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001086 All-Federal Power Lines Mandatory-:- Colo. Water Board Backs Rural Electric Stand For the rural electrlcs of Colorado, as well as a number of municipalities and the general public,. the Colorado Water Conservation Board's August 2 endorsement of the all-federal back bone system for the COIOI1\.do Storage Project is of tremendous significance." The Board not only endorsed the sys- tem recommended by both. Se<:retary Seaton and Secretary Udall, but went on to recommend that the line from Glen Canyon to Slguard, utah, be ex- tended on to fu-e Central Utah project to close tne gap In traJlllmission be. tween generating plants at Glen Can- yon Dam and Flaming' Gorge Dam. Director Felix Sparks pointed out that Ule Colorado board had made its own independent engineering and ec- onomics analysis in consultation with the Bureau of Reclamation, the private utilltie's and other interested groups. He said the study had been made over a two-year period. Sole concern of the Boa r d. Sparks laid. b the bnpac1 on Ihe Storage Proled: and the amount of money that would accrue to Ihe Basin Fund for buDding of partici- pating projects. He said the prob- lem was complicated by determin- ..tion of th.. privale ulUities to !igM Ihe consumer power tp.'oups. al- though Ihis bad no beadlig on Ihe Board's study_ Sparks took the allegations made by the five-utility combine as to ilefici- encies or error in the Bureau's figures arid rejected -each as completely inac- curate or entirely without bearing on the central issue. He said, "The incred- ible punch line is that even if the utility allegations were correct, they would show' that the Bureau was wrong by only $2 million over an 86 year period." Tenning utility claims of savings in transmission losses to the public a "$75 million red herring," Sparks went on to point out the "bare-fal:ed proposal" made by ArJzona Public Service Com- pany, one of the five in the l:ombine seeking control of the $1 blWon dollar project, through "tollgate" distribution lines. He said Arizona PSC proposed to charge more for power "not wneeled" than for power actually wheeled. He added they "intend to pocket all of the displacement value." Sparks contended Ihe ullliJies claims of $97 million increase to :lhe Basin Fund would ac:lually nol amount to "97 C&nts- ~ven If th~y built the lines Ine:' He said the Bureau plan would add $5 million more each year to the Basin Fund than the Utility proposal. It was this accrual to the Basin Flilld , that concerned the Colorado Water Board. They could not vote to throw away $300 million of participating proj~ ect assistance just so the utilities could build the line. Tuming to the utility daims of sav- ings and taxes, Sparks said even if the atllity figures were used the "savings'" would still total less than the over-all cost they admitted as extral:ting from theprojel:t in 86 years. Sparks concluded that the "utiUties have proposed a barrier to such ex- change (of power between various fed- eral projects) necessitating a tollcllarge both way s on power eXl:hange." Worse yet, he said, "The utility system was cleverly planned" to break up the federal 5Y_stem of an integrated grid advantageous to the project, yet give the utility the same advantage of inte- grating their own systems. In shorl. Sparks said.. the utililifl lire trying 10 obtain Iremendous. but u!ufltld values. from lhe'Stor- age projec:l wi:thout CQU 1;0 them- ' selves. He said it is obvious that Public Service Company of Colorado is in, a bitter fight with the consumer power groups and i3 using the Storage Proj- ect as a front in that fight. To prove his point, Sparks dted the Collbran project controversy started by Public Servll:e in wh.i~h they were refused the right by Colorado Public Utilities Commission to' construl:t a wheeling power line from the Collbran Project to Montrose after a consumer electrk supplier had already begun construc- tion for their customers. Sparks said Publil: Servke is <:ontinuing to fight for the llne "even though it did not serve a single customer in the Mont- rose area." The consumer power tp.'oup ,In Colorado was l"epreaentecl before :lhe water board' hearing by -John Bugas of Colorado U:le. Howlll'd SCOIt of :lhe Colorado Rural Elec- tric Association. and Harold Lae of Midwest Electric: Consumen. Bugas and Scoll abo spoke for Colorado River Basin Conliumen Power., , It (By 98110nll1 Rural Electric: Cooperative Assn.) Rural Electric: Aids In Flra! RAD Loan WASHINGTON. D. C.