The Press WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1973. Winter power

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33250, 13 June 1973, Page 20

The Press WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1973. Winter power

Storage levels in the lakes which produce more than 80 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity are described as “ precarious ” by the Minister of Electricity (Mr McGuigan). Although he has not been alarmist, his appeals for “ sensible precautions ” should be heeded; otherwise electricity supplies may be disrupted, especially at peak periods, in the next three or four months until thawing snow replenishes the lakes. While commercial users of electricity should be able to reduce consumption a little without affecting production, the most important voluntary reductions must come from private homes in two ways: less use of hot water and more efficient use of electric heating. Electric lights and appliances use only a fraction of the power consumed by heaters without thermostats and in poorly insulated houses; even more electricity is used wastefully in heating water for domestic use. A change to showers instead of baths wherever possible — even a lowering of the water level in one’s average bath by an inch or two — might make the difference necessary to avoid power cuts this winter. Not that commercial users should feel they can ignore the shortage of electricity. If advertising signs were turned off it would, at least, act as a reminder to the public that power needs to be conserved. The Government should be regretting its commitment not to increase electricity charges for three years. The relative cheapness of electricity to most households discourages savings. The immediate cause of the threatened shortage is the uncommonly dry year, which has left the lakes well below their normal autumn levels. Other factors cannot be overlooked. The National Party Government in its last year or two in office, did little to expedite progress on power schemes in either island; the Labour Party Government, hampered by its “ environmentalist ” supporters, has not pressed ahead either. The New Plymouth thermal power station is behind schedule and is unlikely to be in operation before February next year; Lake Manapouri is not being raised; the Tongariro and Upper Waitaki schemes are also behind their time-tables. In fairness to both parties, it should be realised that none of the projected schemes, with the possible exception of the New Plymouth station, would have helped meet the winter demand this year. The lessons, however, should not be forgotten. The gap between a guarantee of adequate power and the uncertainties of the present remains unfilled. While the New Plymouth station and the completion of the Tongariro scheme will ease the load in the next few years a crisis can be expected in 1977 when pow’er from a raised Lake Manapouri will not be available, when the thermal stations planned for South Auckland will not be completed, and production from stations on the Waitaki River will probably be curtailed by the need to fill the new lake behind the Pukaki dam. The lesson of th? present shortage is, surely, that firm commitments are needed now to ensure the country’s power supply into the 1980 s.