Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-01-24
PARTNERSHIP PROFIT
WHY SHOULD DISCUSS
THE POWER ISSUE


Public Utilities Commission of Maine
Ny dear Chairman Quincy:
The first step toward straight
thinking about Maine water powers
is to debate our idea of their value.
Water power is not unlimited gold;
rather, 1t is a resource calling for a
large addition of brains and labor and
capital before it can be made to pay
dividends. The publicity given to
Names water powers has been too
highly colored; the average citizen
has received exaggerated ideas OF the
amount Of power available and its
value. Just as not every piece of
land is worth cultivating nor every
cow worth her keep for milking, so not
every water power site is worth de-
veloping. Hydroelectric power is not
always cheaper than steam generated
power. In her water powers Maine
possesses resource of large and con-
tinu:ng value If wisely handled, but
Maine has no reason TO consider her
self a monopolist who can disregard
others in the same line Of business.
There is a danger of waiting too long
for these falling waters to become
streams of gold.
What are the facts OH which to
act?
In developed water power Maine
stands fourth among the States. with
100000 horsepower as measured by
capacity Of water wheels.
In undeveloped primary power that
is, power available 80 per cent of the
year, Maine stands twelfth among the
States with less than 100000 horse
power.
Names demand for more energy is
urgent but not for energy in quantl-
ties that justify the public utilities in
undertaking the immediate develop
| ment of the larger sites, which repre-
sents the more economical projects.
Such developments are expensive I'M
less there is market TO take all the
current furnished by each power sta
/ ton as soon as it is completed. In
| terest charges on the cost of the idle
surplus capacity may be sufficient to
| wreck a project that is otherwise
sound.
How, then. is this highly desirable
| Harvesting of Maine rivers to be
brought about? How can full utili-
cation of those latent sources of en-
ergy be reached most quickly and
! most surely? Again we may learn
| from local history. In 1889 Skowhc-
| gan began to light it's streets with
electricity from a noisy little dynamo
| Of few horsepower. and this equip
ment gradually added to year by year
| typified the development required to
serve local interests: now, forty years
later, the great silent generators eX-
| press the full and cheaper electric
! development warranted by wider
, market. This radical change was
| rendered possible only by the making
that local power site Il part of the
large Central Maine system. Similar
~, the answer to the question how to
speed up Maine development is to
| make our water power part of an in
terstate system-call It superpower.
or giantpOwer. or powerpooiing. or
whatever you wish: it is the twentie-
/ tn century way of getting results
with water power.
Frank G.. Baum. an engineer who
| knows electricity in n big way. has
| likcned the superpower plan to bank
! ing electricity instead of boarding it
at home. BY this he means putting
| power into circulation, as the bank
puts your savings into circulation,
using everyone's surplus as and when
and where it is most needed. Carrying
| your own roll or hiding it at home
| means idle money; banking It means
busy money. The Maine trans
| mission law spells idle Maine water
powers and nothing else. That is
why / believe the law has hurt Maine
more than it has our neighbors.
Now, word as to why many
friends of Maine are worried over
this matter as admit l am. Though
this is not properly political issue,
there is an urgency in its discussion.
At present there Is an untitled de-
mand for power in Massachusetts
and southern New England, and the
big men in the power world who are
considering ways a:Ai means of
| meeting this market demand are not
| looking toward Maine. AS the presi =
dent of one of the largest financing
| interests told me a few weeks ago:
Forget Maine, they have posted the
sign Keep OFF," favor taking down
/ that sign.
| And remember. Maine has no
monopoly; Canadian powers are now
! in the market for immediate develop
ment. The st. Lawrence alone Is
capable of developing four million
! horsepower, nearly, If not quite, ten
4 thV VI the uiutNtIUDeU
sites in Maine. Moreover q part OF
this power can be produced on the
bus-bars at on estimated cost of one
! and a half mills per kilowatt hour
: as compared with more than five
| mills for the best Maine sites. Maine
has, however. the advantage of geo.
graphic position as the transmission
distance from power plants to mar
/ ket would be less. And distance
| counts, for the transmission cost for
Canadian power into Massa chusetts
may exceed its generating cost.
| However, these are times when
! business doesn't always wait for
| many legislatures to convene and ad-
| journ, and If electric current from
the Canadian sites gets into the
Massachusetts industrial centers, de
| cades will pass before another op-
portunity so good come for develop
| ing some of the western Maine sites
The st. Lawrence development is on
the power horizon, so q stand pat
power policy for Maine Is dangerous
| for the State.
An essential feature in the SUPER
| power plan is the linking of large
steam plants with water power sta :
| tons. Maine must have available
large quantities of energy generated
from coal to supplement her water
power during periods Of low water
Preferably these standby steam
| plants should be large to be economi
cal and the nearer they are to coal
supplies the better. So it is more
economical to bring. this coal gener-
ated energy into our State over wires
than over rails. The ideal way would
| be to have transmission lines over
which energy would flow into our
State during periods of low water
and out of the State during periods
Of high water. Such an Interstate