Evening star., 1932-10-04

the year hefoSs the war the deFaestie
ccnsumer received only II kilowatt
hours for his dollsr-that's more than
. 50 pr cent gain On the cousumers
side.
"To show where ths customers dol
lar goes, some carefully compiled esti-
mates enable US to break down the
gross revenue Of the power company.
The largest item in this distribution
Of the dollar ef. receipts Is found to
be A cents paid, as interest on bonds
and dividends On stocks. As this In
come represents some So OF invest
ment, It follows that the rate OF re-
turn is fraction over per cent; next
comes the pay roll, which requires y
cents; next the taxes Of all kinds,
which require 101s cents. but this esti-
mate does not include the 8 cents Just
added by act Of Congress; for fuel 81s
cents is paid, even though about q
third Of the electricity IS now generated
by water power; and cents goes for
other supplies; this leaves cents for
depreciation and other retirement re-
serves which are absolutely essential
for safeguarding not only the investors
dollar but the customers service.
From this study Of where the Gus
toners dollar gees can discover no
outstanding opportunity for radical
change In running the business. ]
realize, moreover, that the purchasing
power Of the dollar spent for electricity
Is increasing every year, while, a.
somewhat related fact the average
householder, even in these diMeult
times, is using more and more current
In his home each month.
What electricity costs to generate
x,~sI sc far T.
neering analysts; what the consumer u
asked to pay is the starting point for
political and popular discussion. The
forgotten phase OF the whole matter
lies in the questions, What is electricity
worth to those of us who use 1t IN our
homes? Are we getting value received
when we pay our monthly bils?'
Cost Of Substitutes.
THE best approach to determine the
value of the current we buy Is to con-
slider the cost of substitutes, and the
final measure of the true value OF
energy is mans own energy, the man
hour. Following this line OF thought,
We ask, What is the replacement value
of the electricity we use IN our home In
terms Of man power?' To be practical
rather than academic, let me take a
recent electric bill OF my own and trans
late the kilowatt-hours ON that bill into
man hours: find that ] had the
equivalent Of more than Sls strong
armed servants working for me hours
q day each-that Is. Ter the three shlits
Of the "a hours more than 10 men In
all. And for the electric energy from
the power house 1 paid s6.3l, which
would figure out 2 cents and ! mill
day for the man-power represented.
Thus the replacement value OF the elec-
tric current in terms Of human labor,
at present-day wages. Is at least nun
dredfcld what We actually pay the local
electric light and power company.
However. this statement OF equlva-
lent man power is far from being the
whole of the truth. There are times
every week when the probable load put
on the electric wires entering my home
is something like 800 watts instead OF
the actual average Ct 253 watts shown
by the meter. This larger demand for
current comes when the electric wash
er, the refrigerator, the vacuum clean
er, and some Of the lights are in use
at the same time On Monday morn
ing then, the equivalent man power re-
quired by the power and light demands
Of my household would be 10 men ON
th4t particular SnlIt.
Obviously, few American homes
could afford TO have any such force OF
men at work or In reserve to furnish
motive power for all these modern con-
veniences The plain fact Is that the
energy that comes from the power sta
ton into our homes to drive the house.
hold machinery and to light every room
at will does not displace man labor,
Unemployment does not result from
this lavish use of the energy derived
from mineral fuels or water power; II
we were suddenly cut of from this
cheap supply from the power house
and could not substitute gas for cleo
tricity in some of its wcnder- working
functions, We would not replace IL with
man-driven machines We simply
could not afford the service and would
60 without.
AS consumers Of electric current,
YOU and I may veil feel grateful to the
power industry for what so years has
seen accomplished. for what kilowatt
hours mean translated into the modern
conveniences Of the home, for what We
get fer dollar when We buy electric
energy And ct industrial power rates
the spread between cost OF electric en-
ergy and cost of human labor Is far
greater-therein lies the reason that
the worlds highest wages can be earned
by the skilled workmen who guide the
millions of machines employed IN Amer
ican industry.
The electricity buy now costs only
about quarter as much Is that sold