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Show Federation meeting tonight Battle over electric system continues Whether one considers it dragging on or heating up, the battle for the electric system in southwest Utah is continuing. The Southwest Utah Cooperative Power FedewUion, which Tias been trying to obtain the system for over two years, has called a meeting for tonight at 8 p.m. in the Cedar City Public Library, 136 W. Center Street, to discuss proposed courses of action. Although negotiations between Utah Power & Light and the individual municipalities in the area to purchase the system have been temporarily halted, UP&L has sent option agreements to the cities, asking that they be returned by Oct. 15, only one of several objectionable stipulations area officials see in the documents. Federation President Barbara Starr, who is also a member of the Cedar City Council and the negotiation committee Vfighting for the City's system, is, in fact, unhappy with all the actions of system is only $12,909,625, far less than the inventory price quoted by the consultants. Starr also told the PSC in her letter that UP&L is putting on a public relations blitz to influence the ratepayers of the area. "It may appear to some that we are unduly suspicious," she said. "But we know from UP&L's own PSC testimony that they spent $55,000 at the time of Cedar City's 1980 power election to influence the election and public opinion. In contrast the opponents of UP&L spent less than $3,500. The painful fact is that whenever UP&L spends money with such abandon they - . are spending ratepayer's money." UP&L since it obtained the system from CP National this month. "I believe there has been and still is a subtle campaign being waged to discourage and intimidate cities that want to purchase power distribution systems," she said in a letter to the Utah Public Service Commission, which ordered the option agreements in June of 1981. Among her other complaints, Starr lists the fact that no price has yet been set on the system by UP&L, and that the company is leaning towards an extremely high price. In fact, a study recently completed for the Federation by LEI Consultants Incorporated, shows that the Cedar City portion of the system is valued at $1,243,207. The report also noted that the City could build a duplicate system for $3,461,275. However, this study does not include an inventory of the substations in the system, a very expensive item, according ac-cording to Darcie White, vice president of public and corporate relations for UP&L. "To even get in the ballpark you'd have to have those," he said. Yet, an earlier report by LEI Consultants Con-sultants shows that only 41.7 percent of the entire system lies within Cedar City limits, and 41.7 percent of the purchase price paid by UP&L to CPN for the |