364 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



One last thought in the brief time I have. There must be public 

 controls of routes which utilities select for powerlines. There is just 

 as much aesthetic ability in public officials as there is in management. 

 We are proposing in California to do this with freeways and I say 

 the time has come when we must do it with the long lines of public 

 utilities. 



I happen to think we already have the power and most State 

 commissions have the power, which is found within the phrase "pub- 

 lic convenience and necessity." This conference is an eloquent testi- 

 mony to the fact that the rate-paying public and the public generally 

 are willing to pay a little bit more and that they want these controls. 

 I am certain of this, so the ideal may be realized. 



Mr. WILCOX. Both the electric utility and the electrical manufac- 

 turing industries for many years have been exceedingly conscious 

 of the need and the desirability of contributing to the attractiveness 

 of residential communities and urban areas by improving the design 

 of utility facilities or making them invisible to the greatest practical 

 extent. 



The problem is not always susceptible to easy solution, either by 

 reason of substantial cost factors involved or by the increasing com- 

 plexities of transmitting large blocks of power to satisfy the load 

 densities of rapidly expanding urban developments. 



The most significant contribution to the enhancement of the ap- 

 pearance of our neighborhood has been underground distribution 

 of residential power, and it provides the most potential for early 

 exploitation. 



A substantial advance has been made in the growth of homes 

 served by underground residential distribution. In the past three 

 years, the number of new underground residential connections 

 increased from 20,000 to 68,000 in 1964. Our forecast for 1965 

 is 96,000 new installations. 



These gains are being achieved as a result of the pioneering efforts 

 of a number of electric utilities and manufacturers through innova- 

 tion, ingenious use of new materials and new methods, and a deter- 

 mined attack on cost differential between underground and overhead 

 distribution of electricity. 



