NORTH ISLAND’S POWER SUPPLY

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26179, 1 August 1950, Page 8

NORTH ISLAND’S POWER SUPPLY

PLANS FOR AVOIDING CRISIS IN 1955 GOVERNMENT STATEMENT FORECAST (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, July 31. The Government might be expected to announce its electricity generating policy very soon, and that policy would disclose plans to avoid a power crisis in 1955, said a report to th® Auckland Electric Power Board today by its chairman (Mr C. J. Lovegrove). Mr Lovegrove said that thin was one impression he had gained from a conference which he and the board’s officials had last week in Wellington with the Minister in charge of the State Hydro-electric Department (Mr W. S. Goosman) and the AttorneyGeneral (Mr T. C. Webb).

Other impressions were that emergency restrictions must continue until the level of Lake Taupo rose, and that there was a reasonable prospect of Maraetai being completed in 1952. when, for a time at least, power shorty ages would disappear. Mr Lovegrove said he believed that the Government was very concerned about the whole matter and that an interesting and satisfactory announcement might be expected soon. The general manager of the department (Mr A. E. Davenport) had told the delegation that Maraetai would be partly in commission, as far as he could judge from present indications,, in April. 1952, and that power restrictions should cease before the end of that year. Remarkable progress was still being* maintained at Maraetai. The geo-thermal tests at Wairakei were advancing rapidly, and the prospect# of generation from geo-thermal steam appeared most promising. Mr Davenport had also said that there was no present prospect of relaxing power restrictions. The board decided, to recommend . that . the. conference of the Power Boards’ and Supply AuthbrftfeS ciation next month set up a special committee to investigate the advisability of commission control of tne generation of electricity in New Zealand and to report on it with appropriate recommendations.