.1. 



TVA Cuts Power Costs 

 Says Press Dispatch 





The strongest appeal of the Tennes- 



■ see Valley Authority's power program 

 . ia to the pocketbooks of the people it 

 ' serves says a United Press dispatch 



■ from Knoxville, Tenn. 



For years opponents and proponents 



. of public ownership of utilities have 



argued the question of whether TVA 



J.; belongs in the power business, how it 



' has affected power rates and what its 



future will be in the economics of elec- 



. trie utilities. 



Most of the verbal bombardment was 

 imheeded by Tennessee Valley folk. 

 But when TVA began serving Tupelo, 

 :- Miss., and cutting light bills in half 



■ and at the same time giving almost 

 ■. twice as much power, thousands be- 

 - came vitally interested. 



. I Power Bills Compared 



The average householder of Tupelo. 

 for instance, in months preceding 

 . February, 1934, when TVA first 

 brought its power lines into the city 

 gate, paid an average bill of S3.60 for 

 49 KWH of electrical energy. 



In June, 1935, the average bill was 

 $2.30— just $1.30 less. But more signifi- 

 cant — in the latter case because the 

 . user was getting an average of 112 

 '. KWH of power — well over twice the 

 amount received for $1.30 a month 

 more under private utility rates. That 

 increase of consumption was signifi- 

 cant socially. A householder who uses 



■ 49 kilowatts a month probably uses 

 electricity only for light, and, perhaps, 

 an electric toaster. When a householder 

 consumes 112 KWH monthly, he is 

 using it for an electrical refrigerator, 

 additional appliances and perhaps a 

 radio. 



2.1% Per KWH 



According to David E. Lilienthal, who 

 '-. guides the TVA power program, the 

 ■; average rate for "yardstick" power 

 consumers is 21 mills per KWH. This 

 • figure stands against a national aver- 

 age of 51 mills per KWH. 



Application of the "yardstick" to the 

 eight municipalities buying power from 

 TVA brought an immediate dollars and 

 cents economy for the average con- 

 sumer. The greatest reduction, aconrd- 

 ing to TVA figures, was in New Al- 

 bany, Miss., where the rate was cut 

 296 cents, or 53 per cent below schedules 

 made by the deposed private utility. That 

 ■. economy ranged downward in other TVA- 

 •erved communities to the smallest reduc- 

 •. tion of 1.68 cents per KWH or 36 per cent 

 at Pulaski. Tenn. 



To strike an average, however, in the 

 TVA consumers' area, the average reduc- 



WILLIAM BENTON BUNN 

 "Pike is his fourth." 



tion to power consumers was 2.06 cents per 

 KWH, or a cut of 47 per cent. 



Lilienthal explains these cuts by the prin- 

 ciple that diminishing costs are the greatest 

 possible stimulus for consumption — that once 

 power becomes cheap, more people are go- 

 ing to buy more of it and the increase in 

 volume will more than compensate for the 

 decrease of the profit margin on individual 

 transactions. He compares that principle 

 with the example of Henry Ford's rule for 

 mass production, 



A review of statistics shows that in 

 Athens, Ala,, under the private rate, resi- 

 dential consumption averaged 51 KWH per 

 consumer per month at an average rate of 

 5.51 cents per KWH. Eleven months later. 

 TVA was charging only 2.17 cents per 

 KWH to the same Athens customers and 

 consumption had climbed to an average of 

 99.6 KWH, 



In New Albany, Miss., consumption went 

 up 114 per cent in 12 months; it increased 

 128 per cent in Pulaski, Tenn,, in 11 months; 

 220 per cent in Alcorn County, Miss„ in 22 

 months; 293 per cent in Pontotoc County. 

 Miss., in the same period. 



TVA contends that the cost of electricity 

 in TVA-served areas roughly is 50 per 

 cent below the national average. 



