Los Banos Rotary Club History
Power Official Explains Outlook

Vern Redman, assistant manager of the Fresno division, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Tuesday noon gave members of the Los Banos Rotary Club an enlightening picture of the current power situation, both as it affects local and state condition.

First answering critics who claim the power company had not anticipated and planned for increased demand, Redman cited the fact that just prior to the war the P.G.&E. had built up its generating facilities to between 30 and 35 per cent over peak demand at that time, whereas on a national level the surplus average was about 20 per cent. Came the war and all further expansion was immediately halted as the major manufacturers of electrical equipment dropped all civilian orders to go 100 per cent into manufacture of war needs. The government asked all utilities in the United States to use up any and all surplus facilities before making any application for further expansion. As a result the P.G.&E. went through the five war years with the addition of but one new generating plant.

Immediately after the war the P.G.&E. immediately placed orders for new equipment, but so did every other utility, public and private in the country. This flood of orders, plus a year of unprecedented national strikes, stalled all efforts of the manufacturers to supply the demand. Consequently, the new Kern steam generating plant, promised and expected for use last year, is just now being completed. Other units, also planned for early delivery, are still in process of manufacture. The P. G. & E. alone, Redman said, has orders in now for additional generating equipment that will provide more power than the total capacity of Boulder dam. The cost will be over 350 million dollars.
The power shortage in California, he said, is paralleled through most of the country. Vermont, Maine, Iowa, and other states are faced with the same situation, and the Arizona Salt River Valley utility is now operating on a 40 per cent curtailment program.

As to the immediate future, Redman said that his company is utilizing every available source of power to meet the demand, and will continue to do so. The heavy snowfall of the last few weeks has vastly changed the outlook for the season, but he warned that the condition later in the season will depend largely upon how fast the snow melts away and how much of the water can be stored for utilization later in the summer. If the run-off is average, he said, there will be sufficient electricity to carry through. A few days of exceptionally warm weather, however, would cause a major flood, and much of the water supply would be wasted.

Redman said that it might be questionable though, whether they would be able to meet temporary demand periods, and said that some brief curtailment or off peak regulation may be required later in the season.

As to the report that surplus power elsewhere in the state was not being utilized by the company, Redman said that all utilities in the state, from the Oregon line to southern California, are all interconnected, and that no source of supply, anywhere, is being overlook or wasted. As to Shasta power, Redman said that the company will take all power there at a price set by the government. The company's present contract with the Bureau of Reclamation for Shasta power does not expire until December 31 of this year.

Speaking from another angle, Redman commented briefly on the coming May Day celebration, and as a member of the Power Club Band that has appeared here each year, he emphasized the importance of spectator applause, not only for this band, but for each group that passes. Nothing, Redman stated, can be more demonstrative of the community's appreciation of their efforts.

April 13, 1948

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