POWER BOARD.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19942, 31 May 1930, Page 9

POWER BOARD.

MALVERN. The ordinary meeting for May of the Malvern Electric Power Board was attended by all members, Mr John Deans being io the chair. A group of residents In Darfield township applied for an estimate of the ccst of power at . their houses, and tho engin-eer-secretary was asked to give tha Interested people thi». Information. It was reported that a resident in Glentunnel bad interfered with one of the Board's service fuses, resulting in a portion of tho township being placed in darknesß during one week-end. The Board decided to take no legal action In this instance, but instructed the secretary to write a letter of warning to the offender. It was reported that two of the poles recently replaced by stouter poles in Kirwea township had been removed by some person, and it was decided to place the matter _in the hands of the polioe. The Halkett line had been costed, and its net cost to the Board to date totalled £2447, as against tho estimated cost of-£9523.

At the close of the monthly meeting the Board held its annual meeting, at which the retiring chairman (Mr John Deans) was re-elected chairman tor the ensuing year. • The chairman, in his annual report, stated that the 1o«b after providing for all current commitments chargeable against the general account had been £798, a*, against a loss of £IOOO the previous year. This compared very favourably with the estimated loss of £BOO. The administrative costs had fallen from £1685 to £1790, whereas the cost of power had increased from £2BOO to £2460, and. the interest and sinking fund charges from £3630 to £3BOO. The revenue from tbe sale of electrical energy had increased from £5989 to £6500, an increase of S.S per cent. On the other hand, the loan indebtedness of the Board had reached £63,000, an increase in capital expenditure of 11.4 per cent, for the yeaT. This left £6OOO of unexpended loan authority, to which might bo added a supplementary issue of £4500 before the present borrowing authority was axhausted. During the year capital had been called upon to build the Halkott reticulation as well as a number of short extensions to individual residents, and to provide earth leakage protection, reclosing switchgear, and power factor correction equipment. The earth leakage protection was not a revenue-producing asset,but a statutory obligation introduced by the Amending Act. of 1927, and the rcclosin'g switohgear was provided to lessen th® liability to supply interruptions which the earth leakage equipment might Introduce. With the completion of the Halkett line, the Board had fulfilled almost all the purposes for which the last. loan of £25,000 was raised. The most, items still outstanding .were the reticulation of ' Kowai Bush settlement, and the provision of 11,000 volt distribution between Hororata and I>arfleld. and between Darfield and Sheffield. In the general development of the schema the route miles of line had increased by 26 miles to a total of 178 miles, and the number of consumers had grown during the year from 592 to 644. The total connected load figures as it the close of tho two years were 1894 k.w. and 2292 k.w. Electric cookers appeared to be as popular as ever/ and thd number installed was now 127, which made | the cooker , density 19.7 per cent. Last year closed with 104 cookers, and a density of 17.5 per cent.