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Show Plans Announced For Purchase Of Power By City Increased Consumption Of Power Makes Larger Supply Necessary By UTILITY COMMISSION, MATI1EW BEXTLEV, Chairman LE HOY II. COX HAROLD S. SNOW At the time the St. George municipal power plant was being designed and installed it was expected ex-pected that an additional or third Diesel engine would be needed within a period of four or five years to take care of a normal load increase. Since the date of entering into a contract with the engineer to proceed with the plant installation, even with war restrictions re-strictions on the sale of electrical applicances and equipment, our plant load has continually increased increas-ed and the Utility Commission has been confronted with the problem of obtaining more power producing facilities. The importance import-ance of an expansion can best be appreciated when one considers what the increased demand for power might be if the war were to end and new electric appliances were made available to all who had a desire to purchase them. With such a problem before us it has become a matter of trying to obtain a third Diesel engine or of bringing in power from an outside source. A recent letter from the W. P. B. advised us to utilize all hyrdo power possible and save on our fuel consumption as the oil supply on the Pacific coast was becoming critical. This advice was not hard to take as our oil supply had been very low-on low-on more than one occasion. While we were working on the problems above mentioned the Southern Utah Power company offered to sell to the City of St. George both surplus and standby power; (the former at a price near to the cost of fuel used in production, the latter at another price but such that we considered it fair,) and thus make is possible possi-ble for us to save considerable fuel oil. Mutually Beneficial By working out, a contract agreeable to both parties, the City Utility Commission can postpone for a few years, or until equipment equip-ment is more readily available, the purchase of a third Diesel engine. The City will fulfill a partiotic request in reducing the amount of oil used and at the same time will obtain the power needed at a cost no higher than the cost of producing it. St. George is still in the power producing pro-ducing business, but under this arrangement, and making full use of its hydro plant, may turn off all Diesel engines at night and during the day, one or two Diesels may be used as the load requires, but with a high efficiency factor. During the summer months the engines will be used at least long enough to heat the water in the swimming pool so that no handicap handi-cap will be placed on this much appreciated project. During the next five years or until general conditions materially materi-ally change, such an agreement as the City and the Southern Utah Power Company has entered into should be mutually advantageous advanta-geous to both concerns. The Power Company has power for sale; the City's demand is steadily stead-ily growing. |