The Bingham County news. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1918-1930, 1923-08-24

estimates of accessory construction
costs. The cost of a dam is not meas
ured solely by the sacks of cemen
and the pounds of steel. Camp.
must be established, roads or rail
ways built, construction equipment in
stalled, foundations excavated and
drained, reservoirs cleared, debris
removed, and general overhead or.
ganization maintained. Few Of these
items are visible when the project Is
in operation, yet all have entered into
and materially affected the cost.
"The danger of overlooking essen
tial cost elements may be illustrated
by the estimates for a certain pro-
ject on the Colorado river which has
been proposed for development for
the purpose of supplying power to
the adjacent territory and to the mum
icipalities of Southern California. In
fact, the city Of Los Angeles had on
| its ballot in recent election a pro-
posal, which was, however, defeated,
to bond the city for s55,OOO,OOO in
order that in might enter upon this
undertaking. This project has been
given wide publicity and claims have
been made that 1t will produce I'M
usually cheap power. The original
project contemplated the construction
of dam some 700 feet In height, nee
essitating foundations more than 100
feet below the river bed, and creating
some 100000 horsepower. No accu-
rate estimates of the cost of such
development appear to have been
made; at least, of costs up to the
point of energy distribution, which in
this instance would vary from 100 to
300 miles from the power plant. A
careful study has, however, been
made by the commissions engineer
ing staff of a dam one-half the pro-
posed height, and developing 225,000
horsepower, all that would appear
feasible at the present time. The es-
timated cost Of dam, powerhouse, gen.
Grating equipment and step-up trans
formers is $2S,SO0,000, or $12S.00 per
horsepower, while the cost Of trans
mission, including six substations, is
$29, 300, 900, or $4,000 per horsepower,
making a total Of $4,000 Of $104.00
per horsepower more than the pre-
vious example cited. furthermore, the
estimates assume that the energy will
be delivered to distributing systems
already in existence, and that, there
fore, nothing need be included for
lines and equipment or
for steam auxiliaries.
at is of particular significance to
note that, in this case, the capital
costs Of transmission are greater than
all the other costs combined. But |
The energy will be Of no value at the |
power house itself. 1t can be put to
use only at the end Of the distribution |
lines. Figures based upon cost at
generator switchboard may, therefore,
De wholly deceptive. While this is, of
course, an extreme example, 1t illus
rates the danger of basing conclu-
,ions respecting the feasibility Of any
project upon anything less than
careful estimate Of the cost Of all
TENS up to the point of delivery of
,ower.
Electric power development and
hydro-electric develop
nent IL it is to make the advance nee
ssary to meet the increasing de-
hands Of industry will require enor-
nous amounts Of new capital, far be-
ond the financial capabilities of any
mall group or Of any single COM
lunity. To secure the fullest econ
my and the lowest costs will require d
o-ordained utilization Of water and
lel, and the inter-connection Of in
ividual stations over wide areas. |
UGH atlas k calls for the best tech c
ical ability and administrative talent S
lat the country possesses. The
roblem is not a local one, 1t is not 5
ven to be limited by state boundar-
IS. 1t is, in fact, a national prob
m. T.
"a popular misconception similar I;
the one I have just discussed arises q
ON the failure to distinguish be-
veen operating costs computed at D
lie generator switchboard and such @
,sts computed at the consumers d
eters. Furthermore, because water L
,sts nothing 1t is assumed that n.y. G.
-o-electric power must necessarily 81
! much cheaper than steam power. u
'ater is cheaper than fuel, it is true, 81
1T a hydro-electric plant with all It's u