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Show The Generation and Use of Electricity in the Southeast Prior to 1933 The production of electricity in this region was far behind the national development throughout the thirties. The States of the Tennessee Valley had fewer kilowatts available per worker in the year 1924 than any other area of the United States. The 11 States of the Southeast, together with West Vir- ginia, were the only States with less than 3 horse- power per worker. The Southeast from 1914 to 1929 had less than 15 percent of the total generat- ing capacity of the United States; the Northeast had more than 44 percent; and the Central States had between 30 and 33 percent. In these years the median value added by manu- facture per horsepower was: In the Southeast_____________________$530 In the Northeast_____________________ 805 In the Middle West___________________ 827 In the United States__________________ 750 No major concentration among the Nation's 10 largest industries was located in the southeastern area. Among the southern States one great utility- holding company, the Commonwealth & Southern Corp., of the United Corporation group, held a dominant position. With its affiliated companies it represented a concentration of properties totaling nearly 4 billion dollars. The Electric Bond & Share Co., through its subsidiaries, also owned substantial utility enterprises in the Tennessee Valley, as did the Associated Gas & Electric Co. and Cities Service Co. The operating companies were very firmly en- trenched and held the markets for all major cities of the Tennessee Valley and surrounding territory. There were a few weak municipal plants in small rural towns. There were no rural cooperatives for the distribution of electric power and but minimum progress had been made in providing electricity for rural areas. Addition of Generating Facilities Since 1933 Planners of the TVA legislation envisioned use of the water power resources of the Tennessee Valley to establish a new kind of electricity distribution within the area. They planned for something dif- ferent from any then existing publicly owned utility system in the United States. The existing plants were isolated individual plants serving municipali- ties of varying sizes. TVA became the first inte- grated publicly owned utility system with an interconnected pool of power from which a hundred or more widely separated communities might obtain electricity. The construction of Norris Dam illustrates the advantages to be gained from integrated develop- ment of the basin. The Clinch River was not an attractive stream for power alone. Its gradient was moderate, and its summer runoff was low. The primary value of a reservoir was for flood control. But the large reservoir formed by the high dam at Norris, inundating parts of five counties, greatly increased the power capacity of the entire river system. Operated to regulate floods and low water flows, this project had the immediate effect of nearly treb- ling the dependable continuous power output at Wilson Dam, and similarly benefited other main river power plants below the confluence of the Tennessee and Clinch Rivers. The installation of turbines at the dam also provided 225 to 500 million kilowatt-hours of energy annually, depending upon the type of water year and system of plants of which it is a part. Development of the Present Power System The principle of regulating tributaries to com- plement development on the main stem became part of the valley program for stream regulation. This was first a 9-dam, then a 12-dam system. The summary below illustrates the increases in prime power capacity made possible by water regu- lation on the main river below Norris and Hiwassee Dams, which were the first two tributary dams in the Tennessee River system. Power plants Watts Bar Chick amauga. Guntersville.. Wheeler..... Wilson...... Pickwick..... Kentucky___ Total. Minimum weekly flow Unreg- ulated Cubijeet per second 2,900 3,500 4,100 4,150 4,300 4,350 4,400 Regu- lated Cubicfeet per second 11,800 16,000 16, 300 18, 600 18,900 20,100 25,400 Regu- lated as percent- age of unregu- lated flow 407 457 398 448 440 462 577 Con- tinuous power derived from regulated watts) Kilowatts 51,000 50, 000 45,000 66, 000 122,000 76,000 81,000 491, 000 725 |
