| Show Letter To Tl The e Editor Due to much false Information Information information tion that Is being circulated about our city I feel that this letter to the people Is necessary necessary necessary sary to set us straight on some of or these Items especially re regarding regarding regarding re- re garding the electrical depart depart- ment Some people are saying that our electrical rates are the highest In the country For comparison In Ephraim KWH of energy costs 1084 for domestic use In Fairview KWH costs 1200 Mt Pleasant 1458 Salt Lake City 1136 with the raise permitted permitted permitted per per- Utah Power and Light Co schedule will be up Increasing the KWH billing billingto to 1234 Power In southern Utah would be 1540 while Hyrum In the northern part of the state Is listed at 1050 Some cities clUes are lower In Provo KWH would be Ephraim City does not have havea a special rate for home heat- heat Ing In areas where they do have all electric home rates electricity must be the only energy used to qualify for this rate In Ephraim KWH would still be 1084 Utah Power and Light would be Provo Mt Pleasant 1008 and so on The Ephraim City Council Is now In the process of having having having hav hav- ing a rate study made This does not mean that rates will willbe willbe willbe be raised or lowered The study will be made and the purpose of the study Is to see If changes need to be made to make the rates more fair and equitable for everyone In 1942 the national average cost In the US U.S. per KWH for residential use was In 1970 the average cost for the same class of use was per KWH These figures are from the US U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Edison Electrical In In- In The average price of electricity as sold by the total electric utility Industry to consumers consumers consumers con con- sumers in the residential service service service ice classification reflects the effect of the Increased useIn usein use useIn In the home The average cost per KWH In Ephraim for residential service In 1971 was per KWH So the cost of electric energy In Ephraim Is below the national average It Is below be below below be- be low many cities In our area and slightly higher than some Our present rate was established established established In 1950 and has not been changed except about four years ago when a change was made that could raise some customers customers customers custo custo- mers a maximum of per month depending on the amount used In that same period some other fuels have more than doubled In price Power rates cannot be compared compared compared com com- pared by comparing our bill with a neighbor or someone In another city who has the same number and type of appliances In his home The only way a comparison can be made Is by bythe bythe bythe the number of KWH used and the cost of those KWH There are Instances where people consider their power bill too high On Investigation they have found the cause for at least part of It to be some appliance has been left on such as an electric blanket or a range plate A leaking hot water tap can waste a lot of hot water A tap dripping drops per minute will waste gallons of hot water per month or a six-Inch six solid stream from a tap will waste 2160 gallons per month This would be over gallon 40 gallon 50 water heaters full a month or over one and third one-third tanks full fulla a day wasted That takes a lot lotof lotof lotof of of electricity to heat that water Of or approximately 50 electric meters taken In and checked against a standard meter none were found to be reading In In- In correctly All were within the permissible limit of or 2 ac ac- ac curacy Meters are not likely to run fast but If it they are wrong It Is more likely they will run slow because of wear due to age dirt and corrosion causing Increased friction Voltage We do have fairly good voltage regulation and we expect this to be improved further further further fur fur- ther In the near future when new equipment will be put Into service When complaints are made regarding low or high voltage the city should take steps to correct the situation if It It Is the fault of the city In some cases these troubles come from faulty wiring In the home All wiring should be done by licensed competent elec elec- These matters could be handled much better If It they were reported to the city office rather than being made to the neighbors or someone on the street One bit of false Information that Is being circulated about town Is regarding the effect of voltage and effect of current currenton on our meter reading and energy consumption Power Is the rate of doing work and Is equal to voltage multiplied by current The unit of electrical power Is the watt The watt Is equal to one volt multiplied by one ampere The equation for power then would be Watts equal volts times am am- peres The common multiple for power Is the kilowatt or 1000 watts Then for a given fixed load If It the voltage Is Increased the amount current will automatically automatically auto auto- be less and vice versa It still comes out that the power equals voltage times amperes or the watts would bethe be bethe bethe the same If It the voltage were up up or down So regarding the false Information Information information mation that Is being spread about town consideration Is not given ven to the difference between en power and energy In our residences residences residences resi resi- dences the city bill Is for electrical electrical electrical elec elec- not for power What we pay for Is the work that electricity electricity electricity elec elec- does for us not the rate at which It Is done Electrical work then Is equal to the amount of power multiplied multiplied multiplied multi multi- plied by time The common unit of energy we pay for Is the watt hour or one watt used for one hour Our electric meters are designed designed de designed de- de signed to register this energy In kilowatt hours or 1000 watts per hour So It is obvious that thata a small amount of power used for a long time can result Ina ina In Ina a bill just as large as though a large amount of power has been used for a short time A refrigerator motor or a furnace motor has a fixed load to pull If the voltage Is up It draws less current to pull the load If H the voltage is down It draws more current to pu pull l the load and the watts will bethe be bethe bethe the same and as a result the energy used will be the same An electric heating device Is another example If It the voltage Is high your oven will heat faster and shut off sooner If the voltage Is down It will heat more slowly but the amount of energy consumed to bring It to the desired temperature will be bethe bethe bethe the same And energy Is what the electric meter is recordIng recordIng recording record- record Ing and what we pay for We are all using more electric electric electric elec elec- energy We are not only using more appliances but we weare weare weare are using new appliances that use more energy Some examples examples examples exam exam- ples A no-frost no refrigerator uses more power than the older conventional models They run almost all the time A self self- cleaning oven uses a tremendous tremendous tremendous dous amount of power during the cleaning cycle A color TV uses approximately twice the power that a black and white set consumes Usually If It we take Inventory around our homes we can determine determine de determine de- de termine where the Increased use of energy Is If It It Is re recorded recorded recorded re- re corded on the meter It has been used for something So lets let's not be alarmed about the electrical system In Ephr Eph Eph- r raim m. m Lets Let's find the facts before before be before be- be fore we pass our opinion VERTIS NIELSON Mayor |
