The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1922-06-13
FULL REPORT ON
WATER|NCREASE

| |..
Following Is the complete rcpor
OF the findings OF the public servic,
commission relative to the water rat,
increase granted the California Ore
gon Power company:
BEFORE THE PUBLIC SERVICE
COMMISSION OF OREGON
In the matter Of the application o
the California Oregon Power Com
pany. a corporation. for authority q
increase water rates In the City OF
klamath Falis.
ORDER
On the 35th day OF August. 1890
the Cslifornia-Oregon Power company
filed With this com mission an appli.
cation for authority to increase rs
water rates In the city OF Klamath
Falls.
After due and legal notice to all
interested parties the above entitled
matter came on for hearing and In
vestigatioh before the commission nj
the City hail Klamath Falls, Oregon,
ou tut Astu uas W SttooSts Ass's -
the hour Of S:30 q. m, at which time
and place witnesses were called and
their testimony taken: and. the com.
mission nov being fully advised In
the premises. the matter Is ready for
final determination and order.
Present; II. u. Corey. commission
er.
Appearances: For Applicant: r.
c. Groesbeek. C. J. Ferguson. Its at
torneys, J. c. Thompson. manager.
For city OF Klamath Falls: J. II.
Carnshan, city attorney. J. r. S'ru.
BILE. mayor.
This application was based upon
the grounds that during years 1917
to 1919 the prices OF material and
labor had Increased abnormally. and
that operating costs had also In
creased to such an extent that tho In
come derived during the year 1918
provided q return Of less than . -
while Il II necessary to pay 20 on
borrowed capital. also that during
the year 1920 II has been necessary
to largely increase the capital invest
ment, and that further investment In
plant Is necessary 10 provide ade-
Quate and satisfactory service; that
following 1919 the present rates will
not only provide no return. but In
fact will Cause an actual deficit In
the operation OF the utility. Also
that on July l6. 1917. the public
service commission OF Oregon found
Q physical value OF the applicants
water system. and fixed deprecia-
ton rate to apply TO same which Is
found to be inadequate. ..
Since the former hearing the mat.
ter of fire protection for the city OF
Klamath Falls assumed such impor-
tance that a formal hearing was held
In the matter before Chairman Will
liams, ut the chamber OF commerce
club rooms in Klamath Fails. on
Thursday. April 18Th. 1929. at the
hour Of 1890 O. m. at which time
and place the following appearances
were made:
For the city OF klamath Falls; VIII
son 8. Wiley. mayor. N. $. West. city
councilman.
For the chamber OF commerce: J.
A. Gordon. president.
For state fire marshal: Horace
Sykes. deputy.
For Oregon insurance rating bur-
eau: James N. McCune. manager. c.
F. Wagner. engineer.
For California Oregon Power com
pany: Paul d. Mckee. vice-president
and general manager. +. q. Phelps,
secretary. c. +. Blee. assistant gen
eral agent.
In the meantime. an apparent ef-
fort by the utility 10 cover both Issues
resulted In the filing by II. on April
!. 1922. Of Supplement No. 10 to Its
y. s. C. Or. No. .. which named In
creased rates for practically all wa
ter service rendered at klamath
and which was scheduled TO
become effective May I. 1929. As
this matter was already formally be-
fore this commission. the operation
OF the supplementary tariff was. on
April 80, 1892. suspended until the
first day Of July. 1929, unless other
wise ordered by the commission"
The result OF these two hearings
will be kbmbined end the issues
raised In both. and by the suspended
tariff will be considered In full In
this determination.
Opinion
Valuation For Rate Making: In
former proceedings this commission
made O full Investigation. and valua.
tion Of this utility and fixed total
valuation for rate making purposes.
as OF December 81. 1916. amounting
TO yl78.l35.00. and also fixed a
rate OF depreciation 10 be used by
the utility In the various accounts
as an operating expense. On account
of the action OF chemicals In the soil.
the depreciation rate as fixed at this
time ON the distribution system has
been since found to be inadequate.
In this proceeding. the commissions 5
engineering staff has made full and
careful investigation Of the operat-
ing expenses. the condition OF the
plant. and Of three years net addl-
tions and betterments made to the
plant since the former valuation was
fixed. and reports that there has
,een total investment In new plant
luring the years 1917, 1913 and