I
FOREST GROVE PRESS, FOREST GROVE. OREGON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1912.
OVERCt
ANALYSIS OF REPORT.
OVERCHARGES.
Please note that the plant earned $800.45 during January
?heea v ?r a ^ fir 0tnhe la s.% Y St‘'° g months vvas $72G-03 whi‘e
«477 79
;
1 S,IX mo? ths given in Veport was only
fn. kimr’ n i/i,!» u
ovej;cl!arffe here of $248.31 per month, hut
making all due allowance for increased income during long winter
PRODUCE
PROFIT FOR CITY ELECTRIC PLAN T
Finance Committee’s Report Last W eek Omits H alf of Expenses
ie» m onthsof thL'year.0' anoverc^ar^e of at least $900.00 during
and Shows Overcharges of $ 2 4 8 per Month.
METERS
But this is not all. Consumers are charged a high flat rate in
ordei to urge them to buy an electric meter. The charge for
«19 mT f t r«s?a3 iVar®d. between $14 and $H say an average of
* ,;
. Clty electrician states that about 200 meters have been
sold. 1 his means that consumers of electricity in Forest Grove
have been overcharged $3000.00 during ten months, that is $600 for
light and $2100 for meters. There are still about 300 houses to
receive meters which indicates an overcharge next year o f $3300.00
for meter or about $1100.00 for light used on flat rate
CUSTOMERS LOSE
The Customer loses either way. Note that earnings of plant
fall as meters are installed. This means that overcharges for
light will not defray future losses in conduct of the plant and
taxes must be levied in time to meet deficits. The citizen pays at
one end or the other when business methods o f this kind prevail.
FUEL
In conducting a steam electric generating station the item of
fuel is a great burden on the plant. An engine uses a certain
weight of steam to do a certain amount o f work. To evaporate a
pound o f water into a pound of steam requires a certain weight of
fuel
The weight varies according to the quality of the fuel and
its dryness. 1 heoretical and practical results vary so greatly that!
REPORT UNCORRECTED
only experience can show the approximate amount of fuel needed THE REPORT CORRECTED
for a given case. Practical quantities always exceed theoretical
quantities.
Theoretically the Forest Grove plant requires 656
Period of Ten Months Only
Period o f Ten Months Only
cords of wood per year. Practical results in many similar plants
give from 900 to 1100 cords. The report mentions 560 cords and
At a Council meeting Tuesday
Income Per City Report
asks for an allowance for fuel on hand at the time report was com
night
November 19th the finance
$ 5770.44
pleted, forgetting that there must have been fuel on hand at the From customers
committee
submitted the follow
time the report began in January. Perhaps also the bill paid Nov. From earnings credit-
ing
report
upon
the receipts and
14 amounting to $536.25, has a connection with this case.
1520.17
ed from City lighing
expenditures
o
f
the light fund
A NEW LAW OF MECHANICS
From 100 porch lights
o
f
the
city:
The city seems to have found a new law of mechanics when
25.00
at 25 cents each___
it can claim to carry its service on an expenditure for fuel 96 cords
Forest Grove, Oregon.
less than the theoretical amount and 340 cords less than the usual
$7315.61
November 19, 1912.
results in general practice. It is more probable that a bill for fuel
Deduct
for
power
To
the
Common
Council of the
was overlooked; (a bill for $536.25 for fuel was paid Nov. 14.)
house
l
i
g
h
t
i
n
g
City
of
Forest
Grove,
Washing
Or perhaps ten months is too long for the buyer to recall that a
72.90 ton County, Oregon.
chgd profit.............
stock of fuel was on hand before January, when the report begins.
We, the undersigned finance
LABOR
Total.......................... $ 7242.71 committee of said council, here
Payments for work done stand high as items of expense in
electrical business. The report shows $1900.00 paid during ten
Expenses per our estimate
by respectfully submit the fol
months. This $190 per month includes $150 per month to the en
lowing report of the receipts and
gineer and fireman at the engine house and the $15 per month Labor two men in
expenditures
of the light fund
power house per re
paid to the city electrician for inspecting the lines or wiring of the
city. This leaves $25 per month for all the other labor connected
port ........................ $ 1500.00 of said city for the ten months
preceeding and ending Novem
with the entire city electric installation; machinery, poles, wires, Labor on unkeep of
shop work, and upkeep generally. That is it costs Forest Grove
jjoles, wires, e t c ....
500.00 ber 1, 1912.
83 cents per day to do the same work which everywhere else costs
I t e m s o f R e c e ip t .
from $2.50 to $3.75 per day. It is barely possible that again the Inspecting line by city
inspector, per report
150.00 Receipts from the users of light:
finance committee failed to find that some part of the sum of
$410.40 paid for wages and labor done for the city in October should Fuel at 2£ cords per
January.......................
