The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-17
MANY CITIES TN VALLEY TO BENEFIT I44,OOO Volt Project Grant ed But 10000 Volt
 Line Denied HUNTSVILLE MILL ASSURED POWER Secondary Lines Will Con- meet With Huntsville
 And Cherokee
 ~ e' PERMIT PROVIDESS AGAINST MONOP0 Y Leasing Of Muscle ShQsis / Not Involved In Case,
 Board Says
HUNTSVILLE MILL ASSURED POWER
PERMIT PROVIDESS
 AGAINST MONOP0 4Y
(State Capital Bureau)

MONTGOMERY, Ala, June l.-T Petition of the Alabama Power com pany for a 44.O00-volt transmission line from Decatur to Hapgood, near Muscle Shoals, was granted by the Alabama public service commission in an order today. The commission denied the application of the power company for rehearing on its peti- tion for a 110,000-volt line from Huntsville to Hapgood.
 The petition as granted, author ized construction of an electric dis tribution from a point at or near Hapgood in Colbert county near the northern treminus of the Gorgas transmission line to the present distribution line of the power com pany serving Decatur and other points also a line to a point at or near Cherokee in Colbert county and a line to the existing distri- button lines near Russellville in Franklin county.
 No Monopoly Granted
 In granting the petition, the commis- sion held that the granting of a cer-
 
 a utility does not constitute ian exelua sive franchise OF right to render the particular service in such territory. There is nothing in the law of Alabama which prescribeS or recognizes that the granting of such certificate of con yenience and necessity shall have the effect of preemption of the territory so as to exclude admission of another to render like service in the same territory, the commission said.
 ''The question of the disposition of the government property at Muscle Shoals yet is to be determined by the federal government. but it is hardly conceivable that the granting of a permit for the construction of a A. OOO-vote distribution line with a de- livery capacity of only 1000 horsepower at the Decatur end, could have any ef- feet upon the disposition of the large amount of power that will ultimately be available from the development of Muscle Shoals which is variously esti- mated at from 250,0O0 to 100000 horsepower" the commission stated in its opinion.
 Benefits Huntsville
 The construction of the transmission line will be of benefit to industries at Huntsville, the Lincoln Mills of Hunts vile, having been active in favor of the project. This company has a new three million dollar cotton mill at Huntsville which it was stated would need 5000 horse lower by July 1. It stated in the opinion that it was shown that the continuity of service to the extent of the capacity of the pro- p0sel line would be doubly assured all the way from Gadsden to Hapgood, which part of the petitioners system is most remote from it's hydro-electric generating plants and now services the important towns of Boaz, Albertsville, Guntersville, Huntsville and it's adia- cent mill towns, also Gurley, Madison, Decatur, Albany and Hartselle. The granting of this petition will therefore be greatly beneficial to these towns"
 To Aid Asphalt Company
 Mention was also made of the testi- mony of Dr. Miller Reese Hutchinson as to the immediate need of power to develop deposits of bituminous sand stone or rock asphalt at Cherokee, about 20 miles west of Sheffield. Dr. Hutcbin- son testified that he and associates were putting up mill of daily capacity of thousand tons. and that he had invested $200000 in the Cherokee Rock Asphalt company.