The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1920-05-20
SUPT. OF WATER Co.
COMMENTS REPORT


to The Silver State by +. H. Gilman,
superintendent of the Winnemucca
Water & Light Company, with re-
quest that it be printed 1t concerns
the report of Messrs. j. c. Moore and
A. Livingstone, who represented the
city's interests in a survey of the
Water & Light Companys valuation
for the purpose of recommending a
fair fire hydrant rental to be charged
the city, published fully in the last
issue of The Silver State. Mr.. Gill
mans statement follows:
To those of you who are interested
in the city representatives report of
the survey made of the Water & Light
Company's property, we desire to
make the following comments:
F'irst-It is suggested in the report
hat the water and electric utility "be
onsidered as one unit . !. they are
% closely related :. operated under
one set of officers, ETC." This cannot
e done because the law compels us
keep the two utilities entirely
eparate.
Second-DuriEg the years 191S-1919
ne company operated at loss OF
l0,340.39 in the water department,
nd profit of s390.64 in the light de-
aft,s, f.rx
1875. The greater part of the loss
.as caused by the cost of pumping,
ghieh was charged to the water de-
1artment. Though the city represen-
atives think that by "a mere Jug
ling of figures" this might have been
harged to most anything, it is plain
lat electric current generated for
he purpose of pumping could not
ave been charged to an electric ex-
,ense. The increase in charge made
gainst pumping in 191S-1919 was not
ntirely due to a close check on the
mount of current used, as the re-
lort leads one to believe The price
# oil, cost of labor, freight charges.
etc, greatly increasing at that time
the price of oil almost doubling) had
omething to do with the increase in
he cost of purlnlng. The price c.
lectric current charged to the water
apartment for the first half of 1919
was 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour and
ior the last half of 1919 was 4.04 cents
per kilowatt-hour.
Third-Pumping water for domes-
tic consumption only" included pump
ing for the Western Pacific Railroad
Company's use also, the Western Pa
cific's supply being 100000 gallons
per month, or more.
Fourth-The new plant will stand
the company not $4,000 minus S15,
600 Tor $30,000), as figured in the re-
port. but rather $4,000 plus the diff
ference between the cost of the steam
plant. less depreciation, minus $15,-
600. the price at which it may be sold
Fifth-In answer to the question:
Would not the 200-horsepower en-
gine and one 100-horsepower engine,
with the water wheel, have been suffi-
cient to take care of the wants of the
people of Winnemucea for a long
time to Gomez" We will state when
the water is plentiful and the water
wheel can be depended upon for a
continuous run. the 200 horsepower
and 100-horsepower engines are suffi-
cient: but at time when there is
only a few hours daily run for the
water Wheel we would be skating on
thin ice indeed, if we got by at ALL
with continuous service. In every
plant there should be an auxiliary in
case something goes wrong. Our 200
horsepower auxiliary will be split up
into 100-horsepower units so that as
the load varies different engines may
be used without waste of power and
thus give us more economical opera
ton.
Sixth-To our mind, Mr.. Broili's
recommendation regarding the rate of
hydrant rental to the commission
seems to indicate that he certainly
made one Recommendation in favor
of the city" and that a most import
ant one.
Seventh-Though we do not agree
to furnish "a monthly statement of
receipts and disbursements to the
city, our books. reports and records
are open to the public at all times.
Eighth-No matter what kind of a
mutual understanding may exist be-
tween the city and the Water & Light
Company when a change is to be
made in rates. the Public Service
Commission must be consulted.
In Conelusion-We ask only fair
return on the money invested. and we
feel sure that the people of Winnie
a..