$ 800.45
be applied to the lighting expense. If we add. similar proportions
day at $3.25 cord
2437.50 February .,
737.08
for the remaining months of the report labor rises considerably.
Oil, boiler compound
M arch........
766.42
MINOR EXPENSES.
etc. per report........
129.74 A pril.........
600.18
The smallest business finds that little items here and there go
boiler
M ay.........
525.47
to make up a noticeable fraction of yearly expense. A bolt, a tool, Lighting of
house
per
rep
ort...
72.90 June ........
a little belt dressing, some nails, oil, cotton waste and piston pack
504.89
ing will make a noticeable item in a year. Forest Grove is getting Material used in line
July...........
441.05
along with less than any other plant has ever done in this respect.
upkeep ...................
275.00 August
420.25
Can it be that a stock on hand a yea • ago helps to make the
September.
430.90
present showing about one-half the normal.
T o ta l........... .............
5065.14
October
.
.
.
543.75
RENT
Add to Above Expense These
Rent is not considered at all; yet the electric plant should
Total cash receipts $ 5770.44
Items
bear its share of this item unless the other business of the city is
Lights furnished for public
to carry all the expenses while the lighting returns all the profits. Fund for replacing
purposes.
TAXES
worn out machin
86 lights, 10 months
Note also that the site of the power station with its new rail
636.00
ery ............................
for streets..............
$1290.00
road siding is a property valuable for taxing purposes, I f Occupi Fund for replacing
ed bh a manufacturer the return in taxes would be a large item of
Library, 10 months
75.30
poles, wires e tc___
414.00
income. This and other taxes are now lost. Not only this but
Firehouse, 3 months
26.73
thousands of dollars a year would be spent by the employees of a Fund for repaying
Powerhouse, 10 mo
æ 72.90
plant with fifty to one-hundred people on its pay-roll, while the
130.00
principal on bonds
Wash.
Co.
A
gri.,
and
power plant employs two, and the Washington-Oregon company Interest on bonds is
Livestock Associa
would employ from six to ten men.
sued for mechanical
tion
..........................
25.00
POWER HOUSE LIGHTING
plant.....................
600.00
8 light posts, extra 1
The report includes $72.90 for lighting the power house. This
Interest on bonds is
is an item of expense. The report places this item in profit
mo.............................
30.24
sued for new line
account under street lighting.
w ork.........................
230.00
Total...........
1520.17
WATER USED BY POWER HOUSE
95.00 Cash received.
Insurance
for
fir
e
....
5770.44
In order to secure an increased efficiency from an engine there |
210.00
have been invented several forms of apparatus for condensing Casualty insurance. . .
Total revenue ....... se $ 7290.51
steam back into water, in order to remove back pressure on the Losses from diverted
piston working in the cylinders of the engine. Thet ypeot con-
taxes.........................
3849.74
105.00 Total disbursements..
denser used by the Forest Grove plant is very effective and adds Rent pro rate share
about twelve pounds per square inch to the pressure of the steam,
Net returns to .city... $ 3440.77
at $12 per month
120.00
B u t a great deal o f cold water is used to condense the steam. The
Expenditures
city plant uses 50,000 to80,000 gallons per day. Water costs money.
Items of Expenditures
Total Expense......... $ 7605.14
But the report shows no item for this.
Salary.......................... $ 1900.00
Total
Income...........
$
7242.71
INSURANCE
Expense, oil, boiler
Fire insurance, accident insurance (casualty insurance,) and
Deficit ....................„ $ 362.43
compound, etc $129.74 $ 2029.74
insurance against unexpected damages are today an absolute
necessity in business. Fire insurance is too well understood to But this deficit will be
Extension work and
dwell upon.
Casualty insurance protects from damage claims
increased owing to
m aterials................. $ 406.47
those who employ labor. If a workman is hurt or killed the law
__ _______
the
following cause.
holds the employer more or less responsible and there is usually ,
,
„
$ 2436.21
me
some loss charged up from every accideut in the engine house or
Jan.
1,
1912,
400
cords
ters are placed will
along the distributing system. A plant may go a year or two
wood at $3.25___ $ 1300.00
reduce earnings$75.
with trifling expense but there come occasions when the losses
mount into large figures. Wires breaking and harming people in
per month at least
$750.00 Nov. 1,1912, 160 cords
the street killing animals or setting fires produce losses which
wood at $ 3 .2 5 ....
520.00
Deficit ten months $ 1112.43
can be met by setting aside a contingent fund or by insurance,
Paid for to Nov. 1, $ 1820.00
the latter being the customary method. None o f these expenses
are included in the report. To judge how much they amount to
Expense and salary
2029.74
NOTE—The amounts stat
eI*mi" e ° ar“ {j7T^ V T AND SINKMG FUNDS
ed above are conservative.
3849.74
of business requires capital. Even public busi-
Every kind
O.
M.
