only money saved by
patrons of the city light plant it
should also include the money saved
by patrons of the competing COM
pany as the competitor was com
PEELED TO meet our rate and therefore
all parties using light and power in
our city derived a big benefit.
Saving on City Lighting.
Here might be added that the
city Of TT. Wayne formerly paid $40
per lamp per annum for street light
ing while the municipal plant fur
nishes the same lighting for $50 per
lamp.
During the year 1914 current cost
us .O1O26 cents per X w delivered
TO switchboard. and .OO959 cents per
K w TO sell it, making a total cost
OF .019S6 cents per X w, while the
revenue received during the same
year was .039S cents per X w This
left a net profit of .01997 cents or
practically two cents per X w, which
proves that municipality owned
plants can be operated as ecOnom-
ically and efficiently as any privately
owned plant in the country.
"The revenue for the year 1914
was S17S,211.43 and expenses for
operation and maintenance expenses
were $SS.911.94 leaving a net profit
Of $S9,299.49 for the year.
I'm order to show the increase the
plant has made during the last seven
years. want you to carefully note
that the output of the plant during
the year of 1909 was 7O6,324 X W
hours, while the revenue for the
same year was S41,1O5.27. In the
year of 1914 the output was 4.476,-
$50 X w hours, and the revenue
S17S,211.43. The reports for 1914
have not a. yet been compiled
However we are informed that the
result will show up even better than
that of any previous year. Our out
put in 1915 was 5.9O4,3GO X w
hours, and our earnings were $685.
OO6.65.
Has Reduced Its own Rates.
when the plant was started eight
cents per X w was charged for COM
mercial or residence lighting. max
ing a reduction of two cents (2c) on
the then prevailing rate Of the pri-
vately owned plant. During the year
1914 a further reduction of one cent
CD was made, making the top rate
at this time seven cents C7c) per
X w hour, and a sliding scale of
rates where a large amount of cur
rent was used"
In Ft. Wayne the service rate is
80 cents on domestic lighting and %
cents on commercial lighting while
in South Bend il is said to be 81 in
both cases.
Mayor Keller's committee prom
ises to hold other meetings TO which
the public will be invited, in the
course of their Investigations
MANY SKATERS OUT.