Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-12-10
Power Head Speaks
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light companies, as is given tele-
phone companies.
If such a rural electric project
act were passed by the legislature
Central Maine Power Company
would extend several hundred miles
of service within the next year or
two Mr.. Wyman concluded. 1--WE
would hooe to be able to cut down
the cost of future service to the
farmer perhaps one-third and this
might make 1t possible to serve a
great number of farm homes at
something very close to the rate en-
joyed by people in the towns"
Mr.. Wyman's address was briefly
as follows:
Life Work in Maine
Il was born in this state in farm
ing community and Joined the
grange as soon as / was old enough.
1 Lave lived and worked in Maine for
I.lore than fifty years. Nearly every
ling that have in the world is in
Vested in Maine property and so
want 10 say TO you once more that
in talking about our water powers
and other matters connected with
tii1m, am speaking as an individual
whose whole future fortune, good or
bad. is ineXtricably bound up in the
prosperity of Maine.
"A situation has been reached in
the development of New England and
of electricity in New England where
] feel that it is of great Importance
that SO far as is possible everyone
should have some idea of what is
going on and what it may mean or
laey not mean to Maine.
The Law Of 1909
"Eor about fifteen years we have
had law on our statute books
against transmitting electricity gen.
lated by water power outside the
;,ate. This law was passed in 1909
On the theory that Maine had a ire
mendous amount of undeveioped
power, q think old figures used to
sive Maine third place among the
states Of the United States in the
amount of undeveloped power, New
York coming first and California
second and that IL we prevented this
power from being taken out of
Maine in the form of electricity, then
the manufacturers of New England
would Of necessity come here to use
it and that Maine would rapidly
grow into great manufacturing
state. A great deal has been said by
the advocates of this law to the effect
that Maine should not be a mere
power station for the rest of New
England. We have not become even
that, however, and the law has not
been responsible for location in
Maine by single manufacturer.
This law has been in force a little
more than fifteen wears during the
most of which time it has done no
great harm. Economic conditions
were such that in all probability no
transmission line Of any size would
have been built to take power from
Maine to Massachusetts,.
Nearly Two Billion kiIowatt- hours
Undeveloped in kennebec
"On the Upper Kennebec, with
which I am much more familiar than
with the other rivers, there can be
Z developed approximately one billion
two hundred thousand kilowatt-
hours annually. II storage is created
TO equalize the flow Of the river and
IL complete control is obtained, near
ly half billion Of kilowatt- hours of
additional useful power can be de-
veloped on the dams now existing on
the lower river. In other words, 1t is
possible for the Kennebec River to
be 20 fully developed and to have
its waters brought SO completely un-
der control by storage that some
thing more than one and half. bill
lion additional kilowatt-hours can be
developed by 1t, enough electricity to
supply the additional requirements of
the State of Maine for a period of
fifty years and on the other three