The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1947-10-16

As you read in the daily papers
on Tuesday, Mayor Sweeney has APP
pointed a committee to reopen ne
gotiations with the Potomac Edison
Co, for a temporary tie-in between
the Municipal Light Plant and the
PIE system, until such time as the
Light Plant expansion program is
completed
This action was taken at a special
joint meeting of the Mayor and
Council and the Board of Street
Commissioners, held on Monday
night, at which representatives of
the Hagerstown Manufacturers Blu
reau and the press and radio were
present.
The naming of the committee came
as the result of a recommendation
of the Street Commissioners and the
approval of their recommendation
by the Mayor and Council The
committee members j. V. Jamison,
Jr., Herman Hopes and Thomas w.
Pangborn, with Mayor Sweeney and
H. L. Mills, Commissioner in charge
of the Light Plant operations, acting
as ex officio members, were request
ed to take immediate steps to reopen
negotiations with Potomac Edison
and to report back to the Mayor and
Council as quickly as possible.
You will note that the phrase,
reopen negotiations" is used, and
rightly So Some six months or
more ago, committee appointed by
the Mayor opened negotiations with
Pc for such tie-in, but those ne
gotiations came to an abrupt end
when PIE is reported to have insisted
that the Mayor and Council agree
that, if the tie-in was arranged, the
city would confine itself to moderiz-
ing the light plant and would not
attempt its projected expansion
program.
Needless to say the Mayor and
Council fatty rejected such pro-
posal, for they were then-and still
determined to give the city of
Hagerstown a municipal light plant
capable of supplying all the needs of
its customers.
It is understood, however, that the
Potomac Edison Co. is now willing
to negotiate a tie-in contract, with
out the restricting clause.
/ have been asked many times,
why this temporary tie-in with the
Pc system is necessary, and here is
the answer as l see it.
First, the light plant officials, like
economic experts the nation over,
never dreamed that two years after
the end of the war, manufacturers
who are the big users of electrical
power would be doing more bust
ness than they were in the peak of
the war years, and that they would
be expanding their plants and de-
handing more and more electricity.
On the other hand, they expected
a drop in the amount of electricity
used after the war and they figured
on overhauling their plant as soon
as the peak load started to drop.
But the load, instead of dropping,
has increased and as a result the
Municipal Light Plant is running
at full capacity, twenty four hours
day, 365 days of the year.
Because of this condition, there is
no chance of supplying the extra
electrical power which local manu-
facturers are expected to use during
the next three months, nor is there
any chance of the light plant equip
ment receiving the overhauling it so
badly needs.
The expansion program, to which
the Mayor and Council are irrevoc-
ably committed, cannot possibly be
completed for from three to five
years, so as a temporary measure,
the tie-in with the Pc system will
insure manufacturers using power
from the Municipal Light Plant, get
ting all the power they need, and
will also provide the opportunity for
necessary overhauling of the plant
equipment.
Secondhand perhaps more i'm
portant than the first-the temper
airy tie-in with the Pc system, will
guard against major breakdown at
the Municipal Light Plant.
Should there be a major break
down at the light plant, and there
was no tie-in with the Pc system,
not only the manufacturers, but
thousands of homes using city light
and power, would be left helpless
and thousands of men and women
would be thrown out of employ
ment.
The need for temporary tie-in is