The Causes And Effects Of A Public Utility Commission

Author : John H. Roemer
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780266240785
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (47 download)

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Download or read book The Causes and Effects of a Public Utility Commission written by John H. Roemer and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-10-12 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Causes and Effects of a Public Utility Commission: Address Delivered Before the Illinois Gas Association, at Chicago, Ill;, March 16, 1911 Much hostility, also, to the managements of public service cor porations has been engendered by negotiations between municipal ities and such corporations for the granting of franchises, which negotiations have not always been free from the suspicion that im proper methods have been employed to induce those representing the public in the transactions to consent to terms and conditions detrimental to the public interest. As a result public service cor porations are more or less a factor in local politics, and the manner of their regulation is often an issue in local political campaigns. This is unfortunate, both for the public and the corporation. The legitimate interests of both in the public utility are jeopardized. In the conflict neither seems to recognize its proper relation to the other, nor to realize that the effective regulation of a public service corporation, in respect to the performance of its public function, cannot be had by means of ordinances or contracts. As franchises are usually for a long term of years, it is obvious that the attempt to prescribe in detail the obligations of the public utility to the public, or vice versa, during the life of the franchise, must of necessity fail. No one can foresee a quarter of a century the changes in the arts embraced in public utility service, the develop ment and necessities of the communities served, or the require ments of the utilities to perform their functions under conditions which'must necessarily change in the progress of time. Less than two decades ago I saw in my home city an electric power plant just completed which was regarded the most modern and eflicient plant of the kind in existence. Its capacity was regarded as enor mous. Engineers and others interested in the advancement of the art of generating electric energy came from all sections of the country to view this plant which was equipped with the most modern appliances. For the past few years this plant has stood idle most of the time, serving merely as an auxiliary in emergen cies. It is but an evidence of how rapidly the art has advanced and rendered obsolete the most expensive appliances. The ad vancement in the art of telephony within a very few years is littleless than marvelous. Costly equipments have been scrapped and entire systems reconstructed to meet the public requirement for the best service. In other utilities the changes have not been so marked and equipment has become more or less standardized, but who can tell what a quarter of a century may bring forth in any art or science? To meet the conditions as they arise is the only way that the best interests of the public and the utilities can be conserved in the matter of rates and service. Any franchise which attempts to anticipate the needs of the future in these re spects and provide for the same, and most franchises do, sooner or later become inadequate to satisfy existing requirements and pro lific of contention between the community and the utility. Even where the right to fix rates and establish standards of service from time to time has been reserved to common councils in such franchises, intelligent action upon the subject has been rare. The expenditure of large sums of money by the larger municipalities, to ascertain all the essential facts necessary for intelligent and lawful action on the part of common councils invested with power to establish rates, has more frequently been wasted than profitable, as the facts thus acquired have generally been ignored and action taken which was either prompted by prejudice or based upon ulterior political considerations. Litigation necessarily followed which involved the further outlay of large sums of money on the part of the public and the utility, all of which, in the end, had to be paid by the tax payers and patrons of the uti..