ELECTRIC POWER
MINISTER'S CLAIMS
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Upholding his earlier claim that there would have been no shortage of electricity had it not been for the intervention of war the Minister of Works, Mr. Semple, in a letter to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce on July 20, declared: "If the advice given by outside organisations in the six or seven years before the war had been followed, I say that the shortage would have .been much more acute than it is now. "Since long before the war hydroelectric expansion has been practically a continuous process and, during the war, no opportunity has been overlooked to obtain more plant. Even to-day it is still a difficult matter to secure the necessary priorities for the manufacture of plant and. indeed, for this same reason, Great Britain is facing an acute shortage in electricity during the next few years." of Sites In a furmer letter to the chamber on July 26 the Minister declared that it was known to the Department that a number of possible sites existed for small power development. The natural basis for hydroelectric expansion was to develop sites in the order of usefulness and efficiency to the supply system as a whole and so for the benefit of all consumers. "The Government is immediately concentrating all the labour available on the completion of these major schemes, which, between them, will provide an additional 291,000 k.w. in the North Island," he stated. "To divert some of this labour to construct small stations would only result in progress as a whole being slowed up. The /Lake Omapere project, however, will ultimately be developed by the Government to better advantage to the national system as a whole than if it were undertaken only with an eye to local requirements." Referring to the suggested changeover from coal to oil of the King's Wharf power station, the Minister stated that transport difficulties and not a shortage of coal production had been the cause of the recent trouble. The question of conversion was however, being looked into. Following the reading of the Minister's letters at to-day's meeting of the chamber, a reply from the Waitemata Power Board was considered in committee, no report being made. It was stated, however, that the Minister's letters were also being referred to the Auckland Power Board for a report. A letter from the Minister of Broadcasting, Mr. Sullivan, stated that it was considered the present reduction in broadcasting hours during the peak load period was adequate.
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Bibliographic details
ELECTRIC POWER, Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 181, 2 August 1945
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416ELECTRIC POWER Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 181, 2 August 1945
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