The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-01-24
SKOWHEGAN is AN EXAMPLE
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lied resource. The market for cleo
trcity has expanded and this larger
market warrants larger power plants
than any local demand would war
rant. Frankly, can understand
"small-town stuff" better than | can
some larger affairs. so I'll ask the
privilege Of illustrating this princi-
pie of an expanded market and the
full utilization thus made practicable
by some facts from home I refer
to the Skowhegan development and
will repeat the argument | once used
in talking with Governor Parkhurst
Under conditions such as have pre-
vailed generally on the water power
sites in northern New England there
were formerly at the Skowhegan Falls
perhaps % wheels. large and small,
with an installed capacity of about
$500 horsepower. The hydraulic
head for these wheels was from II to
90 feet and the older wheels are be-
lieved to have had an overall eff
cheney of 30 per cent Today the
model power house at Skowhegan
contains four generators of
1850 horsepower each, with room for
fifth; the head is 25 feet now and
will be eventually SO feet; the pres
ent water wheel efficiency is 90 per
cent and the overall efficiency is
probably 81 per cent An effective
installed capacity of 81 900 horse
power is substituted for the old $500
horsepower. To complete the COM
parison between the old and the new
the annual output of power at the
Skowhegan plant is already five times
what the old wheels furnished to in
dustry
Yet there is a larger aspect of this
full utilization of the Skowhegan
Falls. The local demand for indus
trial power was fully met by using a
small fraction of the natural energy
available here and even that fraction
was wastefully used. Nor could any
immediate demand for more power for
local use be fOrecasted that would
warrant the large outlay necessary to
harness the Kennebec as ii has now
been harnessed. That large invest
ment of capital was made feasible
only when the need of electricity in
the whole central Maine region had
come to exceed the capacity of other
plants. The wider market made the
local developments good bushes
proposition.
The lesson is plain indeed. Had
the citizens of Skowhegan in town
meeting assembled voted that no cleo
tricity generated within the town
limits should be exported across the
town lines, or had the County Com
missioners taken similar action re-
garding the transmission of electric
current across the boundaries of
Somerset County, it takes no unusual
vision to see that so per cent of the
waters of the KennebeC would con-
tinue for many years to flow idly past
the island where the modern power
house now stands. Had SkoWhe-
gan sought to keep her water power
to herself ii would have continued in
greater part to be like the talent
wrapped in the napkin--unused CAPT
tai.
One significant faet needs to be re-
corded Skowhegan today is undoubt-
eddy using more power and cheaper
power than she was before the up
to-date development was completed
The policy Of sharing this river-given
energy with other communities at
distance seems to illustrate again the
truth of the text that there is that
which scattereth and yet increaseth
And it might be added that this pow
err available for Skowhegan industries
and Skowhegan homes is not only
more abundant and cheaper but ii is
more reliable. Not only is the new
station fully equipped and in less
danger of breakdown than the old
system of small water wheels, but
the Skowhegan user of electric cur
rent is hitched up with the other sta
tons including the steam standby
station at Farmingdale Better ser
vice as well as cheaper electricity
has resulted from the substitution Of
the new system for the old.
In small way this modern and
efficient development of the Skowhe-
gan water power-its interconnection
with a Statewide system of distribu-
tion--illustrates the superpower idea
of insuring full utilization with
maximum efficiency and economy
{. The joint result of long-distance
transmission and interconnection is
to hasten development and cheaper
the product.
What then, prevents the similar de-
velopment of other power sites on
our Maine rivers? Is the obstacle
one of Natures making or is it man
made
Yours very cordially.
(Signed GEO. OTIS SMITH
Washington, ID. c.
January II. 1924.
Cooperative Society Shipping Hay