The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-08-09
CHEAP ELECTRICITY ROAD TO
THE MORE ABUNDANT LIFE

Christian Science Monitor:
Cut the price of electricity and see
the profits roll in!
That, in effect, is the slogan of
growing group of Washington legis-
lators who believe public utilities
could greatly increase their own
profits by mass distribution of cleo
tricity.
To support this view they show a
growing mass of statistics where the
experiment has been tried.
Henry Ford made expensive cars
only few years ago, they point out,
then he decided there was more
money making cheap cars and sell
richest man in American the
world.
Big Expansion Seen
That is the same procedure pro-
posed for electricity. The demand
for electricity is absolutely hmitless,
it is said. Make electricity cheap
enough, it is commended, and huge
classes of the citizenship who do not
now use it, or do not make as much
use of it as they could, would in
crease purchases.
Put electricity on farms, only one
out of 10 of which are now electri-
fed, give the poorer homes the adj
vantages of electric light and power,
put fans and refrigerators in use and,
as a result, see two things happen,
each desirable in its way:
/. A vast increase in American
living standards.
2. An increase in the financial re-
turns of the hard hit utilities.
Since much that Congress is now
doing in the holding company bill,
in the lobby investigation, in the
IVA amendment and in other di-
rections, all refers directly or indi-
rectly to this hope of making cleo
tricity cheaper, the concrete illustra-
tons that are being cited are of
growing interest. Here are some of
them:
One years operation of IVA rates
in the city of Athens, Ala, which cut
the average domestic electricity rate
from about " cents kilowatt hour
the average for the United States
as a whole-to about cents,
brought an immediate 800 per cent
increase in the use of electricity. The
Athens light rate was cut June 1,
1884, the specific cut being As per
cent.
Immediately the average use of
electricity jumped from 81 kilowatt
hours per month to ia kilowatt
hours a month. And the city receiv-
ed 20 per cent more total revenues
in May, 1885, under the low IVA
rates than it received in May, 1884
under rates about twice as high! 1t
made money by selling cheaper.
Athens buys it's electricity from
the Tennessee Valley Authority, and
thus represents to certain extent
the effect of public operation in the
power field. But at the same time
the same experiment was tried in the
field of private utility.
The Tennessee Electric Power Com
pany is a private company operating
in the heart of the Tennessee Valley
watershed.
On Jan. 4, 1884, it entered into
contract with IVA which provided
that it would cut it's own rates 20 per
cent. Though less than the IVA
cut, this was substantial reduction.
What happened?
From May, 1884, to May 1886 the
Tennessee Electric Power Company,
with these reduced rates, established
itself so securely that it recently re-
ceived the Coffin Medal from the Edi-
son Electric Institute for the finest
record in the country during the
years operations.
Substantially all of the loss in
gross revenues resulting from the
initial rate slash was recovered in
the course of one year.
The company's domestic custom
ers, meanwhile, installed more cleo
trio equipment in their homes than
those of any private company in
similar period, it is believed, in the
history of America.
Finally, there was an increase of
200 kilowatt hours per year per Gus
toner, compared with an average in
crease per customer over the United
States of only about 35 kilowatt
hours per year.
A further example is seen in
Washington. Here the local utilities
m m ~, ic sion ronuirad fba o1ootr;o