The Press WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1934. Hydro-Electric Development

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21243, 15 August 1934, Page 10

The Press WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1934. Hydro-Electric Development

The annual report of the Municipal Electricity Department, summarised in "The Press" yesterday, contains a reference to the completion of the Waitaki hydro-electricity scheme which deserves careful consideration. Never before in the history of this city [it is seated] has the margin of available supply over demand even approached the position that will obtain when the first unit at Waitaki, 16,600 k.v.a., is put into service; and the initial installation provides for two such units. . . . The situation will justify exceptional measures towards the sale of power on the part of both the Public Works Department and the supply authorities. The last sentence is not nearly strong enough. If Waitaki is not going to be a burden on the national finances for many years to come, both the Government and the supply authorities will have to make a very strenuous effort to increase tht consumption of electricity in both Canterbury and Otago. To this end, two measures seem to be necessary. The first is a revision of the scale of charges for bulk supply to rural power boards. The contention in the report of the Municipal Electricity Department that rural and urban power boards cannot be supplied in bulk on the same terms is sound; but that does not affect the case for a revision of the scale of charges to rural boards. The Government would hardly deny that the system of charging on a maximum demand basis is much better suited to tho closely-settled dairying districts of the North Island than it is to Canterbury. For reasons which are understandable the Government has preferred to maintain a uniform charging system for all rural areas; and the Prime Minister, pressed to sanction a revision iof charges in Canterbury, has usually replied that to make exceptions would be dangerous. But the prospect of an enormous surplus supply of power is surely an overriding consideration. For the time being at any rate, uniformity and simplicity must be sacrificed to the need for increased consumption and more consumers. If there is any system of charging which will enable the Public Works Department to sell more power and still maintain a reasonable profit, it should be adopted. The other measure made necessary by the completion of the Waitaki scheme is an overhaul of the whole system of local distribution. In the Christchurch area, for instance, there is a bewildering variety of authorities and rates. Two at least of the rural power boards are unable, owing to disproportionately large sums sunk in reticulation, to sell power as cheaply as is desirable and in addition have had recourse to rates. If the Government wants to bring down the cost of distributing power and to develop demand it must be prepared to make sweeping changes in the power board system. Such action would inevitably arouse storms of protest; but in the long run it would benefit both the province and the Government's hydro-electricity schemes. The Christchurch City Council's latest budget suggests one further consideration. It is that, on the financial side, the business of retailing electricity should be kept apart from the business of local administration. If profits from the sale of electricity are to be used to pay for other and less profitable forms of municipal enterprise, hydro-electric development will suffer. The Government should seriously consider legislating to prevent such bodies as the Christchurch City Council from raiding their electricity accounts.