Consumers Lost 99,000 Hours During Storm

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31680, 16 May 1968, Page 8

Consumers Lost 99,000 Hours During Storm

Although consumers lost an estimated 99,000 hours of power supply in the recent storm, the availability of power had been about 90 per cent, the engineer-manager (Mr S. E. Slatter) told a meeting of the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board yesterday. The storm, he said, caused $8155 or more damage to the board’s equipment and involved $7884 in extra wages and $lBOO in lost revenue. In his survey of the power

breaks, Mr Slatter said that 27,500 hours of power had been lost to Brookside consumers, with 22,000 hours at Lincoln, 20,000 hours at Motukarara, and 12,600 hours at Duvauchelle.

The damage had been studied with a view to improving restoration methods, and practical application was to be put into effect as soon as possible. Tree-cutting, which had been resumed just before the storm, had since been pursued vigorously. The utmost co-operation had been given by tree owners, and good work had been done by a contractor in removing trees near lines. Mr Slatter praised the helpfulness and patience of consumers while waiting for the supply to be restored. Mr P. G. Wederell said that the board had since been swamped by requests for the clearance of trees.

Timber Kilns Used Less One effect of the recession in the building trade was shown in figures quoted to the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board yesterday. H. P. Piesse, Ltd, a firm of timber merchants at Sockbum, asked to be changed from the bulk tariff to the industrial tariff for power. They said that their drying kilns, which had been used to 85 or 90 per cent of capacity, were used to less than 50 per cent of capacity in February, and on occasions in March, to less than 25 per cent of capacity. The board agreed to the request “as a special case.”