The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1958-12-19

CnaC Ulme Cney may ana very prOUdDl
will have become a consolidated in
terest, controlled from the great fl
nancial centers, debating the term
upon which the citizen can conduc
his business or earn his livelihood
and not amenable to the WHOLESOME
check of local opinion"
President Roosevelt concluded hi
message with these words:
II esteem it my duty to use every
endeavor to prevent this growing
monopoly, the most threatening which
has ever appeared, from being fast
ened upon the people of this nation
I-(James River Veto Message, Jan
uary Is. 1909
To appreciate the foresight anc
vision of our 26th President we should
understand that at the time he spoke
the total generating capacity of the
electric industry in this country was
approximately three and one-halt
million kilowatts, while today it is
one hundred and forty-six million
kilowatts, with phenomenal increases
still ahead.
Let us consider now for a few
minutes the connection between pub
lie power and the development of the
energy resources available. Right here
in the Columbia Basin, over 400 of
the total potential hydroelectric pow
er of the nation rushes to the sea-.
According to a study prepared by
Mr.. Ben Torpen, one of the outstand-
ing authorities on the Columbia Basin.
only one-half of that potential can
be developed without upstream stor-
age. Mr.. Torpen said:
COLUMBIA BASIN MUST HAVE
UPSTREAM STORAGE
"Without large storage, floods will
continue. Damages will increase in
proportion to our cultural develop
ment. Without large storage the 30
odd million kilowatts potential of the
Columbia Basin will be cut in half"
Obviously in the Columbia Basin,
conservation and the full develop
ment of power resources means up
stream storage. If we do not get that
storage, we are to that extent guilty
of the immortality of anti-conservation
practices.
In order to understand the import
ance of public power to this phase of
we must examine the
of financing costs to full
development. In any hydroelectric
project, the fixed costs normally COM
prise between 500 and 900 of the
total cost of power from the project.
There is, of course, no fuel cost and
the operation and maintenance costs
are small, which means that the fixed
the repayment of in
vestment and the interest on the in
Jestment-are the primary compon-
ents of the cost of power from the |
project. In the Columbia Basin a one |
Der cent increase in interest means
approximately 1870 increase in the
cost of power.
A project in order to be feasible
must produce power at least as in
as an alternative source,
uch as a thermal generating plant.
70 compare a federal project with
he same project constructed by a
'rivate agency, we must realize the
'reat difference in the fixed costs
involved. AS an average figure for it's
computations, the Federal Power
Commission staff uses a fixed cost
or federal hydro plants a 1890 of
OOetI OoClllCllO CelSu y GoI. WILT Lie
anne figure for private projects is
2.199o. These are the figures for
he percentages of total investment
yhich must be received each year in
ayment for the power produced by
reject, in addition to the compare
lively minor costs of operating and
it, in order to make it
ay out. What this means is that the ]
over from hydro plant under pri-
ate financing will cost between two
nd three times as much as power
rom the same plant with federal fl
ancing. Obviously a project which I
light produce low cost power with I
sderal financing could be priced out
the market with the higher rate of I
etun necessary for private project.
Thus the Federal Power Commits ;
on examiner could find that the ;
lree dam plan of Idaho Power Com 7
any would produce power at a cost +
$3.50 mills per kilowatt-hour, while :
lie much more expensive Federal !;
Ugh Hells Canyon Dam could pro- +
ice power at 2.7 mills-and nearly +
vice as much of it. Yet the private y
,mpany because of it's higher costs y
'uld not build the high dam. In h
lort. project can be perfectly l.
asible for federal development and 4
It be completely infeasible if planned +
T private company. This fact forces r
n n 10 |