Alma record., 1920-02-12
COMMISSION MAY
DECIDE THE RATE
State Utilities Body Will Prob
ably Have Final Say AS To
Gas Charge.
WILL REVOKE THE FRANCHISE
City officials May Join With the Of
fcers of Company in An
Appeal.

Present indications are that the
voters of Alma will not get an op-
portunity TO pass upon the PROPOSE
tion submitted by the Gratiot County
Gas Company, which is asking for
fixed rate of seven per cent on its in
vestment, in order that it may be in a
position 10 guarantee charges on
money that il desires to borrow that
the capacity of the plant may be in
creased sufficiently to properly handle
company.
Unless present indications are en-
tirely misleading the public utilities
commission of the state, which has
jurisdiction over such concerns as the
gas company, will be the rate max
ing judge in the matter, as there is
every probability that the city COM
mission will revoke the franchise of
the company within the next weeb or
two, and then join with the company
in making Joint solution, asking
the utilities commission to step in
ailO IN Il AaNts Nlisib VIII bN ian W
both the gas company and 10 The peo-
pie of Alma.
The present plan has come out of
a visit that Mayor Murphy had in
Lansing last week with a member of
the state commission, and Is appeal
ing to the city commission here and
to the gas company, as a proposition
that is fair and just.
Tuesday evening the directors of
the Gratiot County Gas company sub
mitted statement TO the commission
to the effect that it had violated the
franchise under. which it is working
here. There happens to be clause
in the franchise that states that the
franchise may be revoked if it is viol-
ated for period Of ninety days, and
the Confession as Commissioner
Creaser would term Il, is frank
statement of the violation, so that the
city commission may find its way
clear to revoke the franchise, and
then join with the gas company in
making an appeal to the public
utilities commission TO fix the rate
for the company
Mr. Creaser advised the city com
mission at that point TO go slow
calling attention 10 the fact that the
clause 90 revoke the franchise was tC
punish and not reward the company
and intimating that new ground hac
been found for him to stand on since
IL t.rba,, t,.
gas question was up. 1t also man
aged TO bring out another forseniC
contest between Manager Wagner oi
the gas company and Commissioner
Creaser. which livened up the evening
considerably.
Mr.. Wagner states that he has no
taken the present proposition up IL
St. Louis, Ithaca and Breckenridge a
vet, being desirous of getting th'
matter settled here before it is takeI
before the governing heads Of thos'
places. He believes thoroughly tina
those places will fillow the lead o
Alma in the matter.
IL is pointed out that the one grea
reason why the company desires u
secures a fixed rate Of seven per cent
is so that il may go out on th
market and borrow funds with whicl
to increase its capacity, thereby en-
abling the company to furnish ga
to its patrons which will be at al
even present at all times, thus doinj
with the great trouble that the pat
rons have experienced to some exten
in the past few months. 1t is pointet
out that the company cannot guaran
tee interest charges on the none,
that it should borrow, under the pres
ent temporary emergency rate o
$1.45 per thousand cubic feet.
Another thing that the company
desirous of securing money on III
market, is so that it may construc
large coke sheds. so that the COX
made by the company will not be ex
posed to rain and snow. and will thu
do away with another source o
trouble which has been experienced t
some small extent in the past.