394 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



I think I can speak for most of us here representing the electric 

 utility industry when I say that throughout our history we have given 

 emphasis to perfection of technology, continuity of service, quality of 

 service in other respects such as voltage regulation and so forth. In 

 addition, one of our foremost considerations has been to lower con- 

 sumer costs. In this regard, I don't believe the electric utility indus- 

 try can be matched. A quick look at the average cost per kilowatt- 

 hour over past years compared to other consumer costs will reveal 

 this fact. 



This has all been good, but a new consideration has been coming 

 to the front during the past few years. Due to increasing pressures of 

 public desire and opinion and our own realization of the need 

 improving the appearance of our service facilities in the community 

 has been added to our list of goals. In planning distribution and 

 transmission systems, many utilities have already adopted a philos- 

 ophy giving weight to the factor of appearance, as a community 

 benefit, equal to those traditional factors of need, function and cost. 



At the Salt River Project, we have coined the expression "com- 

 munity styling" which embodies this philosophy. "Community 

 styling" is the concept against which we are measuring our construc- 

 tion plans. 



To achieve improved appearance, the most desirable situation 

 would be attained if all of our transmission and distribution could be 

 installed underground. A great deal of progress has been made 

 toward this end in the area of lower voltage distribution systems. To 

 achieve this goal for transmission lines in the near future appears 

 at the moment to be very unrealistic. 



To measure progress in underground residential distribution, 

 Electric Light and Power magazine reported in its April 1965 issue 

 that results from a widespread survey of electric utilities indicated : 



1 . Many utilities predict total underground residential distribution 

 for all new installations in five to ten years. 



2. Ninety-two percent of the utilities surveyed in 1964 were open- 

 minded or in favor of underground residential distribution, whereas 

 60 percent were opposed in 1960. 



3. In total-electric "Gold Medallion" developments, the ratio of 

 underground to overhead costs was approximately 1^4 to 1, and 

 many of the utilities absorb the cost difference of underground to 

 obtain the higher kilowatt-hour usage in Gold Medallion develop- 

 ments. 



