New Britain herald., 1924-10-08
WOULD SHETLAND f FOR POWER LINES
Electricity Makers Want Right Of Eminent Domain in State


 How a gigantic inter-connecting power project is materializing throughout New England was de- scribed last evening at the first din- ner meeting of the New Britain branch of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers by Samuel Ferguson. president of the Hartford Electric Light Co.,, and president Of the National Electric Light associa- ton. The dinner was held at the state trade school. A. H. Scott, the new president presided for the first time.
 Mir. Ferguson explained how the companies throughout New England and New York are planning and taking steps to pool their production capacities in order to render the service more nearly infallible and to cut down the cost of production.
 He began by showing a lump of soft coal which he said represented one pound. He said the energy stored in a pound of coal, if it could be released in its entirety, would op- crate 40 candle power light for 2,000 hours. Instead it operates it only for l5 hours.
 "Thc potential efficiency of a pound of coal. at a 100 per cent eff Ciency should run 40 watt lamp 100 hours instead of 15 hours. Thus our boasted efficiency in this case Is only 15 per cent" he said.
 Mr. Ferguson explained that pow CT production has a long way to go before 1t learns how to use the po- tential energy in pound of coal to the same degree that the. potential power stored in a pound of water is HOW used. He explained that q few years ago, four or five pounds of coal per kilowat hour was not un- heard of, five years ago five pounds of coal per kilowat hour would have been good, today power pro- ducers are looking forward to pro Giucing kilowat hour on 1 F pounds of coal and experiments are being made in the hope of bringing 1t down to one pound per kilowat with a corresponding decrease in the cost of production,
 Mr. Ferguson explained how un- der the old custom of having indi- vidual power plants in each con- munity, production costs were high CT and the service not so satisfac- tory, Under the new inter-con- meeting plan now in process of de- velopment, better service at loWfr rates is promised.
 This is done he said by building q plant larger than the demands Of the immediate community. In or der to give the customers the better service its circle of usefulness Is ex- tended to the circle of the power plant in the adjoining territory. Both plants pool their loads and instead of each building a small and made ouate station the pooled loads are carried on the larger stations through the inter-connection plan. This situation, he said, gives greater efficiency but has not yet reached the point of maximum economy or reliability.
 In order to attain this end he said the radius of one circle must con- meet with the adjoining circle with transmission line of sufficient ca- pacity to take up the deficit of the larger lines in case of an accident In the event of there being three such circles, all pooling their loads, he said 1t is extremely unlikely that an accident will happen on both of the outer circles at the same time as on the inner circle. Thus an acci- dent to any one or two circles, or territories covered by the inter-con- meeting system would mean an in- terruption of service for less than five minutes, instead of the possi- bility of an hour or more as has happened in times past.
 Will Eventually" Reach Consumer
 Thre will be a tremendous saw ings in investment, which will even- tualIy reach the customer, he stated explaining that in intelligent selfish ness the company will pass along the savings to the consumer, while in other eases the regulatory bodies of the state will require it. In the case of individual power plants, each plant must have considerable spare capacity in case of breakdown. over, hauling, etc. If the circles are con. nected instead of each circle requir. ing a plant for spare capacity, ont unit will do for a number of circles