Show GOING OUT OF THE POWER BUSINESS According to an article b by Y rnest Greenwood in Public Fortnightly 1698 American communities which nce once owned municipal electric plants lants have done away with hem and are now nov receiving ng Service ervice from private concerns concern s one ne hundred and fifteen of oi these took the step in the 12 months preceding January 1931 the last date for which complete records are available These 1698 communities have hare harean t tan an aggregate population of 3 3 The bulk of them them- 1501 have 1501 have less than a thousand thousand c cand and inhabitants Only 16 are pities with more than c p population This is particularly particular i ly Iy interesting in that the majority ma n. 1 of electric plants still owned are in extreme extremely I iy ly small hamlets And I ft it t i would seem to prove beyond i that the small isolated tf t f ed d plant cannot give the same r i quality of service at the same same o 1 low jow rate as can the large in ls G systems of today q The fhe communities which disposed disposed dis dig m posed of their plants certainly J lid aid not do so in order to help the che power industry do more It ei they Business they did so because 1 r in that way could they be Ji liven ven service comparable to j jJ J 4 f r f n f inn Tt n rr no r n i CO n nf n U VI iL U q In bi aV b H A M J comparable rate without going to s nto debt and operating a public pub pub- O Oc ton roT tic lic c utility at a loss th that t must te Wi IF be made up by the taxpayers taxpayer Ai The municipal ownership arc tt movement in the beginning rt d nad aad an under understandable found If I ills furJ I ion At that time private in 3 estors were not to put f eager fr rj 12 noney noneS y into a new v and untried I to Uj Ud d t hing and many towns town had to jo I f wild Juile their own or of go Service was extremely M compared with the ib il e i e resent and plants often oper open r ted only a few v hours out of the twenty Shutdowns i l ue tue to mechanical failure were wen I Then the private l r Lu industry established it t Pi t sir Mr lf and ever since i ltd W iS ve ye communities have r been re br t going out of the power t l 1 tin lut 4 roe Ii Sa e had bad cor oJ hr ez |