Railway power contracts

RAILWAY power contracts should be based upon rate schedules and general provisions that harmonize the respective interests of the power supplier and user. Elimination of the customary demand charge and the substitution therefor of a straight energy charge supplemented with a minimum bill provision appears to offer considerable assistance toward this goal. By this means railway managements would be freed from unnecessarily restrictive deterrents to good operation, and utility companies would at the same time be assured of earning sufficient revenue to cover fully all operating costs and a return on the capital invested in railway power facilities commensurate with the risks involved and with the return from capital devoted to other industrial power services.