Show yJyn' r— rjii i Local I 10 Morniii" — November 10 19118 I hur-l- d s I I’a" inn ft 1 Utilities Oppose FERC Rules on UP&L Merger By Guv Boulton Tribune Staff W riter A group of 10 electrical utilities may pose yet another obstacle to the merger of Utah Power & Light to and PacifiCorp Ten utilities including three of the utilities in largest investor-ownethe country sent a telegram this week to major utilities ask'ng them to oppose the conditions imposed by the federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the merger The FERC approved the merger last month but required the merged company to open its transmission system to other utilities UP&L and PacifiCorp have said the FERC conditions will have a minimal impact on the merger s bene d Council Eases Path to Buy Complex fits But the 10 utilities are fearful the FERC conditions could set a precedent for a national policy on transmission There is a concern that those con ditions would be piac ed ori the entire said Man Kenkel a industry spokeswoman for the Edison Dec trie Institute a trade group that rep resents investor owned utilities And that would not be acceptable for a lot of companies The telegram said the FF RC deci would turn our transmission sion svstems over to public power and others at the expense of our custom ers and hurt system reliability It may ev en be a taking of proper ty without fair compensation the telegram said I he lelt grain w hie h w as signe d bv the top executive of the 10 utilities urgid utilities throughout the coun name d trv to These are not dxmtt rested bv I he' do have standers he said real concerns that the DRC order would affec t their ability to merge in the future Among the signers of the telegram was Southern ( altforma Fdison Co whose parent companv has made an hostile offer to acquire Sjn Diego Intervene in the F’F RC hearings on the merger and present their ob jedions to the t LRC — Ask their state regulators com missions to inters ene or at least file objections at the F LRC — Notify senators and congress man of the potential adv erse impac t of the decision upon your electrical customers — Contact the Edison Electric In stilute The companies are concerned that if they propose a merger with another utility the FERC could im — (as A F rerun d soil this was signed b ten (f(K onlv one of whom was the chairman of Southern Califorr la Edison said Lewis Phelps a spokesman for the compa nv The concern was broad 4 WV t t - 0L ® I -- I’pfcf-BWT--T 1987 UP&L would be disappointed if the said company other utilities intervened at FF'RC and hearings spokesman Dave Mead We think the generic hearings coming up next sear will pros ide am (ile opportunity for this company or v s t any other to present their transnus sum arguments said I P&L spokes man Dave Mead T he F EKC has scheduled hearings in January on the issue of transmis sion access The Ft RC removing the condi tions because of industry opposition could kill the merger on antitrust grounds The conditions were im posed to eliminate the anti cornpeti tive effects of the merger I think politically and emotionally this commission would agree with the idea that what the FFRC ha- done is unjustified and overreach said Ted Stewart chairman of ing the Public Serv ice Commission But the ultimate effect of that would be a denial of the merger We are trving to make sure the FFRC doesn t use this as a se t of Mr precedent setting conditions Phelps said It is Safe to sav we will express our concerns over the prece derttial nature of this decision The utilities will have until Nov 25 to file comments or ask for a re hearing on the F'F RC order The DRC granting a rehearing could cause another delav in the merger which was first announced in August lec trie Co would 1 'A ti m t tig Gj’U Loan to Fund Park With Apartments By Russell Weeks Tribune Staff Writer The Salt Lake City Council has cleared the way for the city to apply for a $1 8 million federal loan to buy a westside apartment complex and build a park nearby Purchasing the complex is a key step in making the non profit Housing Development Corp financially solvent again About $150 000 of the loan also will go to building a park The complex the Canterbury Apartments is located at 1357 N Morton Drive (1700 West) The proposed park is located south of the complex roughly between 1100 North and 1300 North and east of Interstate 215 to amend the The council v oted city s community development block grant budget to include the loan City officials say applying for the loan will be a formality The lone dissenter in the vote council Chairman Tom Godfrey said he approved purchase of the complex but spending money for the park was unpalatable ' If this came out of Washington (DC) someone would" describe it as a l project Mr Godfrey said This is the first time I ve seen this sort of thing on the council and I hope it s the last time Councilwoman Florence Bittner whose district contains the apartment complex