LIQUID LIGHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 123, 25 May 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

LIQUID LIGHT.

POWER FROM HORAHORA,

WORK OF POWER BOARD

. UOCESS OF SCHEME.

fi asked what, was the greatest pro-j, gressivp step that tlie Waikato bail made during the past few year? most people would unhesitatingly award the palm to the installation of elect tic power from Horahora. The entire district is now practically reticulated, and poles 1 carrying (lie popular "liquid light" fas . one man described it) are scattered throughout the countryside. Where in the past tiie spasmodic cough ot the benzine engine was heard in the majority of cowsheds, all is now silent as tlie smooth running electric motor efficiently forces tiie milking machine to extract the golden bntterfat. No more do hack-} block fanners pore over the daily paper i hv tiie dim light of kerosene lamp or ; candle: no more docs industrious housei wife perspire from her efforts to induce j the "sad" iron lo perform its work of i laundrving the family washing: and no more does tbe tired farmer have to un--1 vokc hi, team in the dark. Those days 'are past. Most farm-houses aro brillliantlv illuminated with electric light, ihe housewife works swiftly and coolly |w:th an electric iron: horses arc illlIvokerl under the rays of brilliant, ynrd flight: hot. water from an electric heater ; is" always available, and 1 he electric ! heater renders the usual evening hunt. | for k-indlinsr wood for "morning tea" i quite unnecessary. Horahora is the cause j of this transformation. The benetit-s are so numerous and apparent that, many 'people wonder why the Government j allowed such a splendid asset to be unused so long. However, once it was, j available for sale to the public the power] i boards throughout, the district, wasted j no time in reticulating the districts ! under their control, with corresponding advantage to consumers. j Tiie Thames Valley Power Roard. i which serves a larger area than any (other district, has been particularly successful, and tbe year's operations afford la. striking index of the way in whicli { electricity is appreciated by country I settlers and urban residents.. | Another power board that has rendered signai service to the. ratepayers is i the Central Tower Hoard, whicli operates | in the district surrounding Hamilton. In ! the course of seventeen months' operations this board has 'been able to carry I its service to 50 per cent of the possible I number of consumers in the district. j I Roans totalling ._1.10.000 have been : raised for terms varying from 10 to .10 __■ j i years, at an average rate of J.'.") IS/ per. cent interest. Of this -urn _l_.-i.OOO has ; been exjiended. The board has erected I 2fio miles of line, including 00 miles of] 11.000 volt , 40 of .1000 volts, and 1-1 miles of low tension wire. It has a total of llbO consumers. 000 of whom use lighting. 123 heating. 232 milking motors. 35 industrial motors, and IS water heaters. The receipts for the year cndeoT Mnrch 31. 1022, were £0195 8.0. I Among the board's undertakings is included a workshop, where a large amount of material is prepared. Ir. has purchased the Ngaruawahia Rnrough Connoil's electrical plant for X'"i.">oo. and that town is now in the board's area, and is being supplied with current by the board, i Financial assistance has been given j where required, and .£1702 has been I advanced to settlers for installing I motors on terms requiring tho money to 'he repaid by instalments. The board instituted a grouping system. whereby groups of houses and farms wore connected with the board's mains, the work beins done by contractors. The board did not undertake the work of installing, nor did it establish a trading department, it encouraged the contract system, and induced competition for work in its area from electrical lirtus all over the country. The scheme has worked well, proving profitable to tho firms concerned, economical to the consumers, and convenient and profitable to the board. The board's policy has been to ascertain the demand before going to tlie expense of erecting lines, ln this it waa assured of obtaining satisfactory revenue from the moment that consumers were connected up. The financial results have more than proved the wisdom of adopting- such a policy. While considering economy in the building of the board's lines, an endeavour has been made to construct lines that, would till requirements and give good service for many years to come. 1. tiring the past rear the board has been fortunate in securing consumers whose loads occur during off-load hours as far as milking is concerned. Among these were the Xgaruawahia. Rorough, the Taupiri Dairy Co.. the Tatlhet quarry, and the Te Rapa sawmill. "I hese consumers returned considerable revenue with a negligible increase in the amount of power the board had to pay for to the Public Works Department. As the Public Works Department now charges the hoard for power on the basis of its maximum demand, the board is instituting a campaign having for it-: object the. popularising of tlie use of electricity for cooking and heating purposes, aud in consequence it will probably revise its charges for current required for these purposes. Practically all the hoard's low tension lines in Cue Frankton-Tuhikaramea. area have been completed, aud arc ready for the '"juice." The Fencourt line Is completed, and nearly all the consumers connected. To Rapa. Horotiu. Tauhei. and Orini have also been served. For many years tho Borough of Fin milton drew its electrical requirements from a steam plant at Frankton. originally erected when Frankton and Hamilton were separate entities, to serve the requirements of Frankton only. When the I two places were amalgamated many I Hamilton consumers wore given power!

from the Frankton station. In a short j space of time the station could not cope -with the demand, and the position was only saved by the adeem of power from Horahora. As soon as the necessary reticulation could he completed the load was gradually transferred to the. Horahora line., and the Frankton station, which had done yeoman service, was "scrapped.'' Hamilton now draws all its current from Horahora, and there is a, very steady demand for it by users of light and 'power. 1 hough the price .-barged for it is considered by many as a deterrent to its more general use. Ihe principal streets of Hamilton are nowwell liabtod by electricity, while some streets whioh "at one time never even boasted the luxury of a gas lamp are I now served with brilliant, electric lights, [and Hamilton is rapidly losing the UilI enviable reputation it at one time bad |of hoin_ the worst-lighted town in New ! Zealand.