WSPC02226 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

, , , '. . 002283 . . THE NBW YORK TIMES, WBDNESDAY, MAY 2. 19Sf Power to Some of the People 'i 'ili-'bo owns the Hoover Dam, and the e1ectrtdty it produces? In theory. the answer Is the American people who built the great dam on the Colorado River a half-cenrury ago. In practice. however, the answer is only some 01 the people, a few million lucky resi- dents of Ariz:oDa., CallfomJa and Nevada wbo are permitted to buy the pov.ret tor a fract10n of Its value. Unless the House bas the courage thlJ week to put national fnterestl ahead of regional, the atve. away wt11 cnntinue for 30 more yean. When Boulder Dam (later renamed to honor Herbert Hoover) wu completed in 1931, the Federal G<.Mmunent 11gned a loca.term contract to sell the bydrDe)ectr1dty tor prices pear cost to pubUc and private power authorities ID the region. lbat con.. tractdoesD't expire until 1987. But Senator Laxalt of Nevada and Representative Morris Udall 01 Ari- zona, the c:bairman of the House Interior CommIt. tee, saw the Presidential election year u an ideal time to ram throu.ah a 3O-year P-lneWIll. "Uthe~.. one t:1nd. of energy weoeed," a.raues Mr. Udall in support of b.t5 bill. "It's hyd.roelecuic power. It He is rtgbt. of course, that clean, infinJtely renewable bydropower is an ideal energy !OW'Ce. But since DO ODe suggests abandoning Hoover Dam, that's hardly rel~t. The issue is who geu the power, and at what price. Accordin& to the Environmental Defense Fund, Hooverc:ustOmen are cu.rre:otly cha.rged a balf-cent . kUowau hour, roughly OM-tl!'nth the price of elee. trldty from new coaI.fired planU in the region. Under the proposed concess:Ionary reoewal termS, the FederaJ Government would Jose an estimated S6 billion In revenues over the next decade. That means $6 billion more in Federal defldtB. Wone, It means that uaen 01 HOOY'er power will haw little or DO incentive to c::oo&erVe tenS of billions or kilowattl of acarce electridty. These llfIUIDeats were rejected by an ~ tratloo c:urryin& favor w:Ith Western voten. And they bad DO erred on the Senate, which paued the- renewal bin Jut Auaust by voice vote. That leaves it to the Houae to represent the interests of the rest or the natioo. c.