and the park said Mr Godfrey s assertion was wrong So did city Capital Planning Division director Rosemary Davis They said city administrators agreed to fund the park so residents around the Canterbury Apartments would be more receptive to the city buying the complex Residents of the middle-clas- s neighborhood feared that the 78-ucomplex would become public housmg for poor people and that the city or other agencies would fail to maintain it Mrs Bittner said In meetings with the Northwest Column 1 See pose similar conditions on them said an analvst who ask d nut to be VUnaMMin 3 — J3L n tiSnm ' I V 1 In PV A : - $ V e 6-- 1 — tribune Standard & Poor’s Ends Special Monitoring Utahns Save State’s Credit Rating by Killing Initiatives By Paul Roily Tribune Staff Writer The day after Utahns soundly defeated the three tax initiatives that would have reduced government revenues by an estimated $325 mil lion the state has been taken off the unsettling credit watch by a leading investment rating agency Utah which is the onlv state west of the Mississippi River to enjov the prestigious AAA credit rating from the major Wall Street rating agen cies had that honor threatened earlier this vear because of the tax mitia tives The people of Utah once again proved they are reasonable responsible people and they deserve the highest credit rating available said Kent Michie of Smith Capital Markets the state s financial adviser He said he and state Treasurer Ed Alter received telephone calls from Bill Chew senior vice president of nue loss because of the resulting tax cuts Mr Michie said hat that said was that if the initiatives passed we would have had our credit rating dropped That would have been raising the red flag Mr Michie said And it would have cost the state millions of extra dollars a year m interest payments Because Utah enjoys the highest credit rating available given to onlv a handful of states it gets the lowest possible interest rates on the Standard & Poor s to let them know the state was taken off the credit watch W ednesdav Thev took us off the credit watch because we defeated the initiatives he said Last August Standard & Poor s put U tah on its credit watch which raises a red flag for investors that thev might want to be careful when investing in our bonds because of the threat of the initiatives on the ballot and the possibility of the reve- - X Air Force experts have said that in an absolutely worst case scenario the force from the blast could break windows on the Wasatch Front They believe this worst case can be avoid ed bv detonating the explosives dur ing the proper weather conditions An Air Force spokesman said the blast is tentatively scheduled for 3 p m on Nov 14 He said the test could be delaved if the weather conditions aren t suitable for the blast The explosion will take place in a remote portion of the I tah Test and Training Range All roads to the site will be blocked and there will be no place for the general public to view the blast said the spokesman Steve Erickson an organizer for Downwinders a militarv watchdog group said he s disappointed with the wav the Air Force has handled its test preparations He claimed the Air Force has not properly investigated the subsurface geology in the area of the test He said it s possible the soil at ground zero is softer than i xpi cted and a pableol producing large destructive shoe k waves lie also complained about the short period of time available foi comment on the environmental as sessrni nt pioduccd on the explosion and the lack of communication between federal officials and stall- Special to The Tribune SOUTH SALT LAKE — A 43 vear old Salt Lake City man suffered onlv minor injuries when his vehicle rolled on the 2100 South freeway illations are coireel and vervthmg is done prope tlv un dir right conditions and if there is no subsurface- probh m the n proba blv this w ill go off w it bout anv sign if Kant nv iroiiiiii lit il human health or economic claniagi Howevir if it If their c ale e - oc c in s at the w aie siibsuiface i 1 re al aiisi il kson i ong time if tin 01 pmblim it pi oblc ms t could MI e jm m m jet am m 11010 by S’ephen Muni — ! Holy-Cros- that flipped when its drier took easie action after he was cut off b another car Utah Highway Patrol a Toyota Landcruiser trooper inspects Ted McGregor a Both Sides Want Compromise in Dimple Dell 'War’ Bv 'I ith parties on both sides of the issue in hopes of sjiarking dialogue be- Stephen Hunt nbune Staff W (roups battling over construction of an 18 hole- - golf course in Dunple Regional I’aik can agiee online thing — if the war continues lit i gallon could tie up all development m the- paik for vt ars and ne it hi r side Dc w 11 ill be nc fit I akc Re re a ( ountv (ilen I u turn and Parks Division dir ter slid a legal fight timid tn up path cb and pc o It ai lopnie nt on both side s of the issue wou'dpic c e c (i v c r I ompr ninisi v to pi o nnge d si i u ednesdav mol lung