Electricity Charges.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20729, 14 December 1932, Page 10

Electricity Charges.

Commercial and industrial users of electricity will welcome the concession proposed by the Electricity Committee of the City Council on Monday night and adopted; and the Council may be commended for widening the scope of its liberality to consumers, after considerable delay. At the same time it will be noticed that the concession is small—a rebate of five per cent, —and applies only to the period between July of this year and the end of March next, Avhen it will automatically lapse unless Monday's decision is reaffirmed. While the Electricity Committee and the Council are entirely right to measure their benefits with care and even anxiety, in view of the revenue figures presented by Mrs MeCombs, commercial consumers hate been much less favourably treated than domestic; and this difference still holds. Last June the domestic consumers were granted reductions worth from £IO,OOO to £12,000, part of total reductions amounting to more than £50,000 since 1927; and these reductions have an indefinite term. The rebate granted to the coirtmercial and industrial consumers is worth less than £3OOO and is definitely limited to (he nine months from July. Further than that, the extent to which this class of consumers has benefited by the overall cdncessions of the last few years appears in the following: table:— REVENUE (IN I'ENCE) TEtt UNIT SOLD. 192 G. 1957. 1028. 1923. 1930. 1931. Domestic—--2.15 1.67 1.31 1.40 1.18 1.069 Commercial—--2.82 2.66 2.59 2.52 2.15 2.416 Power—- .!> .*.>,:> ,<JA .S9 .88 .827 That is to say, iu six years the domestic unit charge was halved aud tbeu again reduced this year, while the conunercial

I charge fell by only 13 per cent, aud !the power charge by only tight per cent. It is not to be overlooked, of course, that in this period domestic consumption very nearly trebled, the commercial and power increases being only about 50 per cent, and 33 per cent. This is the argument most commonly used to justify steady concessions" to the domestic consumer: the Municipal Electricity Department must give where it has most to get by giving. But true as this is, it is also true that the Department is a public utility, which owes to every section of its consumers and to the community as much consideration as to its own interests; and it is quite as important to the community that industry and commerce should be helped as. that the Department should get more business. So far this aspect of the question has received too little attention when profits have made it possible io reduce charges. Tor this the Council has now made small amends; but it will be very disappointing if the rebate is allowed to lapse next April.