The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1956. Saving Power

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27914, 10 March 1956, Page 8

The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1956. Saving Power

;The power-saving measures adopted by the Municipal Electricity Department of the Christchurch City Council and similar restrictions to be enforced by other supply authorities will be burdensome for many users; but they are not more stringent than the shortage warrants, and not nearly as drastic as the cuts that will have to be made if the last little bit of storage runs out before rain falls in the catchment areas. Then the only available power would come from the muchdiminished river flows, now providing almost exactly a third of the South Island’s power demand. If storage continued to run down at the present rate and if rivers remained at their present levels, consumers would be asked to reduce their demand not by 20 per cent, but by 65 per cent. Such a heavy reduction in supply could not be achieved by local restrictions and quota rationing; and the State Hydro-electric Department would have to cut off whole districts for hours at a time. Essential services would be disrupted and industrial uremployment would be inevitable. The better power users co-operate now with the department and with the supply authorities the longer this grave interruption in the life of the South Island will be delayed and the greater the chance of a change in the weather before storage runs out. The department certainly cannot be blamed for the extraordinary dryness of the summer; and consumers will not get much benefit, either, from complaining that the milder restrictions were not enforced earlier by supply authorities. The figures show that most consumers took little or no notice of these restrictions. Now the public have little option but to comply with moderate economy requirements. Even if public response and official enforcement are as good as they should be, the draw on storage will continue, although at a lower rate, giving some prospect of eking out the water till rain comes.

The restrictions adopted by the M.E.D. are of three kinds. First, some power uses are forbidden or allowed only at specified times, with disconnexion the penalty for offences. Second, power is to be cut off in parts of the council’s district in turn. Between them, these two will not make the necessary saving, so the third restriction requires each consumer to supplement these reductions by further economies and to reduce his total demand by 20 per cent, on his demand last year. Many persons will not know yet either how much power they used last year or how much power will be saved by direct restrictions and cuts; but if they try conscientiously they will be able to get somewhere near their quotas. They can do it most easily by using much less hot water, turning their water-heaters off not for a few hours, but turning them off for most of the day, or turning them off altogether if they have some other way of heating water. The real difficulty for each householder will not ba-in calculating how much he ought to save, but in resolutely turning the switch when he knows he should. That may be made easier by the knowledge that neglect to do so will bring nearer the day when consumers -will not have the privilege given by quota rationing of deciding which switch should be used and when, because the department will be forced to turn off the whole supply.