Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-07

lsI..~snII. 4. . "~ J IVY w. ..'G ...IL
| o6ense.'
Fixed Lawful Pressure
-. Pursuant to the aforesaid express
authority conferred by said Public
Utility Act, the Public Utilities Com
mission as early Is July 23, 1914. by its
order No. SO, prescribed the lawful gas
pressure as follows:
THE gas supplied by any gas light
company shall be maintained at pres
sure Of never less than two ~ inches
nor more than six 90 inches Of water
pressure, measured at the outlet Of the
company's service pipe to any consumer
or to any of the commissions testing
stations, and the daily variation in said
pressure during any day at any such
outlet shall never exceed one hundred
Q00) per cent of the minimum pres
sure at that outlet for that day. Said
requirement has been continuously in
force since said July %, 1914. Under
date Of January a. 1881, the Public
Utilities Commission made written de-
mand upon the gas company as follows:
1t Is directed that you proceed as
rapidly as possible to make the neces-
sary adjustments in your main and dis
tribution systems to bring your pres
sures within the commissions require
ments. You are hereby temporarily au-
thorized TO maintain eight inch maxi
mum pressure
Violations Charged.
as. Not only has the gas company
consistently been guilty Of long stand
ing and continuing violations of the
requirement IS to gas pressure. the
violations extending up to as high as
14-inch pressure. but until the COM
missions last order Of January %, 1881,
there was, apparently, no effort on the
part Of the gas company to comply with
the requirement in any wise. The
former Public Utilities Commission con-
tented itself with promulgating the
order and then exercising no SUPER
vision over the pressures Of gas dis
tributed to consumers from day to day,
week to week, or month to month, in
the various sections of the District.
Such oversight or disregard of duty on
the part of the former Public Utilities
Commission cannot, upon any con-
ceivable ground, be deemed as in any
wise condoning or excusing the viola
tons on the part Of the gas company.
In the northwest section OF the District
the average maximum pressure in
January, 1891. was 795 inches, an in
preceding years for the same month:
725 1897 300 cubic feet of gas was used
in the District in January. 1881, as
compared with 492 1885, cubic feet
in January 1880, an increase of Alb
per cent over January, 1880. How
much of such increase represents wasted
gas at the expense Of the consumers,
due TO excessive preSsureS for which
their appliances were not adjusted,
your committee has no means OF ascer-
tanning
IS. For many years the gas COM
pany has maintained 81 pressure read
ing stations In different sections Of the
District. 80 of which were located in
fire engine and truck houses, and all
of which recorded 24-hour readings by
automatic chart Uuntil the last sew
eral months, the gas company has
made no effort to locate and install
the necessary transmission governors
at the different points required to con-
troll the gas pressure as delivered to the
consumers. The gas company has
recently arranged for the location and
installation Of IT such transmission
governors, Of which have already been
installed. Moreover, in order to enable
1t adequately to supply the present and
future demands for gas, the gas COM
pany Is now engaged in installing four
new main transmission lines, one to
Takoma Park, D. c.. which is about
which is nearly completed: one to Wes-
ley Heights. D. c., which is in course
of construction, and another called the
belt line extending from the southeast
gas plant up to S street and then west
to the Georgetown plant.
Recommendation Made.
az. In addition to the foregoing
findings. your committee recommends
in the interest of justice and fair deal
ing TO the public
First. that the federation indorse
the prompt prosecution of the gas COM
pany for its past violations, herein
before mentioned. Of the public utilities
act to the full extent that such
prosecution may be maintained within
the period of the statute of limitations;
Second, that appropriate steps be
taken before the Public Utilities Com
mission to obtain the fixing Of an al
lowable gas pressure restricted to a
closer range than the range Of 2 to
inches now permitted, which al
lows of variation of 800 per cent, an
obviously unreasonable variation from
the standpoint Of justice and fairness
to the consumer, whose appliances can
IlOJ pOcDlUly NC AuJuoVC0 OF tAACy
will automatically take care Of any such
wide range in an efficient manner
whereas, on the other hand, it is
entirely feasible for the gas company's
transmission governors to keep the gas
pressure as delivered to the consumer
at q substantially uniform level.
Third, that every reasonable enort
under the law should be made by the
commission to have reimbursed those
! gas consumers whose bills were claimed
to be abnormally high. due to excessive
pressure and failure by the gas COM
pany adequately to adjust the con-
sumerIs appliances in time to meet
such increased pressure"
Adjourned for Summer.
The federation adopted number OF
other committee reports, cleared its
calendar of all unfinished business and
adjourned at IL SIS o'clock for the SUM
mer. The next regular meeting will be
held in October.
Outstanding among the other reports
- l. = - u XIsal