-The first loan and the first publil: grant to be made under the n1l:ently passed Area, Re- development Act went this week to' an area where a rurel elet:tric coop- erative provided the Pl'bne leadersblp in getting a new industry to locate .In .a depressed se,ction. . A total of $161J.OIJI} in b'ederal funds was approved under the ARA by .the Department of Commerce for a water system to serve a shirtfal:tory in Gass- ville, Arkansas. The plant will ulti- mately give employment to 1500 people. Another, major factor in the decis.lon pf the Mar-Bax Shirt Co. to, locate in th.e area was the oo-op's low rates, according to tb.e rural 'electrk system's manager, Jack Cochran. The Co-op is North Arkansas Electric of Salem. It will ful:nlsh electrlcity to the new plant. The factory, land, and part of the water system are being financed by ~535,OOO which was raised locally through a bond issue. An extra, $160," 000 was needed to complete the system. This will come from the Area Re- pevelopment Administration in th.e fOl'm of a loan of $31,000, and a grant of $129,000. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has approved the project an1 has designated the area as eligible for ARA assistance. .C Congresl Seb Funds For Rural EI.clrles WASHINGTON, D. C.-Congress in- cluded $245-million far the REA elec- tric loan program for the present fiscal year in its Agrillulture Appropriations bill which it passed this week and sent to the President for his signature, A total of $162-~ mlIllon was authorized for REA telephone loans. The amounts for the REA loan pro- grams were agreed upon at a confer- ence between the House and senate. J The House version of the bill, passed last month, has provided $195-million in electric loans during the fiscal year which began July 1, and $150-million for the telephone program. The Senate upped electric loans to $245-million, and increased telephone loans to $l62-lh million. Of the totals, $70-million of, the elel:- tric authorization and $30-millioll. of the telephone authorJzation, are ear~ marked as contingency funds. These are reserve funds to be used if needed. With a carryover of $34-miUion, plus $3-million in recisions-loans made last year but cancelled-REA will have $282-million for electric loans this year, The National Rural Electr;ic Coopera- tive Association had asked Congrells for $280-million in new electric funds for REA. This is $3S.mlllion more than Congress finally approved. The Na- tional Telephone Cooperative Associa- tion had asked for $17S-million for telephone loans. Nonls Honored. By Commemoralive Slamp W ASINGTON, D.C. - "He was the- father of the Tennessee Valley Authority; the co-sponsor along with Senator List"'r 'Hill. and with the present Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, of Rural Electrification. To the farmer, the consumer, the ordi- nary citizen, he gave _ the' fruits of a courage-and a sense of-purpose matched by few men who have served in these great Houses of the United States Con- gress." These were the remarks of Clyde T. Ellis, as master of ceremonies at an observance July -11 on the Capitol steps to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Senator ,George W. Norris. Ellis is general manager of the Nationai Rural Elutric Cooperative Association. On hand for the OCl:asion, during which the dedication of the GfJorge W. Norris Commemorative 4-cent postage stamp took place, were several hun- dred Congressmen, Administration offi- cia]s, and members of the Norris family. Replies To Crilicism Of TVA New Low Rates WASHINGTON, D. C.