Rental and benefit payments by the AAA 

 to farmers during the year 1935 total ?588,- 

 821,074.38 as follows: $130,969,459.25 to cot- 

 ton producers; $108,874,715.50 to wheat farm- 

 ers; $34,250,172.82 to tobacco farmers; $237,- 

 872.609,06 to corn-hog farmers; $57,032,852.90 

 to sugar producers; $9,383,015.82 to rice 

 growers, and $2,429,249.03 to peanut growers. 

 Total expenditures of the AAA for the 

 calendar year were $701,830,501^1. 



C. E. Carrier, county orRaniiation di- 

 rector of Macon County, was employed 

 about the middle of the year 1935. He 

 is rated one of the best individual solici- 

 tors in the State. He is a farm owner 

 and understands the operating problems 

 of a farmer through first hand experi- 

 ence. During the month of January, this 

 year, Mr. Carrier almost lone-handed 

 signed and collected for 34 new mem- 

 bers. He made a splendid record in 

 February despite the bitter cold weather. 

 Carrier more than made his first quarter- 

 ly quota for 1936 in January. 



Who's Who Among 

 the Farm Advisers 



Pike county is the fourth in which 

 William Benton "Bill" Bimn has seen 

 service as a farm adviser. Conscien- 

 tious, constructive, and hard-working, 

 he has made a good record wherever 

 fortune or circumstance has directed 

 him since he graduated with honors 

 from the University of Illinois College 

 of Agriculture in 1920. Edgar and Mc- 

 Donough County Farm Bureau mem- 

 bers of the early '2'i's knew Mr. Bunn 

 as their genial assistant farm adviser 

 when chicken culling, the rag doll 

 seed corn tester, soil acidity testing 

 and pig clubs were more of a novelty 

 than they are today. 



As farm adviser in Richland county, 

 his birthplace in 1^4. Bill, among oth- 

 er things, assisted his members from 

 1923 to '28 in getting better prices for 

 cream. The Richland County I*roduce 

 Marketing Association made a valu- 

 able contribution to the farmers of 

 the county. It was a factor in the 

 immediate success of the Producers 

 Creamery of Olney, 



Pike county is a diversified live- 

 stock, grain and fruit-growing area 

 with a wide range of soil types and 

 topography — a paradise for anyone 

 with a scientific interest in a variety 

 of farming problems. Here during the 

 past seven years Bunn has carried 

 on the soil improvement and erosion 

 control begun by others before him, 

 with the aid of lime and legumes — 

 of first importance to farmers on 

 rolling land. The CCC Camp and Soil 

 Conservation Service at Pittsfield. 

 with the aid of the Farm Bureau, have 

 put a good deal of steam behind this 

 project. Today there are 22 local lime- 

 stone crushers operating in the county. 

 Pike stands near the top. if not at 

 the top, in acreage of sweet clover 

 and alfalfa. It is one of the heaviest 

 livestock-producing counties, particu- 

 larly in cattle and hogs. It ranks 

 next to Calhoun county in apple pro- 

 duction. It is also rich in historical 

 lore. Abraham Lincoln practiced law 

 and debated at Pittsfield. John Hay, 

 poet, secretary to President Lincoln, 

 and later Secretary of State in Pre5ii- 

 dent McKinley's cabinet, came from 

 there. And more recently Pike coun- 

 ty has given the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association its state president. Earl 

 Smith, 



Last year Pike county had 291 boys 

 and girls in its 4-H clubs. The young 

 adult club for leadership training has 

 around 50 members. For years the 

 Farm Bureau has saved money for its 

 members through co-operative buy- 

 ing of seeds and supplies. The Pike 

 Service Co. with four trucks on the 

 road daily, is steadily gaining in 

 strength and service to the farmers 

 of the county. Membership in the 

 Farm Bureau is increasing. As recov- 

 ery from the disastrous drouth of 1934 

 continues. Pike county may be ex- 

 pected to give a good account of it- 

 self. 



■•-.->. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



