hearing, we would staff up on that basis. If you would like to have it sooner, of course, we would then be in the position where we would have to pull staff off other jobs. Mr. THOMAS. We want you to take your time and do a good job and do it in cooperation with those people. They have nothing to hide. If there are any errors that have been made, they are errors of the head and not of the heart on their part. They are fine public servants-scientists, businessmen, Army and Navy representatives, Commerce, and several other Government agencies. Mr. WESTFALL. We will have a report for you on that agency before the next appropriation hearings, if that will be satisfactory. Mr. THOMAS. Thank you, gentlemen, very much. It is always a pleasure to see you. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1952. FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION WITNESSES THOMAS C. BUCHANAN, CHAIRMAN NELSON LEE SMITH, COMMISSIONER EARL F. SECHREST, BUDGET OFFICER FREDERICK C. MOORE, ASSISTANT CHIEF, DIVISION OF BUDGET AND FINANCE BRADFORD ROSS, GENERAL COUNSEL WILLARD W. GATCHELL. ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL MELWOOD W. VAN SCOYOC, ASSISTANT CHIEF, BUREAU OF AC COUNTS, FINANCE AND RATES EDGAR S. COFFMAN, CHIEF, DIVISION OF RATES FRANCIS L. ADAMS, CHIEF, BUREAU OF POWER MARION F. HETHERINGTON, ASSISTANT CHIEF, BUREAU OF POWER WILLIAM R. FARLEY, CHIEF, DIVISION OF LICENSED PROJECTS FRANK L. WEAVER, CHIEF, DIVISION OF RIVER BASINS JULIAN B. TURNER, CHIEF, DIVISION OF PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES NOTE. Reimbursements from non-Federal sources consist of payments from States and municipalities for services rendered by staff members under provisions of Federal Power Act (16 U. S. C. 824h) and Natural Gas Act (15 U. S. C. 717p). Mr. THOMAS. Gentlemen, we have with us this afternoon the Federal Power Commission. It is nice to see our new Chairman, Mr. Buchanan. You and Four staff are always welcome. And we have our old and steady friend, Dr. Nelson Lee Smith, Commissioner; Mr. Sechrest, budget officer; Mr. Moore, Assistant Chief, Division of Budget and Finance Mr. Ross, general counsel; Mr. Gatchell, assistant general counsel Mr. Van Scoyoc, Assistant Chief, Bureau of Accounts, Finance, and Rates; Mr. Coffman, Chief, Division of Rates; Mr. Adams, Chie Bureau of Power; Mr. Hetherington, Assistant Chief, Bureau of Power Mr. Farley, Chief, Division of Licensed Projects: Mr. Weaver, Chief Division of River Basins; and Mr. Turner, Chief, Division of Per sonnel and Administrative Services. Gentlemen, it is nice to see you all. We want to wish you a happy new year. It might be a few weeks late, but the sentiment is sti there just the same. Mr. Chairman, if either you or Mr. Smith or any other member of your staff has a statement for us, we will be glad to listen to you as long as you want to take, provided it is not over 2 hours. Mr. BUCHANAN. I think that will suit us, likewise. GENERAL STATEMENT My name is Thomas C. Buchanan. I am Chairman of the Federa Power Commission. I appear before this committee, as do the other commissioners and staff members present, in support of the Federa Power Commission's budget estimates for 1953. Mr. THOMAS. If I may interrupt you, I have a letter from your colleague, Mr. Wimberly, who called me over the phone the other day Due to some illness in his family, I believe, he is not able to be here and he wanted to go on record as supporting this budget. Of course I told him we would be glad to hear him, but I did not want to get to strong a recommendation for the exact amount. But anyway h said, "I cannot give that answer, but I want to go on record as advising you I have studied this budget in every detail, helped to compile it and it is 100 percent correct.' I won't put all of his words in there because he was even stronger than my words that I just used. Bu there is his letter, and we will put it in the record at this point. Excuse me for interrupting. (The letter above referred to is as follows:) Hon. ALBERT THOMAS, FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION, Washington, January 21, 1952. Chairman, Subcommittee on Independent Offices Appropriations, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I regret I will be unable to attend the hearings o Wednesday, January 23, on the Federal Power Commission budget proposals for fiscal year 1953. I want to take this opportunity, however, to advise your committee that I ar wholeheartedly in accord with the budget estimates that will be presented. have studied the problem carefully and I am convinced the amount of mor requested is a bare minimum the Federal Power Commission will need to perfor" the essential statutory work prescribed by the Congress. My views are expressed in this manner because I want you and your conmittee to know that I regard these budget requests of utmost importance to the efficient operation of this Commission. With kindest regards, I am, Sincerely, HARRINGTON WIMBERLY, Mr. BUCHANAN. I might add at this point that Commissioner Draper could not come up, either, and I think he voices the same opinion that Mr. Wimberly does. Our request totals $4,540,000 which is $223,675 more than the appropriations for the current year as adjusted by the costs of Public Law 201. LICENSING OF NONFEDERAL HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS We request $706,000 for licensing of non-Federal hyrdoelectric projects, which is the same amount as is allocated to that activity during the current year. This activity embraces the functions with which the Commission is charged by part I of the Federal Power Act and, as the committee is aware, is self-sustaining as a result of annual charges for administration. At the start of the current year we had a large backlog of 193 license applications but with funds now available and requested for 1953 we will be able to do little better than keep pace with the rate of filing of new applications of about 110 per year. Optimum performance would require that the backlog be reduced by about 120 cases but we have not so provided, in accordance with the announced policy of restricting expenditures even with the knowledge that operations will be curtailed and backlogs created or maintained thereby. REGULATION AND SURVEY, ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY We request $1,297,000 for regulation and surveys, electric power industry. That request is $325 less than this year's allocation to that activity. We anticipate a doubling of the rate case workload in the budget year and necessary increases in power requirement and supply studies and gathering, analysis, and publication of basic data, both occasioned principally by the demands of defense agencies. To compensate for these increases reductions were made in other functions. REGULATION AND SURVEYS, NATURAL-GAS INDUSTRY We request $1,739,000 for regulation and surveys, natural-gas industry, which amount is $157,000 greater than this year's allocation. Two-thirds of the increase is for application to gas rate case work. Suspended gas rate increases awaiting final Commission action now total over $100,000,000 per year, and the trend of increased filings of higher rates is expected to continue into next year. So seriously does the Commission consider this situation, it now has before the Bureau of the Budget a request for supplemental funds for the current year which will permit us to employ additional staff, up to the proposed 1953 level, 3 months in advance of the start of the fiscal 1953. INVESTIGATIONS, FEDERAL RIVER-DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS Our request for investigations relating to Federal river-development projects totals $369,000 or $35,000 more than is allocated for the current year, but still a reduction of 35 percent from 1951 expenditures. Again this will not permit us to handle all of the workload 93850-52-pt. 1——35 expected, but announced budget policies were observed in restricting our request to the amount stated. It will be recalled that the Congres drastically reduced funds for this purpose under "Flood control sur veys" this year ($351,700 appropriated in 1951 against $200,000 in 1952). That action severely limited our ability to keep pace with the constructing agencies or, rather, the investigating agency, on suci activities. INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION We have kept International Joint Commission's costs, $8,000, and the cost of administration, $455,000, both at this year's levels. PERSONAL SERVICES Personal services account for 88.8 percent of the total obligationestimated for 1953. The amount, $4,063,000, represents an increase of $126,000 and will provide for the filling of 21 more of the existing approved positions-not the creation of new ones-and an increas in average employment of 22 man-years. The 21 additional permanent positions to be financed are at ar average salary of $4,828 as compared with the over-all average of $5,464. This is an indication that higher-salaried personnel are no available within governmental price range at this time, and we may have to turn to the lower and less-skilled echelons for the additional manpower. Of course, this situation may change. The strength estimated for 1953 is the bare minimum with which the Commission considers it can perform only the more pressing of its statutory activities at the lowest rates consistent with the public interest. As is more full explained in the justification by activities, to do even this within the total amount requested, it has been necessary to curtail many activities in order to shift emphasis to currently more pressing matters. In the present fiscal year, and to a greater degree in the budget year, the Commission has determined that considerably increased effort of the staff is required on rate regulation, both electric and gas, and on the processing of applications for certificates of convenience and necessity for natural gas facilities. These three function alone will require an additional 32.6 man-years in 1953. However. that increase, together with other minor essential increases aggregating 9.6 man-years, has been partially offset by several decreases in other functions totaling 20.3 man-years. At this point, it might be interesting to note the comparison of the data on the latest payroll for the period ending January 5, 1952, with that of the corresponding payroll ending January 6, 1951. This comparison is as follows: Data on latest payroll Number of employees paid (payroll ending Jan. 5, 1952) Amount of payroll. 711 $153, 087 Data as of 1 year ago Number of employees paid (payroll ending Jan. 6, 1951). 744 $140, 421 |