The Power Struggle for Seattle’s Future

The Milk in the Coconut.

The Snoqualmie Falls Power Company is fighting to the death against the Union Electric of Seattle, which is backed by the Electric Company of New York. The Washington Power Company, acting under the guise of the General Electric Company, is attempting to destroy the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company to prevent its entrance into this city as a competitor.

At the present time, the Union Company has nearly all of the business tied up in contracts running over years, the most notable exception being in the case of the Centennial Mills, the proprietors of which have given the Snoqualmie Power Company a contract to electric power and permit them to generate operating power in the mill premises. If this is the Snoqualmie people.

The game of freeze-out being thus cleverly worked by the Union Electric Company, is designed to make the fight for patronage in Seattle an uphill one for the Bakers when they finally get their Snoqualmie plant in working order. The latter evidently realize this fact and know that their best counter stroke will be to prevent the Union Electric from getting a foothold on Cedar River under the guise of the Washington Power Company, here it will be possible to generate electricity at a much smaller expense by the use of water falls instead of steam.

If the Snoqualmie Company can accomplish this result it will then be in a position to undersell its rival by furnishing power from running water at cheaper rates than the Union Electric can afford to continue to furnish power made by steam. With this great advantage the Snoqualmie Company calculates to be able to eventually force its rival out of the field and probably buy up its plant and contracts. Then the Snoqualmie people—the Bakers—will have a monopoly.

But supposing the Washington Power Company, the Union Electric or the General Electric, which is one and the same under three different titles, should be given the privilege by the city to establish itself on Cedar River. It will then be in a position to say to its rival: 'We've got you now just where we want you. Unless you sell to us the Snoqualmie plant and get out of the country we will go to Cedar River, build a plant and run you out. We have the Seattle business now and you will not be able to cut under our rates for power.' The expectation is that the Bakers would see the advisability of selling and then the General Electric, alias the Union Electric, alias the Washington Power Company, would purchase the Snoqualmie Plant, make no further move towards placing a plant on Cedar River and would have the wished-for monopoly of power on Puget Sound. Cedar River would be undisturbed by the turbine wheels that grind out electricity and the polluted water scare would be a memory of the past.

All of these facts have an important bearing upon the investigations which the special committee of council will institute this evening. The city cannot afford to be used as a cat's paw to draw out chestnuts from the fire for either of the contending companies.