Great Falls Tribune

MILES CITY POWER PLANT
TO SUPPLY NEARBY TOWNS

Definite plans for the development of a 13,000-kilowatt hydro-electric power project at Buffalo rapids, nine miles east of Miles City, which will serve several growing cities in eastern Montana and also will make possible the reclamation of 109,000 acres of farm land in the rich Yellowstone valley, will be consummated in the next 60 to 90 days, according to A. C. Leighton of Miles City, who is a visitor in Great Falls. Mr. Leighton and his brother, Joseph B. Leighton, are the principal promoters of the project, the latter now being in New York city where he is arranging with financiers to underwrite the cost of the development, which is estimated at $2,000,000.

Scotten Is Engineer

Virtually all of the preliminary plans and surveys of the project have been finished. Frank Scotten of Great Falls, superintendent of the Montana Power company being one of the consulting engineers, says Mr. Leighton. The federal power commission gave its approval to the proposed development last May and last Saturday the Montana public service commission approved the schedule of rates to be charged for delivery of current from the plant when completed.

It is proposed to deliver electric current to the cities of Forsyth, Miles City, Terry, Rosebud and Glendive, all of these places now being served by plants which generate their electricity by steam engines. The project will not be in competition with the Montana Power company, says Mr. Leighton, the latter's lines going no farther east than Billings.

When tentative agreements are made with the power companies in the territory to be served as to the amount of current desired by each, so that the earning capacity of the proposed plant can be definitely fixed, Mr. Leighton believes it will be a sufficiently attractive investment to find the necessary capital in the east. He is now ready to conclude these agreements, since state public service commission has fixed the rates.

Has 1,700 Feet Spillway

The project provides for a lowhead system, the dam to be 2,600 feet from bank to bank of the river, with a spillway of 1,700 feet. The height of the dam, over all, will be 48 feet. The plant will have a capacity of 17,400 horsepower or approximately 13,000 kilowatts. The current will be delivered to the local power companies at their switchboards at a wholesale rate from transmission lines belonging to the power project which will extend from Forsyth to Glendive, Mr. Leighton says. In addition to current sold to the power companies, current also will be sold to the Milwaukee railway for use in its shops at Miles City and to the Northern Pacific for use in its shops at Glendive.

The other big use to which the electric power from the project will be put will be in operating centrifugal pumps which will lift the water from the Yellowstone river for irrigation at many points in the valley between Forsyth and Glendive, Mr. Leighton points out. The tracts are isolated and range from 110 acres to 1,000 acres in area, totaling 109,000 acres. Though it comprises some of the best land in the valley, nothing but sagebrush is growing on it now, he says.

Average Lift 60 Feet

The average lift to be made for the tracts will be 60 feet, says Mr. Leighton, the highest initial cost an acre for any of the tracts will be $25, and the annual charge for water delivery will be less than $2 acre.

The Northern Pacific railway and the Milwaukee railway, both systems traversing the project, are interested in its development. Mr. Leighton expects that the Northern Pacific will actively participate in colonizing the area when the power plant is completed. It is proposed to have farms no larger than 80 acres.