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Show " SPEC!.U?s POJ I SCl-m-S- THE UTAH SERIALS J OF wuLLuifUiAw' 745 LR U CRC-C- L cm OBO HR ARIES SLC UT 31112 Business news and commentary (gOTUTIg Possible improprieties Garn assures Attorney General pries into M FSPSC decision past by Miit Policzer Enterprise Staff Writer The Utah attorney general's office has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a 1974 Public Service Commission decision that reversed a ruling adverse to Mountain Fuel Supply Co. made just one week before, the Enterprise has learned. A request for the investi- Consumer Action gation was made by Wayne Horrocks, chairman of the Utility Group, in a letter to Attorney General Robert Hansen. It referred to the Jan. 21, 1974, PSC decision which vacated a Jan. 14, 1974, ruling that MFS oil and gas accounts be comg bined for purposes. The result of the earlier ruling was a flood of sell orders for MFS stock on the New York Stock Exchange rate-makin- ...strong indications of heavy-dut- y political pressures ultimately led to a trading suspension. The commission, in the following week, then held a private hearing, without notice to any of the other parties that had been involved in the year-lon- g discussions of a Mountain Fuel rate increase request that had led up to the first order. Only Mountain Fuel officers testified at the closed hearing, and the commission afterward vacated the portion of its prior order combining the oil and gas accounts. Full, open hearings on the same matter in March of that year, however, led to an affirmation of the modification and that result, issued June 18, 1974, was not appealed by any of the interested parties. which Heavy political pressure Tim Funk, UCAG board member, told the Enterprise pretty strong indications that there had been of some heavy-dut- y political pressures in that week to get the order changed." Funk wouldn't say VOLUME 7 NUMBER 19 what evidence UCAG had about the matter, but did say the consumer group had been contacted by some persons with information about it and that the accusations were more than just rumors. He said UCAGs information will be given to Asst. Attorney General James L. Barker, who has been assigned to carry out the investigation. All three members of the 1974 commission, when contacted by the Enterprise, denied any impropriety in the matter. Olof E. Zundel, who is still on the commission, noted that even after the supplemental order that temporarily reversed the decision was issued, only three parties sought a further hearing and one of them was Mountain Fuel itself. vice Adam M. Duncan, an attorney specially called in at the time to represent the commissioners, and had a transcript made of the proceedings for later public inspection. Duncan told the Enter- prise the commissioners had been threatened with personal then-commission- Jackrabbits and sagebrush are being replaced by $1 billion dollars in commercial, industrial and residential d development in the northwest corner of Salt Lake City, claims Emanuel Floor, president of the Salt Lake International Center. Floor spoke of northwest development at the monthly meeting of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors held at the Prudential Plaza last week. Government and business commitments to this area already total $979.7 million, he said, which is just scratching the surface of northwest potential for the city. In a way," the developer said, The northwest quadrant is like the bull's eye in a target, the focus for overall growth and expansion in the area that is only now being er fully recognized." For example, he said, population growth in the intermountain area is triple the national average. The states had an average population increase between 1970 and 1975 of 15.3 percent, compared with the national average of 4.8 percent. inter-mounta- in long-ignore- the damn thing up," Zundel said. The other two petitioners were Salt Lake County and the Utah Welfare Rights Organization. Zundel also explained the commissioners had been advised by Hal Bennett, who had just left the commission to become director of the Department of Business Regulation, that a formal hearing was not necessary to rescind an order. But, according to Zundel, the commission took the ad Utah Job Service predicts 40,000, new jobs per year will open up by 1986 to compensate the added population. Floor added. Construction jobs have tripled in 1976 over the last decade, and trade jobs have more than doubled in the same time. Floor contends that the $1 billion committed to northwest development will push that sector into the leading growth (See NORTHWEST, page 3) by Mary Gaber Contributing Editor Downtown spark city vice-preside- nt investment tilts growth northwest They wanted to clean could liability for their decision due to the loss to Mountain Fuel stockholders' investment value. In particular, according to Duncan, Mountain Fuel executive John Crawford called Eugene S. Lambert (who is now director of the (See MFS, page 9) $1 billion Clean the damn thing up revival Billings its due Two amendments introduced by Utah Sen. Jake Garn to the Energy Tax Bill last week give hydrogen its rightful place in the sun," according to a Billings Energy Corporation spokesman. Passed by the Senate last week, Garn's amendments are designed to encourage the shift from scarce fossil fuels to more plentiful energy sources and Garn considers one of those sources to be hydrogen. Billings Energy Corporation, of Provo, Utah, is a leader in hydrogen energy development and implementation. Specifically, Garns first amendment provides a tax credit of 20 percent of the first $2,000 spent to install hydrogen equipment. The amendments provides the credit for buying and installing furnaces, heat pumps, water heaters and other appliances that use hydrogen as a fuel, or for converting existing systems to hydrogen combustion. The second amendment relates to the use of hydrogen in transportation, providing a $300 tax credit to those who purchase a hydrogen powered vehicle or convert conventional vehicles to hydrogen. The Energy Tax Bill already provided a like tax credit for the purchase of electrical vehicles. gas-power- ed Asked why he is singling out hydrogen for tax credits, Garn replied, It could be that (See BILLINGS, page 16) Temple and Second South, says his firm has considered building apartments in the com- plex. Who lives downtown? Although newly constructed, moderate and high cost condominiums have added new blood to the residential population in downtown Salt Lake City, the number of people living in the central business district has actually dwindled during the last six years from 983 in 1970 to 347 in 1976, according to Salt Lake City analyst JoAnn Carlston. About half of this population live in hotels, many of which arc falling victim to the wrecking ball to make room for more lucrative office space. As new office construction continues in the business district, however, the question often arises. Shouldn't someone build new' residential space downtown?" We conducted an informal survey of people already living in Canyon Road Towers, 2nd Avc. and A St. a project), and found that West Temple was not an attractive area for the condominium market, 1 don't know why. I guess it just Ligncll said. is not considered a residential area." Canyon road abuts an already existing residential area, he said. Todd-Lignc- ll Economically questionable But in addition to the attitude of the apparent market, the economic feasibility of building a condominium downtown is questionand that sells for about able, he continued, in 14 a square foot a residential area sells for double-dignumbers in a commercial zone. That makes residential buildings downtown very expensive. In contrast to Ligncll's comments. Chuck (Sec CITY DWELLING, page 16) it dwelling LigncII considered it Keith Ligncll, developer of the planned $39 million commercial center at West Dr. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1977 50 CENTS |