Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-20

expected at the merit session of Congress.
When President Hoover, in his mes
sage to Congress December, 1929, sale
there were interstate transactions II
electric power beyond the jurisdiction
Of the States" he was right.
For example, If an electric power pro-
ducing company in Tennessee sells
power In bulk to distributing com
pany in Alabama. the Public Utility
Commission in Alabama may NIX tne
rate that the electricity is retalled &c
consumers in that State. but it cannon
regulate the price charged by the pro-
ducing company and paid by the dis
tributor. Only the Federal Govern
ment, acting under authority OF the IN
terstate commerce clause OF tne CON
vtitution m:y regulate that transactlon
The Alabama commission, IN trns
case, in fixing the rate charged py tIle
distributing company in Alabama, must
take into account the price paid the
generator of the electricity in Tennes-
see. The State commission mas no
authority to determine whether tha'
wholesale price is fair price OF -
extortionate. It must, IN erect, aF
cept that price as a BASIS LOT ing hsu.lI ny
what is a fair charge made by the $40
barna distributing company TO the coiA,
gumers. The supporters OF Fedel al
rer1Ilation, among them Senator Couz-
ems. insist that here is a loopnole
fhroueh which the electrical companies
NAV mulct the consuming public.
Have Other LOophOles.
There are other loopholes through
Vv11ich the electrical companies may au-
vance their price without the possible
itv of control by the State commissions.
Toldinr and management companies
nresent a field which, 1t is said, is max
inc the task of regulation by state
coTnnision increasingly dit1cult .
A quarter of century ago tne III
terstate operation OF electric cotipa me
was practically non-exlstent. Ing
Transmission of electric power in great
volume for long distances was dream
NJ the future. The electric plant pro-
duced current which was used IN It's I'M
mediate vicinity. All this is changed To-
dav, Networks of wires carry electrlclVy
hundreds of miles from the source o.
is production. State boundaries VANISH
under such conditions. Take the case
~ the great power project, the hoover
nono proiect-formerly called the
boulder Dam. It is proposed to carry
r,ower for $50 miles or more 10 Los
Along with this development OF the
&ransnnission of electric power Tor long
distances has grown up the "hololng
connnanv' and the management COM
nany'' in the field of public utilities. ~
Il urged that these holding companies
result in great economies. Overhead ex-
make larger purchases of materials al
a much less cost. Joint management
and slpoervision are cheaper than series
Of homogeneous.
f'hnse holding companies present
new problem in regulation of the public
1,fiIities. MANY of the States do not try
to control them, and other States wnlcn
have sought to do so are conIronCeo
with the constitutional objection that
thew are engaged in interstate COM
Ynerce. The argument is made that in
any event these holding companies
could be regulated by State commissions
onlv in regard to their operation with
in the individual State.
Dangers Pointed Out.
The danger arising from these hold
ing companies to the individual con-
sumner Of electricity, according to Sena-
tor Coizens, lies In the fact that it is
impossible to bring about their regula-
ton. They may, without regulation by
the Federal Government, pad their
operating expenses, make contracts
with affiliated companies for materials
and services which are out Of all pro-
portion 20 the real value Of the mate
rails and services and pass these ex-
tortionate charges along 70 the con-.
sumner.
The Senate took cognizance Of the
growing concentration Of hydro-electic
interests in the hands Of a comparative
" small group WHEN it called upon the
Federal Trade Commission to 1I1yesti-
gate the so-called "power trust" The
Trade Commission has been engaged
in this work for more than a year. It
is going ahead as rapidly as it can to
learn all the facts and to lay them be-
fore the Senate. It is expected that the
report Of the commission will be Of serv-
ice to the Congress when 1t comes TO
passing upon the proposal to place the
control and supervision of interstate
electric power in the hands of the Fed
eral Power Commission.
Interstate transfer Of electric power
today covers the entire country. Not
a single State in the Union does fail
either to import or to export electrical
power. according to a bulletin issued
in June Of this year by the National
Electric Light Association on the sub
tect of the Interstate Transfer of
Power" In some of the States the per-
centage OF the amount Of electricity
crossing their borders is very small
when compared to the total consump-
States. In others the percentage is
very large. Take, for example, the
case Of Colorado. The bulletin shows
there is no importation of power and
that only per cent of its production
Of electric power Is exported. In
Maine, which has pie -lty of water power
TO produce a tremendous amount Of
electric power. there is a State law
which prohibits the expectation OF
power. The theory has been that the
retention of the hydro electric power
within the borders Of the State would
draw manufacturing plants to Maine.
And Maine, which has plenty of power
of it's own producing, imports only 2
ger cent Of its total consumption.
The Mississippi Situation.
Glance at the situation in Mississippi
TO get the other angle. Mississippi i'm
ports 1877 per cent Of its total con-
sumption of electric power. Arkansas
imports 1871 per cent Of its total con-
sumption.
Missouri imports ATS per cent of It's
total consumption of power. Coming
farther East. Delaware is shown to i'm
port 66.2 per cent of its consumption
of electric power and Rhode Island
259 per cent; Pennsylvania, % per
cent; Massachusetts, 1872 per cent New
Jersey, l9 per cent, and Maryland, in
GLIDING the District OF Columbia, 242
per cent.
Some OF the large exporters of cleo
trical energy are Idaho, with 62.2 per
cent Of all its generated power going
into interstate commerce; Vermont,
64.6 per cent; Maryland and the Dis
trict of Columbia combined. 50 per
cent; Indiana, 21.3 per cent; West Vir-
ginia. 81 per cent; South Carolina, 81
per cent, and Wisconsin, 1874 per cent.
It is clear that the interstate trans
mission of power is not at all incon-
siderable r,aYtfculariv when the cases