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Show Increased Taxes And Drouth Lower Power Co. Income Gross revenues of the Utah Power & Light company, after nearly a $3,-000,000 $3,-000,000 decline in four years, turned upward in 1934, but net revenues shrank $302,109 below 1933 due to added tax burdens and emergency operating expenses, G. M. Gadsby, president, said in his annual report to 17,000 stockholders Monday. The report shows operating revenues reve-nues of the power company alone in 1934 were $305,878 more than in 1933. Mr. Gadsby said this four per cent increase was more than gratifying because of the necessity of meeting emergency expenditures amounting to $576,000, principal causes of which were: Drouth conditions, necessitating channel deepening at Bear Lake, operation of Jordan steam plant, and additional hydro plant maintenance, which increased total generation cost of $299,000 over 1933. Inventory and appraisal of property proper-ty ordered by the public service commission, requiring expenditures of $120,000. Taxes of company which increased increas-ed more than $157,000. He particularly emphasized the continuing increase in taxes in the report. "For the consolidated companies the increase was 10 per cent over 1933, bringing all taxes included in consolidated operating expenses to the high total of $1,633,126", he said. The tax bill of the Utah Power & Light company alone for 1934 was equivalent to more than $15 for every customer served by the company at the close of the year." Substantial contributions of the company in behalf of drouth relief, business recovery and unemployment relief were stressed in the report as follows: 1. Cooperation in emergency Bear Lake drouth relief program which increased value of crops matured in Utah and Idaho by about $3,800,000. 2. Coordination of company activity acti-vity with national and local efforts for home modernization, especially through Salt Lake City's Modernization Moderni-zation Exposition, Ogden's Industrial fair, and Delta, Colorado exposition. 3. Inauguration of traveling exhibit ex-hibit which carried visual demonstration demon-stration of proper lighting and electric elec-tric cooking to scattered rural territory. ter-ritory. 4. Campaign for eyesight conservation conser-vation which has literally revolutionized revolu-tionized home lighting in the area. The advantageous arrangement between its holding company and the Utah Power & Light company was referred to by Mr. Gadsby. He said loans reaching a maxium of nearly $1,000,000 were obtained from the Electric Power & Light company during the year for making mak-ing extensions and betterment to property and promptly meeting all other financial requirements. "The arrangement permitted your company to secure benefits of available avail-able cash", he asserted, "and was an important factor in making posible the payment of the dividend declared declar-ed at Christmas time." Mr. Gadsby said all loans were repaid by the end of the year through a careful conservation of cash. Reference was made to a saving in total interest charges of $185,774, because of bond retirements, and to a partial dividend declared on the $7 preferred and $6 preferred stock. After payment of the dividend the report showed remaining in arrears and unprovided for dividends on preferred pre-ferred stock to Dec. 31, 1934, of $3,125,395. He asserted "payment of future dividends ujxm preferred stock depended de-pended upon continued business recovery, re-covery, freedom from competition with government-subsidized tax-free plants and a halt in tax increases." Mr. Gadsby stressed the company's progress toward the objective of the federal government for a more liberal liber-al use of electric energy. He said since 1923 the average annual use of energy per residential customer served had increased about 50 per cent from 493 kilowatt hours to 736 for 1934, and the average price for kilowatt hour for residential service was 27 per cent higher for 1923 than for 1934. j Since January 1, 1929. the company f and its Colorado subsidiary have ' made reductions which have resulted in total savings to customers of approximately ap-proximately S2,250.000, he asserted. Mr. Gad.by paid tribute to the late Anthony W. Ivins, for many years a member of the board of directors of the company and praised employes emplo-yes for a high degree of loyalty. In a separate statement the power official urged stockholders to combat com-bat vigorously in congress the Ray-bum-Whoelcr "public utility act of 1935" in order to protect investments in the company imperiled by the legislation. |