An electric-power company gained greater profits and provided electricity to consumers at lower rates per unit of electricity by building larger-capacity more efficient plants and by stimulating greater use of electricity within its area. To continue these financial trends, the company planned to replace an old plant by a plant with triple the capacity of its largest plant.
The company’s plan as described above assumed each of the following EXCEPT:

(A) Demand for electricity within the company’s area of service would increase in the future.
(B) Expenses would not rise beyond the level that could be compensated for by efficiency or volume of operation, or both.
(C) The planned plant would be sufficiently reliable in service to contribute a net financial benefit to the company as a whole.
(D) Safety measures to be instituted for the new plant would be the same as those for the plant it would replace.
(E) The tripling of capacity would not result in insuperable technological obstacles to efficiency.