OCR Text |
Show COMMENTS WELL PLACED CONFIDENCE In a timely and thought provoking article appearing in a leading trade publication, a noted utility authority points out that the "power industry, by its magnificent war effort, has won renewed confidence and respect on the part of the public and in government, circles. It now has an opportunity to capitalize these gains by unity of action and purpose to work for industrial peace and welfare in the postwar years. This brief statement speaks volumes. Less than a decade ago, the power industry had touched bottom in public esteem It began a springboard from which public-ownership minded politicians sought to plunge the country into' state socialism. As the national emergency of war approached, these same politcians seized the opportunity to expend public ownership of electric power by endeavoring tp showf that a disastrous power shortage threatened momentarily. The electric industry indus-try proved the1 unsoundness tef such claims, and the competence compe-tence of its lea'ders. N The peak of electric power demand in this war has passed pass-ed and there has been no electric power rationing or shortage, short-age, for which the country can thank the investor-owned elec trie industry. From 1939 to 1943, its increased output of electric energy was three times that of thei Federal power projects, which stepped up production 21,300,000,000 kilowatt kilo-watt hours, as contrasted to 64,900.000,000 for the business managed electric companies. During 1943, the latter generated gener-ated more than 81 per cent of the total energy from all plants contributing to the nation's power supply. Little wonder that theipublic has confidence in the private pri-vate electric industry. |