DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Hubert Work, Secretary U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY An** Otto Smith, Director Water-Supply Paper 579 POWEB CAPACITY AND PEODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES PAPEBS BT C. E. DAUGHEETY, A. H. HOETON AND E. W. DAVENPOET UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1928 CONTENTS Page Introduction, by N. C. Grover._______________________________ 1 The development of horsepower equipment in the United States, by C. K. Daugherty ________________________________ 5 Developed and potential water power in the United States and production of electricity by public-utility power plants, 1^19-1926, by A. H. Horton..________________________________ 113 Growth of water-power development in the United States, by K. W. Davenport.._____________________j___________ 203 Index___________*______________L.__________ 209 NOTE. The illustrations are listed in connection with the separate papers. n POWER CAPACITY AND PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES INTRODUCTION By NATHAN CLIFFOED GEOVER 1 For countless centuries man was the principal source of motive power for practically all purposes. He was ably assisted in certain activities by the lower animals the beasts of burden that have served especially in transportation and agriculture. The changeable and fitful wind was also long utilized, especially for pumping water and propelling ships. Small water-power plants were developed and used for sawing lumber, grinding grain, carding wool, weaving cloth, and other small industrial processes. But the universal supply of energy for productive work was furnished by human beings, fre­ quently by slaves, and so long as this condition prevailed the human race was able to produce only the bare necessities of life, and famine was forever stalking in the background of existence. Since the invention of the steam engine the burden of the world's work has gradually been lifted from the backs of men and placed on machines driven by power generated by the burning of fuels. Not, however, until energy had been made mobile by means of electric transmission was the possibility of man's emancipation from the treadmill of drudgery realized. He must, of course, continue to labor, but he is now the operator of machines instead of being the primary source of power. With the "horsepower" of the water Or steam driven engine to aid him, man's capacity to accomplish has been greatly increased, and as a result the human race can now produce not only the neces­ sities of life but the remarkably varied luxuries of the present day. Because of the availability of cheap mechanical and electrical energy every person in this country has to-day the equivalent of about 60 servants in constant attendance in supplying food, clothing, and shelter of a kind that would have been the envy of kings a century ago; in furnishing easy transportation by palatial steamships, by railway trains consisting of sleeping, dining, club, and observation _________________________________i_______ > Chief hydraulic engineer, U. 8. Geological Survey. Z POWER CAPACITY AND PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES cars equipped with every convenience for the comfort of the traveler by automobiles for business and pleasure, and in the immediate future by the airship with its possibilities for both comfort and speed; and in promoting rapid communication by mail, telegraph, telephone, and the radio. Under these new conditions, even with a greatly increased population, the civilized world is practically free from the danger of famine. The necessities, conveniences, and luxuries of the present genera­ tion are made available largely as the result of the utilization of cheap energy, generally electric but in part mechanical, which now dominates industry, transportation, and communication. By abridg­ ing space this mighty force has elongated time, given to everyone the possibilities of leisure and luxury, and changed not only the daily routine but the very aspect of life in both city and country. Individuals, States, and nations are therefore vitally interested in this giant that rules the modern world. What are the national sources in cheap energy, how are they being utilized, and what are the limits of development? Fortunately the United States has been endowed by nature with great resources in water power, that source of energy which is not depleted by use, as well as with enormous deposits of coal and oil, which are exhaustible. In so far as water power is used the fuels can be conserved, and wherever it is economical to do so, water power should therefore be utilized. The problems related to the availability of our resources in power and to the development and utilization of those resources are accord­ ingly of national scope and importance, and the three reports pre­ sented herein are of vital interest to students of economics as well as to many people in all walks of life who use in some or many forms the products of mechanical and electric power. These reports show by States the Nation's resources in water power and the installed capacity of water-power plants at certain dates since 1849; the utilization and growth in utilization of energy in the various lines of human activity; the monthly output of electric energy by public- utility plants since 1919, the proportions of this output furnished by water power and by fuels, the consumption of fuels in producing this power, and the decreasing consumption of fuel per unit of power developed. They constitute therefore a compilation of information not to be found elsewhere concerning the growth of the power business in connection with many kinds of human endeavor, and they show the remarkable development of the power business since the electric transmission of power was made practicable and the trend toward the utilization of large central power stations of great capacity and high efficiency operated by public-utility companies that have been created under State control to generate, transmit, and sell power as a commodity. INTRODUCTION 6 The information contained in the report has been collected in part by the Geological Survey in connection with its activities in studying the water resources of the country and their best utilization, in part by the Bureau of the Census in its periodic statistical study of the country's activities, and in part by the Federal Power Commission in connection with the administration of the Federal water-power act. Some of the data have therefore been previously published in scattered statistical form, and some have been made-available in multigraphed or mimeographed preliminary reports; but some have never before been published. All these statistics are now brought together in such form as to be available for further study and any other use that may be found to be desirable. They will serve as base data on which must rest any future study in this country of the problems of power utilization in relation to economics and government. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HORSEPOWER EQUIPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES BY CARROLL ROOP DAUGHERTY CONTENTS Pas* Prefatory note....____..._________ 11 Introduction___________________________________ 11 Sources and accuracy of the data...._________________... 15 Development of prime movers___________ _ 23 Certain findings of the study _________ 30 Some uses for the power index _ _ 36 Bibliography___________________________________ 43 Tables____........_._.. .__.....__...._.__...._._.... 45 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. Horsepower of prime movers installed and utilized in different activities, 1849-1923, by types of prime movers_______ 84 FIGUBB 1. Total horsepower of prime movers in the United States, 1849- 1923__________.____________________ 79 2. Horsepower of prime movers installed in different activities, 1849-1923_______________________...___ 80 3. Horsepower utilized in each field of activity, 1849-1923___ 81 4. Index numbers of horsepower of prime movers, 1849-1923, by types of prime movers._______ ___.___. 82 5. Percentages of horsepower of prime movers, 1849-1923, by different types of prime movers___ _________. 83 6. Horsepower of prime movers, 1849-1923, by special groups.. 84 7. Horsepower of prime movers, 1849-1923, by special groups.. 84 8. Horsepower of prime movers, population, and wage earners in United States, 1849-1923____________________ 85 9. Horsepower of prime movers, population, and wage earners in United States, 1849-1923____________________ 86 10. Horsepower of prime movers, population, and wage earners in United States, 1849-1923____________________ 87 11. Horsepower of prime movers installed per inhabitant and per wage earner and utilized per wage earner in different activi­ ties and groups, 1849-1923___________________ 88 12. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1923____________ 89 13. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1919. ___________ 90 14. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1909____________ 91 15. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1899____________ 92 16. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1889 _ ___________ 93 17. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1879.-._________... 04 18. Total horsepower of prime movers, 1869. ___________ 95 19. Horsepower of prime movers in motor-driven vehicles, 1923.. 96 20. Horsepower of prime movers per square mile, 1923, by States and geographic divisions-_____*_____________ 97 7 8 POWER CAPACITY AND PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES Fag* FIGUEB 21. Horsepower of prime movers utilized in manufactures, 1923_ 98 22. Percentage of total horsepower of prime movers utilized in manufactures, 1923, by types of prime movers___ __ 99 23. Chief types of prime movers utilized in manufactures,