S
anford
capital must be paid back sometime, and
ana interest ^ w e were about to start a
ness. This
J. M. B a r b e r
rnnai he naid all the time on the capital invested. Machinery plant of this size we would
Committee.
wears d o to r becomes otherwise unfit for um «fter «certain time A D D thirty p ercen t to .11 o f
.Uo
osnohinps
asinkine
fund
must
be
established
which
.
This report does not include 100
T o replace the machines a sinking fund
will be large enough to accomplish this purpose every ten years. these items.
perch lights and does not deduct
Poles and wiring have a certain life and a sinking fund for re-
REMEMBER, W E DO for wood on hand and paid for.
pladng poles and other parts of the distributing system must
(ae stands for errors)
{nature every fifteen years. Sane o f these expenses are included N OT A SK FOR A MONOP-
l i the report. Our items for these are conservatively stated in
C W. HILL. -
OLY.
A4*.
For W tib in ita i-O n co i C v p c n L .,.
our estimate of expense.
EVERYTHING TAKEN OUT OF PLANT
and Nothing Put In to Maintain Value of Property
CONSUMER and TAXPAYER
THE VICTIM
AN EDITORIAL
FROM THE NEWS TIMES OF THURSDAY, NOV. 21.
In another part of the paper today the News Times presents the report of
the light committee made to the city council Tuesday night for the ten months
past, beginning with last January. The statement shows the receipts and ex
penditures of the city during that time in the management o f its municipal
lighting plant, and quite a creditable showing it is. Since the matter o f giving
an outside corporation this work has been agitated some the past few weeks
by the corporation's agent in an attempt to influence the people to take up its
proposition, it might be well fo r each citizen to carefully consider the facts
^resented in this report. The showing certainly is a creditable one for those
who have had in charge the management o f our lightnig plant and we believe
that our people will be slow to make a change just now. Portland has just
voted almost unanimously to grant a franchise to a new and independent com
pany that will soon get i"to the field for business and should Forest Grove at
some future time desire to contract for its light and power it may be that
better inducements can be secured from the new system that is to enter the field
in our big sister city. At the rate that our plant is now working there certain
ly is no need fo r a change at this time. A net révenue of over $340 per month
is surely good interest on the investment and no town anywhere has better
service than the municipal plant has given since its installment. ,
The above editorial from the official newspaper of the City of
Forest Grove, may be taken as the voice of the administration.
Replying thereto, the agent therein mentioned feels justified in
giving the following facts.
Five times in successive weeks the said agent appeared be
fore your Common Council with a frank request that the Council
consider some form of contract between the Washington-Oregon
Corporation and the City. The terms solicited were as follows:
That the city give a lease or a franchise or buy current.
The Washinglon-Oregon Corporation to pay a reasonable profit
to the city.
The Washington-Oregon Corporation to carry certain street
lights free.
The Washington-Oregon Corporation not to demand a monopoly
in the Grove.
The Washington-Oregon Corporation to give twenty-four hour
service.
The Washington-Oregon Corporation to guarantee ample and
continuous service.
The Washington-Oregon Corporation to give electric meters
free.
Rates for service to be 12 cents per K. W. hour, Minimum 75
cts. per month.
Existing City plant to be retained by city ready for use
in event of Washington-Oregon Corporation failing to give service
promised.
Guarantee bond to be given by Washington-Oregon Corpora
tion to protect interests of city.
Scant attention was given any o f these offers. A request that
the terms be written into the minutes was ignored. The meeting
adjourned always in the midst of presentation of facts by said
agent.
Only after utter failure to secure proper consideration by the
Council did this matter reach the stage called in the editorial
above “ an attempt to influence the people to take up the proposi
tion.”
The editorial suggests that “ it might be well for each citizen
to carefully consider tne facts” and we agree to this most cordi
ally. Our facts and theirs are both grouped on this page where
the comparison can be readily made. All the items quoted as our
figures are thirty per cent lower than we would estimate if about
to establish a business o f similar character. They are conserva
tive estimates.
The editorial says “ better inducements can be secured from
the new system that is entering our big sister city.”
We presume
this means the Northwestern Electric which is now building a dam
at Salmon River. Our terms do not forbid the entry of this com
petitor into Forest Grove. Nor the entry of others nearer by who
are in the electric business. Whenever they can give lower rates
and equa lservice, we must meet that legitimate competition or yield
the field to them.
Perhaps the residents of Forest Gçove prefer to wait an in
definite time for the others while the present plant taxes them out
of several thousand dollars and sells meters at a profit.
One thing stands out strongly in this editorial in the city organ.
That is the fact, that despite a present profit of over $4000 dollars,
the administration is contemplating the necessity of admitting a
new system. If the Washington-Oregon Corporation could earn
one half as much on the same investment it would be back in the
obsolete field of the small independent plant and not in the
modern field of central station distribution of electricity thought by
electrical engineers all over the world to be the only method for
the future.