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Show UTAH POWER COMPANY! ASKS FOB HIGHER ELECTRIC BITES j ? LT LAKE, Dee. 5 Pointlns: our! that it Is 6i inc: electric ."crvkc at th: same rates as existed beforo tho war. In j spite of the heavy Increases in the cost if operation Since tha' lime, and that, a consequence, It has had lo nue: mi nnnunl deficit ranging from $1.600,00'J to more than 12,400.000 foi several year past he Utah Power fe Light company yesterday filed a petition with tho public utilities commission for an increase in rates. The increase. If granted, will not af r I rates on lighting or on any form of domestic service, such a? the operation oi I i iii' ranges, and Other appliances ,'i private homes, according to company officials of-ficials It will he confined to rates cn powei for commercial and industrial purposes pur-poses only. The petition dos not name any definite defin-ite rate which the company' desires tlu commission to establish, but leaves it to the commission to determine a charC'1 for service which will meet operating expenses ex-penses and yield a fair return on th- actual value of the company's proper. The petition Kets forth that. In asking foi ' fail and reasonable return on '.he Investment, the company brlng6 u foi consideration by the commission only th.t , part of its property which Is devoted lo the Kcnemtlon and distribution of poyw i for use with the stale of Utah. It excludes ex-cludes all other holdings from which , Utah consumers of power derive iu Value of System Estimated rinsinc its estimate upon the cost of constructing the properly at prewar prints foi materials and labor, the company in its petition places the value of the Utah power system, as of January 1, 191?, a', j $12,000,000 for physical structural cost alone. This does not include additions to , the system made during th- present yen- nor water rights and other Intangible assets, It is said. Were the estimate based, upon present pres-ent prices for replacing the properly, the petition sets forth, this valuation would he materially increased and eon . sequeUtly would require a considerably' higher rate for service in order to-earn to-earn a fair anil reasonable return. On the basis of pre war inteicst an 1 ' carrying charges, the petition c!ts v-I v-I per cent as a fair and reasonable return re-turn on such Investment Th.s. to-J rether with an adequate reserve foi i depreciation, would amount. R is said, to $5',000,000 a year that the company should earn, after providing for oper I atlng expenses, and taxes, i After operating expenses and taxes have been paid. net. earnings for rhc year 1919, il is declared in the petition I "will amount to only about S2.800.00ii, leaving a deficit of approximately S2, ''"'.'""i foi the year. The net return on the property, as tabulated for the: past five years, shows a proportion ate deficit every year, ranging from' :l 6 to $2,100,000, according to' the petition. Expenditures Needed. As a result the company has not onlyi been unable to pay a fair return on I the investment, but it is failing to put any adequate reserve for deprv-ciation deprv-ciation and to meet other Berious obli nations, it is claimed. The petition rays in part: 1 In order to maintain its existing service in a state of reasonably high I efficiency, and to take care of ordi- nary community growth, the power; company must presently spend, and should spend within the next twelve months in major capital expe-nse in I generating stations, transmission lines! :tnd substation?, without including or-: dinary distribution lines and service stations, a sum 'amounting to approxi mately $3,000,000. This necessity of! new nn.incing is a continuous one and,1 exists throughout the life of any pub lie utility as demands for extensions of service are made. But under present pres-ent conditions, and in view of the state of the company's finances, it cannot obt?in the money required to make such extensions. The fundamental difficulty dif-ficulty in the company's situation is that under existing conditions and cost of service, and at existing rates, the company s not getting sufficient reve ' nue per unit of service to bear the costs of such service, and increased j business therefore does not, and can j 'not, relieve the company's situation"! "It is a noteworthy fact that the; Utah Power & Light company is the only public utility operating in Utah j Which has not received a substantial! increase in rates since the openins oft the world war." said S. R Inch, vice 'president and general manager of the company Increases in railroad and xpresa rates and for telephone and gas service have all been made during thai peiiod. We are one of the very tew electric power companies in the entire country which have not advanced ad-vanced rates. On the contrary, where any material changes have been made by this company since 1911 they have been downward. Request Deferred. "The Utah Power A: Light company.! although it has needed additional rev- cnuo foi several years, has deferred ! ;t.-.kne for an increase in rates, hoping, thai with the end of the war would, come an end to the high war costs ot I operation. But in this we have been' : erlouslv disappointed. Instead of de-creasing, de-creasing, costs have advanced and' seem to be on a permanently higher ) plane. "As a result we are facing a serious condition financially. As set forlh In I the petition, it will be impossible fori us to maintain adequate service and I to meet the requirements of the rapidly 1 prowing territory in which we operate! unless our revenue is materially in-1 'teased. "The Utah Power & Light company j represents one of the largest individual I investments in the state of Utah. The j capital for this great enterprise has been furnished partly by local invest : ors, but for the most part by people j outside rhe state. The general public undoubtedly desires that both local investor in-vestor and those from other states J shall be encouraged by fair treatment to put their money in Utah enterprise? J "That this is vitally necessary is! ehown by the present situation of our1 company It requires several million dollars annually in additional capital to meet the constantly growing demands de-mands on our service. But unless money already invested is earning a uiir return it is utterly impossible to ' secure additional funds necessary to i make these extensions In our service. Industrial Power Concerned. I "We are asking for an increase in I rates only on power furnished to industrial in-dustrial concerns and not for lighting (and domestic use. Unless we are granted this increase we shall be bearing bear-ing a part of the operating expenses, j of these concerns. This, is entirely unfair, un-fair, since Wt have had to meet large J i : increases in the cost of materials and labor necessary lo supply them with power and have not as yet received any compensation for this added ev-pense ev-pense "Our customers will find that even under a fair increase in our rates the advance cost ot their power will be but a small percentage ot their total oper ating expense And, in view of the fact that coal delivered in Salt Lake, for instance, has doubled in cost since 1913 and that labor and other expense items have advanced proportionately, they will be receiving electric power at a far lower cost and with less in- rease than if they had furnished their own power. "In creating commissions for the regulation of public utilities, tate governments gov-ernments have limited the earnings of these utilities to a fair return on the money actually invested in their property prop-erty It is therefore generally ac-eepted ac-eepted that the state is morally bound to permit the companies so regulated to establish rates which Will enable them to earn a fair return, thereby dealing justly with those who have invested in-vested their money lor the development develop-ment of the state s industries and also making it possible to attract such additional ad-ditional capital as is necessary to meet increasing industrial requirements. require-ments. "We have filed our petition with the Utah public utilities commission on this ground, asking only that the main-tenance main-tenance of this vitally important pub lie utility shall be assured." |