-In replying to criticism ofa new low rate for elec- tric power recently announced by TVA, Senator Estes Kefauver of TennessfJe this week pointed out, "In these days when a price l:ut is about as rare as a July blizzard in Washington, sUl:h a move by this great Federal agency ou.g~t. to be ~e l:ause for widespread reJOll:lng... . "Very probably there is rejoicing by the farmers, the housewives and the . , ,~ YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP TELLING 'EM (From Tennessee Magazine) What the co-op leaa.er!rom Arkansas told the l:O-Op leaders of Tennessee can 'be summarized like this: "Comrrumicating with your members is a continuing task. It cannot be done once and say 'This is it;' nor can it be done once each year. , , It Is a con- tinuingjob." This was Walter Nesbitt of Salem, a director of North Arkansas Electric Co~' operative, addressing. the Tennessee Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Warning that 'the danger period for co-operatives comes with the third gen- eration of members," Mr. Nesbitt said "We'd better teU our members about their business. To communicate with our members we need to budget time and money." He praised The Tennessee Magazine, operators of smaller industrial plants served by TVA power." The Senator noted, however, some of the private utilities and their spokes- men "do not appear to share this joy." He referred to articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal which "]oudly ridiculed" the new TV A rate sl:hedule. "They' (the private utility interests) simply trotted out all of the old distor- tions and falsehoods which have dogged TV A since its founding in 1933 and whil:h have been discredited time and again by those who prefer the facts." Kefauver said that TV A over the years has earned an average of 4 per cent on its power operations and that it is paying back the government's in- vestment in its power facilJties ahead of schedule. The Senator observed that a study made a few years ago showed "that the nearer a private utility is to the TV A area, the lower its rates and the higher its fJarnings are IJkely to be. Thus, the TVA yardstick has operated as a com- petitive factor benefitting both private utilities and their customers every- where." TVA sells wholesale power to these distributors which, in turn, sell it to their consumers at rates agreed upon by TVA. The new l"ate may be placed in effect at the option of the distribu. lion systems which serve 1.5 millioh, customers in an 80,0(10 square-mile area. "your own state~ide publication,. ,a. greai educational and informational service; a great aid to your program';' a mighty force all for pennies per mem~ ber per year." Turning to the field of legislation, Mr. Nesbitt said "we have many good friends under the capitol dome, in Little Rock, in Washington, in Nashville but 1 am also painfully aware that rural America's shrinking and urban Amer- ica is expanding, and we are going to be dependent as never before on the fair- ness and the lnfonnation of urbal,l' ' dwellers and urban -lawmakers. ,< . "We must communicate 'with'- '6\1r members that they may commWllcate with theil" city friends and city _ kin- folk. These city folks must be told that the price of beef on the hoof .isn't what makes sirloin so dear; they must be told 'that river development is not squan- dering the taxpayers' moner and that the REA program is not a subsidy." "When a oo--operativefaces the threat of a sell-out," Mr. Nesbitt warned, ~lt's always a co operative strong finandally but with the poorest record of com- munil:ating with its members. . . " COLORADO RURAL ELECTRIC NEWS Vol. 9. No. 11 August, 1961 Editor... MonogingEditor Associote Editor .Howord E. Scott ....Lyle I.. Mor;ner .,........Terry Moriner Editorial ond Business Offlce 802 Formers Union Denver 3. Colorodo Telephone KE 4.0139 PUBLISHED MONTHLY by the Colo","o Stote Ru...1 Eleetrle Ass""latlon "'d"ho,y, Stol. "..1,,"11' w..... 8y.... F,u~o, Slclo ,.I''''''ll_' Howo,dE. S""H. T.l...hon. KEy.Io...4.C1S9. S02fo,m."lInlonSldg..l.il7.5Sh.""..nSI..Don"e,3. Colo. t<.bll,otlon Cornml~, lurh., Wllkl.... Chobm..n. Ak,o:h, Rolph M<Mi/I..n, ColofGdo 5p,lnllSl Lewr. ~~:g'l.,.....~mR".:y CViff;o~,t)'.(.~I~,...EII7IOl KueRr; '1110 Colo.ockl Il"'..lllecl.lc H.OWI Is ""'n.... ~~~~~:. r..n~h:!'i'::'':.~ :J ::"'......~~e,:t.la piev- ",.. of rurar ........ sp""ltl."lly ud tho 0"'1,; pop"IIl'klnofColorodoondth.....lloo_"'. f::n~~:::t.:.ol::~ ':"'=~$1.G:. Vo".1m:~~"'i",; ...II\{l'onn3579odllrustoC.I.....ckIR...1 EII.tde Hows, loa 'arm"", Union BleIg.. ......... 3, Colo. fr>1o..d al Second CIIl.. 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