OCR Text |
Show hydroelectric facilities, as they are constructed, with the existing electric power systems of the basin and surrounding region, including the Ten- nessee Valley and the neighboring Savannah and Apalachicola River Basins. Under section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944, hydroelectric power and energy produced at Federal projects must be mar- keted in such manner as to encourage the most wide- spread use of the power at the lowest possible rates consistent with sound business principles.5 In the sale of such power, preference must be given to public bodies and cooperatives. These provisions of law directly affect the manner in which inte- gration of Federal and non-Federal power facilities can be accomplished. At present, the Southeastern Power Administra- tion of the Department of the Interior, the power marketing agent for the Federal Government in this basin, has a contract to sell power from Alla- toona Darn to the Georgia Power Co. for 3 years, pending demands by preference customers.6 As such demands appear and as additional Federal hydroelectric power facilities are constructed, ways and means must be found to serve preference cus- tomers within the framework of a power system fully integrated throughout the southeastern re- gion. Whether this will be done over existing trans- mission lines owned by private power companies or by new transmission lines constructed by the Fed- eral Government appears to depend on whether the private utilities are ready to wheel the power to load centers on terms assuring full accomplishment of the objectives of Federal power policy as embodied in the law governing the marketing of power from Federal projects. The planning, designing, and scheduling of the hydroelectric power projects must take account of the particular power market characteristics and needs of trie region. For this reason, the Southeast- ern Power Administration should participate co- operatively with other interested Federal agencies in considering plans, designs, and schedules for power projects. It recently has been activated within the Department of the Interior and coopera- tive relations between the Southeastern Power Ad- ministration, the Federal Power Commission, and the Corps of Engineers are now being established at the field level. The market for power of the Alabama-Coosa and the Mobile Basins is developing rapidly. Accord- 5 Act of December 22, 1944, § 5, 58 Stat. 887, 890, 16 U. S. G. 825 s. 'Public bodies and cooperatives. ing to the power market survey of the southeastern region made by the Federal Power Commission, the increased power needs by 1970 could be supplied in large measure from the undeveloped power in the Mobile Basin. The Tennessee Valley Author- ity transmission system extends over the north and west part of the Mobile Basin and could be con- nected to power plants on the Alabama-Coosa and to the potential power of the Tombigbee River. The over-all potentials of the Mobile River Basin could provide a major block of power to serve the needs of this marketing area. Conclusions Full economic development and integrated opera- tion of the hydroelectric power resources of the basin should be achieved. Recognizing the mixed Fed- eral and non-Federal character of the program, Federal construction and marketing policies should be such as to encourage most widespread use of power at lowest rates consistent with sound business principles and with regard to preference to public bodies and cooperatives. Use of private plants and transmission facilities should be arranged in terms of the above objectives. Because of the close relation between the nature and distribution of the markets and the character, location, and scheduling of power units at dams to be constructed, integration of the Federal and non- Federal power activities to the maximum prac- ticable degree is essential. Because of this close relation, the extent and nature of participation of the power-marketing agency in Federal planning and scheduling power installations should be clearly defined to assure the most effective application of Federal power-marketing policies throughout the Southeast. 4. Status and Need for a Comprehensive Basin Program The Problem Integration of basin planning and other action on water resources improvement. The Situation Federal agencies which have programs relating to the conservation and development of the re- sources of the Alabama-Coosa Basin are limited to the particular functions each is authorized to per- form. The Corps of Engineers is responsible for planning and constructing engineering works de- 560 |