Mr Lu im tween the rivals and more meetings are planned want to go real slow and bring the pi oplc tnge tin r Mr Lu said Font possible golf course see nan os have been discussed including nine bole and 18 hole plans I be counts has se ttlc d on an 18 hole plan as the most plavnble most ononu al and li ast destine tiv to the n ctu la! ai a of the pal k But i gioup opposing gull course uist i in turn b s t ji tc el all plans pi op m d tiv Hu ountv and tin at in out t ae t mu it building plans ai I ' COIN W - c c c e i te Id them Hath aeiiitabli- are 1 c gh W aeted upon Meanwhile the gioup savs thev an willing to disc uss othe r w liter — none - said of lohn s Midhula MD ban man of ( itie ns for tin Pit sc rvatioi) of Dimple Dell Balk Ncvc tin less be is optimistic about the sc be duled disc ussnms w it h golf must- propone nts Nc hnv e the two side s sat i town and tiled to work out a corn We will Dl Shdkiihi said t'lnmisi all in el to appi 01 li tins with o n minds arid a spn it of nope ration 01 all — the ountv and tin pal k — will stiff I e c c But be stre ssc d that the park was bought and mated as a natural area It s the prime purpose of the jiark We can t allow dextrue turn of the last natuial urban area in Salt i k e ( ountv Michael Iingcv Sandv ( it v planning and zoning hoard chairman said he and Dr shakula x group agre on a nurnbe r of things It s a wondeiful public asset it x beautiful anil as much as possible we want to the sense of muntiv in an ui ban ana lie- said We begin to disagree win n we talk about hav mg a golf out se Mr 'I inge-emphasized that golf Se - B i ( oluinn I - - p M V- a s Yar Litigation Could Take v 4 ednesdav morning after another vehicle cut him off near 1000 West the I tah Highwav Patrol reported Steve G Bryant was westbound in the outside lane when he swerved into the median to avoid a blue sedan at about 9am said Trooper Allan Coffman Mr and Brvant overcorrected slammed on his brakes causing his vehicle to roll onto four wheel-drivits top It skidded more than 150 fee t across westbound lanes before com ing to rest against a guardrail Trooper Coffman said Witnesses said the blue sedan continued westbound without stopping Mr Bvrant was treated at Hospital for minor injuries and released W c age nc it s bonds it sells Mr Michie said Now that we are off the credit watch investors are getting the message that we are a good investment he added Mr Michie also noted the good news extends to the credit ratings of several of Utah s cities towns and school districts A credit rating is like a report card Mr Michie said It say s a lot about us as a people It says that Utahns pay their bills and are worthy of public trust Rollover Leaves SL Man With Minor Injuries r Biggest Utah Blast Ever Will Test Munitions Shed 1 Hartma occurred at 11:40 am and the drier of the truck was not hurt Crews worked steadily to clear the lanes in an effort to reopen the flow before the start of critical rush-hou- r traffic truck trailer earning a load of steel rolled after the dmer lost control of the truck when the hea load shifted said Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Larry G Wchrli The accident The southbound lanes of the 2100 South collector system at Interstate 15 were closed for approximately three hours Wednesday causing traffic to be detoured around the mess A semi- - Equal to 500000 Pounds of TAT By Jim Woolf Tribune Environmental Writer Detonation of the equivalent of 500 000 pounds of TNT has been authorized bv the Utah Bureau of Air Qualitv This would be the largest explosion in Utah history The blast tentativelv scheduled forMondav will be conducted bv the U S Air Force to test a new type of munitions storage shed known as a Hay man Igloo The blast will take place on the Utah Test and Training Range about 70 miles northwest of Salt Lake City The purpose of the test is to deter mine how far apart the igloos need to be spaced to prevent an explosion in one igloo from detonating its neighbor Burnell Cordner director of the Utah Bureau of Air Qualitv said he has reviewed the Air Force s plans and concluded the explosion would create no significant air pollution problems As a result he has issued the open burning permit needed for the blast 1 he Bureau of Air Quality has im howevir posed three conditions First is wind direction The wind can t be blow mg west toward the W a sate h Front due north toward sever al small towns or due south toward Interstate 80 when the explosives are detonated Windfall focus the jiower of the blast I he second condition a ban on testing w hi n tin re is a ti inpe rature inversion — a weather condition in w hirh the air near the gr mnd is i old r than the air aloft An inversion fan trap the blast fotie m ar the ground and esti nd the zom of dam agi F inallv the state has n quit d the Air Force to provnb a! hast 48 hours notn e print to th ti st Ai What A Mess! pork-barre- B-- 2 Star Pnolo by a ft 1 A Jfe ’ ac-- - 4 4 £ t A JS |