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Show Utilities' Latest Proposals Make Mew Ball Gome, Sen. Moss Says used as the launching pad for a private utility proposal. And I am shocked at the secrecy surrounding sur-rounding the special commission meeting at which this resolution was adopted. "The Upper Colorado River Commission should be guarding the interests of the water users of the states of the entire basin not the financial interests of special industries. If the utilities ; had a proposal to make to the Bureau of Reclamation it should have been made openly, and the (Continued on page 10) Senator Frank E. Moss (D-Utah) (D-Utah) declared Tuesday that an apparent offer of five utility companies to eut by some $150-000.000 $150-000.000 their previous price for wheeling the electric power of the Colorado River Storage Project makes a "new ball game" out of the decision to build or not to build Federal transmission lines. Moss said: "I am studying the September 1 resolution of the Upper Colorado Colo-rado River Commission very carefully. If its statement concerning con-cerning the utilities' offer is true, it is apparent that Congress has already saved the Upper Basin Fund at least a hundred and fifty million dollars by refusing re-fusing to accept the utilities' first offer. "This action makes it embarrassingly embar-rassingly clear that the first proposal pro-posal so vigorously supported by Governor Clyde and many other Utahns was not in the interest of the State of Utah, of the project, or of the power consumers. con-sumers. "And it completely vindicates Secretary Udall and the Bureau of Reclarotion, which stated that the private utility proposal would put less revenue in the basin fund for participating projects than would the bureau proposal. "I am amazed that the commission com-mission would allow itself to be Utilities1 Latest Proposals Make New Ball Game Sen. AAoss Says ments with the Bureau of Reclamation Recla-mation for bona fide wheeling contracts in which the utilities will limit their wheeling charges after their capital investments in said transmission facilities have been amortized or after the initial fifty-year period, whichever which-ever is the earlier, to cover only actual ad valorem taxes and actual ac-tual operation, maintenance and replacement costs on transmission transmis-sion facilities associated with such wheeling contracts, endorses en-dorses the combination proposal of the investor-owned utilities, provided that the Congress determines de-termines that under such proposal pro-posal the project repayment and consumer power rates are not adversely affected when compared com-pared with other methods of energy en-ergy transmission; and, "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, RE-SOLVED, that the commission advise the Congress of this endorsement en-dorsement and that the chief engineer and secretary of the commission is directed to transmit trans-mit copies of this resolution to members of the appropriations committees of both Houses of Congress and to other interested parties." Utah's representative on the commission is Governor George D. Clyde. (Continued from page 1) commission should have considered con-sidered it openly after receiving the bureau's comments on it and iifing other interrested persons an opportunity to be heard. "I am asking the Bureau of Reclamation for its analysis of the new figures when they are received. It will also be necessary neces-sary to check the statements of the utility companies to see if the boards of directors representing repre-senting their investor - owners are in accord with the offer to do the job for a hundred and fifty million less. "The timing of the proposal is also significant. It comes as we are rushing toward adjournment, adjourn-ment, and only a day or two before be-fore the House is ready to vote on the Federal transmission line appropriation. This makes it most difficult for Congress to give the offer the careful scrutiny scru-tiny it deserves." The covering letter, signed by Ivan V. Goslin, chief engineer and secretary of the Upper Colorado Colo-rado River Commission, said: "After having received assurances assur-ances from the five investor-owned investor-owned electric utilities of the Upper Colorado River Basin area that the utilities will reduce their charges for transmitting trans-mitting electrical energy to preference pref-erence consumers after the utilities' capital investments in transmission facilities used for wheeling have been amortized, or after the initial fifty-year period of wheeling, whichever is earlier, to actual costs of ad ' valorem taxes and operation, maintenance and replacement, the Upper Colorado River Commission Com-mission adopted the enclosed resolution endorsing the combination com-bination transmission system proposed by the investor-owned utilities for transmitting electric energy to be generated by the Colorado River Storage Project. "The resolution was adopted by the commission at a special meeting on September 1, 1961." The resolution concluded: "NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Upper Colorado River Commission, having hav-ing obtained from the investor-owner investor-owner utilities firm assurance that they will enter into agree- |