Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-09
kACK OF POWER
FOR WAR PLANTS
acl Officials Confer to De.
wise Means of Meeting
Emergency
NEED 10000 KILOWATTS
Imperative to Expedite Supply
and Munitions Contracts
Here

confronted by the most serious short
.1Se of electric power Philadelphia has
ever known, officials of the district
power and light conservation division
OF the Federal fuel administration went
4 into executive session at the Medical
Arts Building at 230 o'clock this after
noon to wrestle with the problem.
War industries here arc urgently in
need Of 10000 more kipwatts of cleo
trical power than is available, and the
quartermaster's corps and the ordnance
department of the army are insistently
urging that means be found to expedite
supply and munitions contracts placed
here.
1--WE are up against a very serious
shortage of power" said j. Franklin
stevens, president of, the Engineers
Club and chairman of the district con-
servation division
"Philadelphias war industries could
use 10000 kilowats G60,O0O horse
power) more than is available. This
demand will steadily increase during
the next few months with the expansion
\ of war industries and later. with the
increased use of electric power for
lighting purposes which naturally
VIII follow the shortening Of the day
light hours and the coming ofS winter
More Drastic Conservation
''The public utilities and the public in
this district have responded Loyalty to
every appeal we have made for con-
servation of light and power. New and
more drastic demands will have to be
made. Every item Of waste every leak
age of power, must be stopped, and we
must save coal right down to a matter
of pounds and fractions.
Whatever measures We may find il
necessary to adopt to meet the situation.
we can assure the public that light and
power will be as widely distributed as
possible. Curtailment of both in many
quarters is certain, however. Where
voluntary measures fail, we shall have to
use compulsion.
Two developments in the power situa-
. tion, which took place before the con-
ference this afternoon. encouraged Mr..
stevens in the belief a way would be
found to meet the more pressing needs.
The first was the announcement that
the Wanamaker store, which has its
own power plant, had voluntarily decided
to keep open for business only between
the hours of 10 o'clock a. M and 4 80
o'clock p. m. for the duration of the
war, and tc divert the power generated
by its plant to the Philadelphia Electric
Company Tor general uses.
This means an additional 900 horse
y power of direct current available during
the stores open hours and 400 horse
power during the closed hours, which can
be taken from the load in the central
district and diverted to the war plants
81 in outlying districts. 1t also will save
street car traffic thousands of passen-
gers daily during the busiest hours of
; the peak-load period.
Loan for Philadelphia Electric
A second development was virtual as
surance from Washington that loan OF
100000, 900 would be made to the Phlla-
delphia Electric Company by the War
Department and the United states snip
= ping board for the expansion of the COM
pany's Chester power plant and the COM
pIetion of its partly constructed plant at
Beach and Palmer streets on much
larger scale than was planned.
es Negotiations for this loan have heen
IN progress for several weeks, and it is
reported that it is about to be consum-
mated In that event 10000 kilomatts
will be added to the capacity OF the
Chester station. and 10000 kilowatts to
tha canacity of the Beach and Palmer
streets station, thus achieving the total
amount of additional power now needed
here
Meanwhile, the fuel administration
must find other means of increasing the
supply of power.
This will have to be accomplished as
follows
Continuation of the skip-stop system
for street car lines. expansion OF the sys-
fern TO lines not now affected, and more
rigid enforcement of traffic regulations
10 preyent delays by blocked streets and
crossings. >,
Curtailment of street car lighting all
the year round and of street car heat
ing in winter.
stricter Light Economy
Strict economy in the use of light
and power in all plants and factories
elimination of wasted electric energy.
and enforcement of the rules against
using power to operate machines not
actually producing war materials.
Converting the power loads or seVeral
private electric plants in office buildings
and stores to a single plant wherever
nossible, and diverting the power gen.
Grated by the plants thus freed to gen
eral use.
sBy tying together" several public
service systems. For instance; Norris
town has power to spare. This surplus
will be diverted to Philadelphia tn
wayne plant of the United Gas I'm
movement Company is idle during tn
summer. IL mas d tsips'N'tg VI S''' No.
watts. This would be put into operation
for general use.
The latest essential industries 9TH
=, conservation division of the fuel admin
,stration does not consider any industr,
now in operation as absolutely non
essentiaD to be put entirely on nigh
working schedules, and allowed to op
crate only between II O'Clock p. II
and o'clock a. m.
Candy making and jewelry manutao
turing are placed in the least essentia
class" with other industries.
Notifications of the restrictions o,
street lighting were forecast by Mr.. Ste
vens. Public safety demanded 1t, h
~ said and the fuel administration ha
r. found that the power conserved tha
way is almost negligible. Coal cor
sumed in producing power for lghtin
purposes. he pointed out, is never NOR
than 2 per cent. of the total fuel cor
sumption.
Inclined to Voluntary Action
At the conference today the cor
seryation committee is taking up III
question as to whether other large store
50 and businesses with plants similar I
that of the Wanamaker store, capsb
& of generating more power than is actl
Ally required to run the business, sha
3st he ordered to close earlier or not. M
Stevens said that he was inclined
give them an opportunity to take tn
action voluntarily
Where the private power plants al