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8 The map, Figure 10, of Public Service Company's system show the points, as circles, where preference customers are now receiving Bureau power under present wheeling arrangements. planned transmission additions to the Company system, Figure 11, will further implement our ability to wheel Bureau power to preference customers. The yardstick system here in Colorado will deliver project power only to the load centers shown on Figure 12 as triangles, and not to those shown by the circles. Obviously, a large amount of additional construction would be necessary to fill the gap between the triangles and the circles. This would amount to some 430 miles of lines. The combination system would prevent wasteful duplication of transmission circuits, Some of the transmission lines useful in trans- porting project power are already in service and many more transmission facilities that would be used in part for this service are either under construction or authorized. In Colorado, facilities already exist be- tween Poncha and Pueblo that can transport project power. The building of Federal lines along this same route would needlessly duplicate investor- owned lines and waste some $14 million dollars of taxpayers' money. The investor-owned utilities realizing that two different yard- sticks had been used, agreed to meet with the Bureau of Reclamation and discuss their report, and at the March 13 and 14 meeting with the Bureau of Reclamation the investor-owned utilities advised the Bureau of the many inconsistencies in their report. In spite of these discussions, we were told that they would not consider changing this analysis. A subsequent news report attributed to the Bureau confirmed their position. Except for this news coverage we have had no further word from the Bureau or any offer by them to try to resolve these differences. The issues involved have been complicated by considerable mis- information. Representatives of the preference groups in the area have made public statements concerning this controversy which cannot be sub- stantiated. The following is a quote appearing in Denver Post on April 2, 1961 attributed to Mr. Howard Scott, Secretary of Colorado River Basin Consumers Power Inc.} a five-state preference group. "Obviol!sly, the utilities plan an all-out fight to extract a private profH from public development, but this will be met by cold facts and figures which show an adverse effect On project development, on the basin account, and on power bills of the ultimate consumer." These "cold facts and figures" are based on the comp;irison of a 36-inch yardstick against a 24-inch yardstick - an arithmetical fallacy and as such are not "facts" either hot or cold.