Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-06
COMMISSION GIVES
GAS CO. TEN DAYS
TO OBEY ORDERS

1Continued From First Page.l
consumers equipment. your letter indi-
Gates that YOU are making none except
on new installations and as result OF
specific complaints. This does not &C
cord with the spirit or the language OF
our directions to you. It Is not in &C
cord with statements made by the om-
cials of your company that such ad-
justments we're being made at the rate
Of about 5000 per month. Furthermore,
the necessity for adjustments does net
depend upon complaint made by
consumer.
your attention has been repeatedly
directed and is once more called TO the
instructions issued to you, requiring you
to make ID necessary adjustments, t2)
that this work be done IN cooperation
with the commissions engineering pu-
reau. (3) that the commission be kept
informed as to the progress of such adj
Tlst1nents Although these instructions
were issued more than month ago, not
q single report of progress has been re-
ceived from you. Subsequent SPECIFIC re-
quests for this information have failed
to secure it.
Whatever the expense connected
with making such adjustments may be,
your company is not justified. for that
remain unadjusted. The consumers In
terests and safety must be considered as
well as the interests of the company.
and this commission proposes TO insist
upon the taking of measures which Will
conserve the interests and the safety OF
all Of the consumers.
Periodical Reports Ordered.
"You are again directed to submit
the progress Of reports, above n1srI-
toned, on or before the 10th instant
which will show the number Of adj
justmentS made by you up to and in
Guiding the 7th instant and that
thereafter every 10 days similar re-
ports be made, showing the number
Of adjustments made during each such
To-day period.
arThere is sufficient evidence before
this commission to convince 1t that
where the necessary adjustments have
not been made, the higher pressures are
responsible for greater amounts OF gas
passing through the meters In given
time, and that as a consequence, the
bills of many Of your consumers have
been unduly increased"
The commissions letter was signed by
Mai. Gen. Mason M Patrick, chairman.
The statement issued by Peoples
Counsel Keech read as follows:
II am amazed that the statement OF
the gas company TO the effect that It
feels that the expenditure Of so cents
IS too great to protect human life, as
well as to protect excessive charges to
persons exceeding in large sums that
which would be entailed IN correcting
conditions. especially when it has been
brought about by the affirmative action
of the company itself.
Had Received Notice.
1.-THE company has been put def
nitely on notice by the chief engineer
of the commision-now member Of its
own staf-that a lack of adjustment of
appliances to meet higher pressure pos
Sibiy would result in the generation Of
carbon mono3ide, which is poisonous,
and the inefflciency Of gas consumption.
"As the investigation has gone on, 1t
has been disclosed in reports TO the
commission and more or less an admis-
sion on the part of the company that
the increase in pressure does have a
substantial effect on gas consumption.
IAN analysis of pressure reports in
the commissions files show that there
has been an increase in pressure
especially from November, 1880, which
IS Strikingly significant in view of the
fact that the areas in which increased
pressure has been greatest are those
from which most complaints have come
Holds Life Involved.
cit would be bad enough If the only
thing involved in this situation were
dollars and cents. But for the, company
to wait for complaints TO come before
taking action where there is a posi-
bflity Of life involved cannot be under
stood by any reasonable person.
1.-THE present situation Is in direct
violation OF the mandate of Con-
gress, in paragraph 2 of the pubic
utilities act, which provides that every
public utility doing business within the
District Of Columbia Is required TO fur
nish service and facilities reasonably
sz=o anc adequate and IN all respects
Just and reasonable
I'm view Of the findings Of the for
naer chief engineer Of the Public Utili-
ties Commission covering the pressure
conditions, it would seem necessary for
the Public Utilities Commission, In view
Of the quoted paragraph Of the act TO