THE UNDERGROUND INSTALLATION OF UTILITIES 377 



When you go to a given community, small in size, you can find 

 a local planning commission, not skilled in the requirements of 

 planning and a local community intent upon tax revenue from the 

 utility facilities. It occurs to me that this power of eminent domain 

 must be modified. We must view these projects now, since we are 

 such a complex society, as being beyond the province of one local 

 planning commission. 



This can be done. We have done it in other areas. It gets back 

 to the thought I expressed originally. There must be a public agency 

 which will interpose upon the community, upon the judgment of 

 management, the final determination whether this is aesthetically 

 pleasing. And I for one would support such legislation. There 

 is a bill in California to that end, and I plan to speak on behalf of it. 



Mr. NELSON. I would like to ask Mr. Bennett a question. Did 

 I understand you to say that if the utility chooses a more expensive 

 method in extending its distribution system, that when the utility 

 made an application for a rate increase, you wouldn't challenge that 

 utility as having taken the expensive way of doing it? 



Mr. BENNETT. No, I didn't say that, and I didn't mean you to 

 conclude that, but I will say that we will have to recognize this. If 

 we want to save Yosemite Park, and let's say it is private ownership, 

 the most direct route might be from a line A to a line B. If it is more 

 expensive to go some other route, to save some scenic highway or 

 area or national park or whatever, certainly we have to pay for 

 that other route, otherwise we will not get it. As a regulator, I would 

 recognize that as being a legitimate expense. 



Mr. NELSON. Isn't the Public Utilities Commission of America 

 meeting in Sun Valley right today? Maybe we should get a telegram 

 off to them. 



Gus NORWOOD. Four quick comments : 



1 . Mr. Dyckman, FHA now gives you a higher appraisal on un- 

 derground if, in fact, that increases the value of the property. 



2. On installation, Seattle City Light has been using local im- 

 provement districts for undergrounding for conversion from another 

 system. 



3. The panel has discussed this problem almost entirely in terms 

 of initial costs. Underground facilities generally have longer life 

 and the O. & M. costs are less. We find this brings the two annual 

 costs much closer together. In rare cases, underground is actually 



