Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-04-30

Is this form Of Depreciation equally.
whether in use or not. =
Thus counting the originel bonds
subsequent outlay with interest upon
both. the city has sunk in this expert
ment more than $so.oooQo and In at
than 'p' for v Ssis' the :. Current sna sape eou1d have haSe
been purchased. The. same local COM
pany' serves the city for commercial
lighting and a portion of the city for
The local company is one unit in the
Northern Power company. This COM
pany lisa progressive n and has here
had conditions remained normal. we
in rates. However. 1t had adopted. a
ing Units in many cities Of the, middle
west. 1t was bonding these to the limit
for the purpose Of further expansion.
The plan was undoubtedly worked out
by able financiers and would probably
have been successful under normal con-
ditions. The war deranged all this. The
company Is now. in deep water and fnds
d aen ssn'e9 orde e9 p We're ,'s e ,E%naaaHts sent d, out
to its various units to increase charges
to the uttermost bearable limits. 1t is
neither Just nor decent that we should
ment. p
1t is entitled to receive as proceeds
from this unit only a fair dividend COM
puleu" upOI InO tdluo Oh q pldHL duee
quate to furnish gas and electricity for
the city's needs, after, of course. de-
Quoting operating expenses with Tho
usual allowance for depreciation.
Pace Own Errors
Commercial heating being restricted
paratiyely small number Of patrons,
located within a short radius from the
source, Its use can never become uni
be ciasaed ssea f pablie utility iii ynoG It w was
installed by the company or its own ini-
tiative and should be regarded as "a
speculative venture to stand or fall up
or electricity users should be taxed for
it's. deficiencies. 1t should be excluded
from the computation. Il.
to be greatly in Excess Of SUCH needs
and unbearable. The city applied to
the state railway commission. that body
which the laws Of the state designate
have been exasperating delays. AS far
as I can determine they have not been
due to- obstructive tactics but to a fail
ure. of the board to early adopt a plan
cover what data would be required in
it's investigation. ~.
Fought increase
The council and city officials have i'm
mediately complied with every sugges-
UTE n@a r to ezped ate t aase m a99e te oar
city attorney has called the attention of
the board to the manifest padding in the
physical valuation report. to the alleged
u~nwarranted Decentralization to the
unjust taxation upon this unused in
vestment and to the anomalous, relation
which the heating unit bears to, the real
utility plant.
The hearing is still under way at this
writing. and we hope for a just and
favorable decision. Some Of u citi-
zens anticipating an adverse. ruling by
tho hoard orn NNr{~ hot kH%-@ f,N~o
tons be taken over by the city in a
municipality constructed and operated
plant. The laws Of most states placing
IL the bo s19tro sx0 Of utilities ta,b IN the he hands dndi,c Of
ton Of such plants by individuals, cor
porations, or cities. What the provisions
of our law. as finally. amended are, can
this restriction Should be found to pre- :
by the purchase Of the existing plant.
That the city could otherwise then by
Of gas and the furnishing of CONNER
Venture Impossible
To install a plant of the required size
would probably require at least two
years Of time. would cost the better
kE RaFt our OF a b %i,1tsn i dSl9ass; aesgee AND tre the
duplication Of gas mains and heating
conduits would wreck our paving. To
reconstruct and enlarge our present
mercial lighting, would. not call for so
vast an outlay but would easily run up
into the hundreds Of thousands. Such a
full should furnish electricity at a lower
rate than .nowspaid; should pay it's oper-
ating expenses, interest upon its bonds.
a reasonable amount for depreciation
and be able to set aside "a year suffi-
cient funds to retire it's serial bonds as
they mature. 80.
TO render the equation perfectly just.
It might also be expected Of it to REIN
now paid by the company it would put
out Of business. Would it be success
full? We have thirty years Of expert
findings of the state board with its ex-
perts for study and analysis.
Many claims Of successful operation
inal cost, interest and upkeep are com
pletely ignored. These are. legitimate
charges from which there Is no escape.
They must be. met. If not paid directly
IN IN gre Greatly aGysG increased e"sy gene Il taxation.
In ease of these cities in which NUM-
cipal lighting plants have been demon
strated as successful. Investigation has
were fortunately situated in that they
were located near some natural source
Of power, the use of which they are
able to obtain at a nominal cost.
Economic Problem =
In this connection l would again call
your attention to the possibility that
investigation may disclose that there is
a sufficient fowage in the combined riv-
ers at this point to AFFORD ord. all year pow
ton is an economic problem of vast i'm
portance to the city and can only be
successfully solved, by the painstaking
investigation n with the aid of &C
credited experts. v
It is generally known that CONNER
cial heating was a venture entered into
by the local for i S1.pnngue to e an9rd 5'fs sfeam a
from it's engines: The service has be-
come SO extended that its needs exceed
the by-product and direct means have
is. claimed that in spite of It's e%xhorbit-
ant charges it is now being operated at
a loss. G-
when he Is any a e eommo osS;ee IS arerea to . ehe
public for sale or use: utility and con-
venience both considered. it; must be
at an attractive price. When as in the
rises to three times the cost of produc-
tion by other means. convenience is rele-
gated to the back ground and it's con-
,1asee use sem nee of esr c ftimlma ha esen come
to- a realization of this and in some in
situations. resort has been had to the
use-of previously discarded heating
the winter at a reported saving of from
fifty to seventy-five per cent. 80.
Try Out 1~mpracticabls i
The suggestion that the city owned
plant be operated for a month in fur
nishing commercial lighting for a single
gard as impracticable FOR the reason
that in so small a unit the. overhead
charges would be 80 Extraordinarily
great as to nullify any efforts at COM
p~arison. Grafton, operating a. mum
cipal plant, has been obliged to raise its