POWER USED BY TRAMWAYS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25206, 10 June 1947, Page 6

POWER USED BY TRAMWAYS

UNITS PRODUCED BY BOARD’S PLANT DEMAND NOT MET AT PEAK PERIODS The Christchurch Tramway Board was making a greater saving of power than had been asked for by the supply authorities, said the chairman (Mr H. A. C. North) when the board met yesterday. He added that a report on the power situation would be considered by the board in committee, and that a public statement would be issued after the meeting. Except for 36 hours during the weekend, the board’s power station was working 24 hours a day, and producing about 26,000 units a day, Mj North said. That meant a saving of some 20,000,000 gallons of water at Lake Coleridge. The station produced about 650,000 units a month, and the board used about 744,000 units a month, so that it was nearly running the present undertaking on its own power. , The general manager (Mr J. F. Fardell) said that in May, 1946, 749,000 units were used by the board, compared with 744,000 used last month. The board’s own plant would not be able to meet the demand for power at peak periods of the day, but over the month it met almost its consumption. If staff could be obtained, and the plant run the extra 36 hours each week, 806,000 units would be produced each month.

To Mr R. A. Young, who suggested that the State Hydro-electric Department should be asked to supply staff to operate the board’s plant for 24 hours a day every <iay of the week, Mr Fardell said that the department had not asked that the plant should be run for that period. It had only asked the board to run the plant from 6 a.m. to midnight. He added that the withdrawal of trolley-buses at times other than peak-loading periods had made a saving of'B per cent. If the trolley-buses could be withdrawn completely a saving of 7.2 per cent, of the average consumption would be effected.

Requests had been made for assistance in obtaining the best coal available to operate the plant, he added, and the coal coming forward was better than H was last year.