The Washington times., 1924-01-08
POWER FOR
DISTRICT
AMPLE
Measure introduced in House
Provides Electricity for All.
Will Be Pushed.

Construction of a hydroelectric
plant for the District Of Column
bia at Great Falls, in accordance
with the Tyler plan for develop
ment of the falls, is authorized in
bill introduced in the House
this afternoon by Congressman
Frederic N. Zihlman of Mary
land.
The bill authorizes construction
of "all the necessary dams and
other works for the development
of the water power of the Po-
tomac river at and near Great
Falls" The measure provides
that the construction of the prof.
ect shall be under the super
vision of the Secretary of War.
+ Distribution Of Power.
1t is also provided that the hydro
electric energy is to be made 'avail-
able for the use of the Government
and for the use of the public Of the
District of Columbia at a reasonable
cost"
In connection with the bill Con-
gressmen Zihlman and r. Walton
Moore of Virginia, who is coop
Grating in the matter, made the fol.
lowing statement:
Either the development Of the
unused power of the Potomac river
should be now undertaken, or all
thought of doing what has been
dreamed and urged for more than
half century might as well be
abandoned.
Confident of Results.
"The bill has been offered by
those who are just as confident that
the Government and the public of
the District Of Columbia would
greatly profit by what it proposes as
they were of the necessity Of con-
structing an additional water con-
dult at the time when that propo-
sltion was antagonized.
They invited a contest and the ad-
vocates OF the present bill are per-
1ectly aware of the opposition it is
going to encounter.
That opposition was indicated at
the hearing before the Water Power
Commission, when the Commission
was told by the representatives of
the Washington Railway and EIec-
trio Company and the Potomac
Electric Power Company, which
through its subsidiary corporation
owned the land in Virginia and
Maryland. adjacent to Great Falls,
that the generation of hydro-el0ctric
power is not economically practic-
able.
Change in Its Views.
Nevertheless il is not forgotten
that the same interest, in 1906. when
the Old Dominion Railway Company
asked access to Great Falls, through
the land of the subsidiary corpora
ton, commended that the land at
Great Falls had enormous value for
power purposes.
"The Army Engineers, after the
most elaborate investigation, had
no difficulty in reaching the con-
clusion that the power which is
going to waste should and can be
made available for use. With that
conclusion the Power Commission.
made up of three members Of the
Cabinet, heartily agreed.
"The quotation from the letter
Of the commission to Congress, is
an emphatic expression of it's
opinion that to refrain from the
development proposed in the Tyler
report would be detrimental to the
interests of the Government and
the public.
Coupled with that expression the
Commission said:
Recalls Commission Views.
The project when completed will
stand as an illustration to the coun-
try generally of the immense value
of water power development in the
conservation of our natural rO-
sources
1.-THE Tyler report, which was sub
mitted to Congress three years ago.
states that "a comprehensive develop
ment Of the Potomac river for power
purposes, by means of power dams
in the main river and storage reser-
voirs. in certain of the larger tribu-
taries. Is economically feasible and
continuous power thereby can be
generated at a cost per kilowat hour
Of approximately so per cent less
than for power generated by steam
AlISRAMn VII En- nv Alto