The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-19

The above statement is contained in a lengthy report made by special com
 mittee of the city governing body of New Orleans, Louisiana, this committee being appointed to investigate the feasi-
 bility of New Orleans building and
 operating its own electric light plant. This committee was composed of F.
 W. Ballard, Chairman, Foster OlrOyd
 and Alfred Raymond. The full report
 made by the committee Is as follows;
 New Orleans, La, October 8, 1915.
 Hon. E. E. Lafaye, Commissioner of Public Property:
 Dear Sir: Your committee appointed f with instructions to make thorough
 investigation of the books and accounts
 of the New Orleans Railway and Light : company, as applied to the electrical de- / partment and to report to you it's find irgs:
 1. As to the amount of capital invested in this department, it's fixed charges, cost | of operation and maintenance and general expenses.
 9 Its gross total income from the sale | of electric energy. 3. The relative merits and gross revenue
 to be derived from the application to
 
 sumers of the proposed rates of and 4 cents, respectively, based on the first 30 hours use of the consumers connected ! load, in comparison with the following ! block system of charges to be applied, as l follows:
 Service charge each meter, % cents First 20 k. W. hrs. used each month, at 7c k. W. h.
 Next 30 k W. hrs. used each month, at 6c k. W. h.
 Next 150 k. W. hrs. used each month, at Sc k. W. h.
 All in excess, 4c k. W. h. 4. To make such recommendat tions as to | adjustment and application of rates so that the charge for services received by all types of such customers wifi be rair and equable.
 | 5. To advise if the construction and operation of a municipally owned electric plant, complete in every detail. and of sufficient capacity to serve the entire built-up area of this city. would make | possible any material further reduction in the cost to our citizens of such service Il Your committee, in response to the above instructions, begs to report that it | has completed it's investigation, as di- rected, and that its findings and recom- mendations are, as follows: l 1. The books of the New Orleans Rail- way and Light company show an original investment value of their property to be $S,149033.26. However, this represents the original investment, and could not | fairly be recognized today as it's present |lvalue. In order to make an estimate of what this present value might be. and |lfor the purposes of comparing the cost ! of the installation of duplicate sys- Item necessary to render the service now being rendered by this corporation, We | have assumed, and feel, that this esti- Innate is correct, that the cost of such duplicate system would approximate Il $, ,O00, GOO.
 It is customary in allowing for fixed charges, which must be covered by reve- nue in order to make a Successful prop Il iosition of similar undertakings, to allow depreciation on investment value at 3 per I cent annually In the present instance live know what taxes, insurance, etc., CIamount to, and from the records this was Hound to be $146,647.57. In addition to these fixed charges, there Il should be an allowance Of per cent on H the investment value, to cover interest on N outstanding bonds and proper return on the capital invested. \ The operating expenses were rouno \ from the books of the company, for pro- FIduction, distribution, and administration, Tito be $564,226 for the year 1914. Summarizing all of the above items gives us the following tabulation: |IInterest at 6 per cent on $5,000,O00 ...................-...... ooV'VVoo Depreciation at 3 per cent on $5, ,0OO,OOO lou,VVuoV Taxes insurance, etc. ............ l46,04i.0I tOneratine expenses ,,....... 564, 226. % Total ................,.....s1, .s1 ,160, 273o7 Il The items of interest, depreciation, |Itaxes and insurance are self evident. On the question of operating expenses, rbo mi q l. Icluding station cost, fuel, line and dis |itribution expenses, office salaries, etc, Il we consider this cost fair, and about as low as could be expected in this city, for it must be borne in mind that con- ditions in New Orleans are very diff Il ferent from those found in most cltles. Il The expenses of maintaining, operating Hand distributing is greater, by reason \ of the extensive area to be maintained with. a smaller number of customers. Il Fuel cost is higher than the average, and the load factor here is much lower than the average, thus increasing all unit costs of operation. End. The gross totals of energy sold land revenue derived therefrom for the year 1914 is, as follows: K. w. H. Revenue. Municipal Arc 7,51s.449 247.S27 descent 5s5.ss5 s2,606 Municipal Power 64,2S6 S.l4o Monumental Flat
 Il Rate Lighting. 372,524 23,551 |lCommercial Flat
 | Rate Power 19.101 1,09o Res. and Com
 | mercial Light
 ing .......... 5.7s7.5oO 55s.ses Employees Light
 ing .......... 31,s17 1.547 Especial & Whole-
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