Water Heaters Off Tonight

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30540, 8 September 1964, Page 1

Water Heaters Off Tonight

The load on the South Island’s power supply was down by 10 per cent yesterday morning thanks to compulsory and voluntary power cuts. A further compulsory water-heating cut will be made by the Municipal Electricity Department from 9 p.m. today to 9 p.m. tomorrow.

The City Council’s electricity committee believes it should be able to obtain the 10 per cent reduction called for by the Electricity Department with only one 24-hour water-heating cut a week, so long as consumers continue to make voluntary savings. Mr W. G. Johnstone, the M.E.D.’s chief engineer, said that if this proved to be so, the next 24-hour cut would probably be made next Tuesday night. Storage in the South Island lakes was down another 2,470,000 kilowatt hours yesterday morning, leaving a total of 77,530,000 units. When the lakes are full they hold 490,000,000 units, and they now have less than 16 per cent of that. Generation last week was down by 3,598,800 units to 55,762,600 units, mainly because of the power cuts. Total lake storage loss for the week was 17,800,000 units, compared with 17,390.000 units the previous week and 20,000,000 units the week before that. After its meeting yesterday morning the City Council’s electricity committee announced that as a result ot compulsory and voluntary savings, consumption last week was about 8 per cent below normal, in spite of exceptionally cold weather early in the week. “The electricity committee wishes to congratulate consumers on the fine response to the appeal for savings during the last four days,” its statement said. “It is evident that much of this has been voluntary saving additional to that produced by the 24-hour waterheating cut. and that industrial. commercial and domestic consumers are all making a fine effort

“If consumers continue with this level of saving, it is believed that it will be possible to obtain the 10 per cent reduction required by the New Zealand Electricity Department with only one 24hour water-heating cut a week. Please therefore continue to make every effort to save power. “There will be a 24-hour water-heating cut from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 9 p.m. Wednesday, and further cuts this week will be necessary only if the savings at other times fall short of what it is believed consumers can make. “One feature causing some concern to the committee is the continued use by a very small number of consumers of neon signs and underveranda lighting. Some of these have been overlooked as they are switched on automatically, but it is important that all such installations should now be switched off," the committee’s statement concluded.