THE COUNCIL AND ELECTRIC POWER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8725, 26 November 1913, Page 3

THE COUNCIL AND ELECTRIC POWER.

TO THE EDITOR.

gi r —Councillor Buchanan is to be commended for bringing under the notice of the Borough Council the tact that there are no meters installed in the premises of many users of electric light. The Borough Council is practically a partner in the Electric Light Company's business, inasmuch as it (the Council) receives payment on the basis of the company's revenue. It has, therefore, every" right to see that a proper system of checking the supply of electric current to its consumers is instituted by .the company-. In : houses where no meters .-are':.-installed, the system of charging is; qnly guess-work, and although the Borough gets its share of the revenue vthat'is not to say that it is getting its fair share of the output of electric current for which it recently., put in expensive engines ..and built .additional buildings. The Mayor's suggestion that Cr.. Buchanan was a shareholder of the Gas Company was an .unworthy reflection on Cr. Buchanan, and is not worth taking notice of by any man who wishes to do his duty to the ratepayers. So far as the Borough is concerned, it has committed ' itself to the Electric Company to supply, at great cost, power to generate' electricity, the Borough to receive, by ; way of payment, . a certain. portion of . the revemie of the' company.. It is • right, therefore, that <f he Borough should protect its' interests by insisting that a proper check on the consumption of electricity be instituted in order to secure its fair share of the revenue. RATEPAYER.