From the December 4, 1939 Burlington Free Press and Times:
Aiken
Slaps Power Companies Again at Cooperative Dedication
Starts Current Over 55 Miles To 155 Families, Praises Courage And Foresight of The Cooperative
(Special to the Free Press)
MONTPELIER Dec. 3.--Dedicating the $25,000 diesel electric power plant of the Washington Electric Cooperative at East
Montpelier yesterday, Gov. George D. Aiken slapped the rural electrification policy of private utilities once more and praised
the "courage and foresight" of the cooperative.
The governor closed a switch at the power plant which sent electricity into 55 miles of lines
built by the cooperative to serve about 150 families of Washington county in East Montpelier Plainfield,
Calais, Marshfield and Middlesex. The project, costing $68,000, was financed
with Federal funds from the Rural Electrification Administration.
Prices Within Reach
"These lines have been built into territories which private corporations have consistently
refused to serve at prices within the reach of the people," Gov, Aiken declared. "It is probably true that extension of lines into these fanning areas would not immediately pay substantial dividends on inflated valuations. But the cooperative, working under the REA program, does not inflate its
capital structure, does not pay high official salaries, does not hire high priced attorneys, does not maintain expensive legislative lobbies, does not pay tribute to holding companies and does not employ high pressure and
expensive publicity methods to expound its virtues.
"Therefore," he added, "it can build its lines into more thinly populated but deserving farming communities, charging only such rates as will meet its legitimate costs and provide for
amortizing its indebtedness over a 25-year period."
The cooperative project will furnish actual necessary cost figures on construction and maintenance of electric lines, "information that to date has been
sadly lacking and badly needed," the governor asserted. "If this line can serve a thinly populated
area at certain rates, then there should be no reason whatsoever why utility corporations that have
heretofore taken the cream of the distributing area should not have their rates fixed at a
commensurate figure," he said.
Incongruous
Commenting on the anomaly of diesel generated power in a State rich in water power resources, Gov. Aiken said, "it seems incongruous and unjust that any
farming community should be denied the right to purchase at wholesale any of that power, except
at excessive rates, in a State where hydro-electric energy is generated to such an extent that four-fifths of
it is exported."
Installation of the plant, he declared, "should drive home to all who will
see or read the fact that our farmers mean business and will not be bluffed nor
seduced into paying, to a privileged few, a tribute on a heritage that
rightfully belongs to all Vermonters."
He foresaw that as a result of the new project, "many farms will become
more prosperous; those that have become deserted will be repossessed and once
more be the homes of people who love to live in the country."
Kelley Presides
E. Harmon Kelley, president of the Washington Electric Cooperative, presided at the dedication ceremony which was attended by farmers
and their families of this area and
REA officials from Washington.
The company gathered first at the new power plant on the Hardwick Road where two
diesel engines capable of generating 128 horsepower each were started. The room
has space for four more engines of the same capacity which will be set up later,
it is expected, as the business expands. As president of the co-operative, E.H.
Kelley of East Montpelier, presided at the exercises and introduced the
speakers.
Adjournment was made to Village Hall for the remainder of the exercises and many could find only standing room, so large was the company present. Among the speakers were Dr. Robert Craig, assistant administrator, R. E. A., C. A. Winder, director, department of
engineering, R. E. A., who told briefly of the movement of the R. E. A. project throughout
the country and the benefits it was bringing to the residents of rural areas; and Capt. Clarke Millen,
the R.E.A. engineer who has been supervising engineer under the R.E.A., and who
is to be retained as resident engineer for the co-operative. A.M. Blakeney, Jr.,
assistant chief of the wiring utilization section of the R. E. A., furnished some practical
suggestions to those engaged in wiring their homes and farm buildings, designed to protect them
from poor and faulty wiring and material.
Movies Shown
Moving pictures were shown of the history of the Mississippi River, the forests that originally
grew along its banks, their destruction, the consequent soil erosion, the building of power
dams that followed, and their function in utilities development, to the present
case of the Washington Electric Co-operative.
Music was contributed to the exercises by Henry Ebbett of Montpelier Center, violinist,
and Virgil McCarthy of Barre, who played the guitar. The two young men also sang. One of the hits of the day was
an improvisation by Mr. McCarthy on the parody of the "Old Oaken Bucket", starting
with the lines, "There's a hole in the rusty old lantern," and describing the end of that flickering
illumination now that better days had come with electricity.
Refreshments
Hot doughnuts, cheese and coffee were served free to the gathering furnished by the Parent-Teacher Association. From the
merchants of the surrounding cities and towns had been sent an array of electrical appliances
that were of great interest to the visitors and there were representatives of the firms to explain the
advantages of the tools on display. Practically every one present inspected the
plant before leaving.