MANGAHAO POWER

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 50, 27 August 1924, Page 6

MANGAHAO POWER

, SUPPLY TO CITY

AGREEMENT REACHED

It is understood that a definite.agreement has now been reached between'tho Government and the Wellington City Council as to-the price and conditions of supply for Mangaliao power to the city. No doubt a full statement1 of the position will shortly'he made to citizens. The way to anagreement has not, it appears, always been ■ perfectly easy, for, durint; the severaj months during' which the negotiations have been proceeding rnanv considerable.difficulties had first to be removed from the path. It is understood, for-instance, that the Government jn the first place insisted upon the right to supply, its own departments within city boundaries and also the right to supply bulk consumers—those who called for over a certain horse-power, '500, for in-stance-in the city... With those proposals the council's.representatives did not agree, pointing out that; double service, by the ■ Corporation' and ■by the (-rovernment, .-.would- necessarily \ mean double, reticulation and would likewise mean that the' council would lose some desirable customers. ,It j s stated that a compromise has been effected, whereby a rebate will be allowed on power supplied through the Corporation to Government departments,. and that a balance is to be effected between .Corporation and Government in cases where it is. in the interests, of a particular industry thai power at a cheaper rate shall be supplied.l ; ' _;'• ! CHEAP POWER? , : The city as a whole awaits, with very lively interest, a pronouncement as 'to tn e rates to be. charged for power and lor lighting current when Mangahao comes through. Probably those who have persuaded themselves byv constant .repetition of their convictions that' water-power is cheap (as it undoubtedly is as water-gower) will be disappointed. Water-power costs practically 'nothing— when the plant is available to make .use of it, and to transform, it to electrical power, but what of the capital charge m respect' of She boring of water, conduit tunnels, the building of enormous dams, of miles of pipe-line, of the -erection and equipment of the power-house at Mangahao before a single horse-power of energy can. be transmit-' .ted. over the cables to, the consumer's- ™.°^ c?;-;;-' or;:-"- li Shting installation? The tuel cost of-a. hydro-electric station is ml, or ■ thereabouts;'.-. but the erecting .cost is great; the fuel .cost of a steam plant is.a continual, cost, but the initial ■cost is generally much; below 'that of the water-power scheme.: ; ;' Power and, current charges may drop in imarked-fashion—or they: may not; it all depends upon the terms agreed upon between . Corporation andvGovernreent. V /CITY DEMAND.GROWING, ""'' '■■; '-. V- ';.;;■ RAPIDLY. '< / / ''"-.' '■ - Wellington;has; been' up...against it as.to power, supplies for several, years, but , Mangahoa will .strike ; . out. that little | worry, by and by, .for. a time greater or less, according.to the. manner.in which the city's 'demand continues to soar upward. .For this- certain ■-growth/ the ! .agreement' referred, to above will, of .'course, have made provision. It.may .not be" generally realised, but ;the fact is . that without, the Evans. Bay station, (and without, a supply/ froni: Mangahao) 'the city simply •could.not carry "on,. at'\ ;tbe present time, for within the last-two■ months the" demand has, so grown that t!i!>...two old,city stations- could not now .shoulder,..the., full. ;,.load. -Evans, Bay' [must, therefore,; carry, on right' loyally. or the 'city will again face .hard electrical times'. ; ■ -,- / .A-,: ' ■' > A city councillor, remarking upon ■ the. remarkable, increase .in the demand for power and for more power, said today that, in his opinion the time .\va's not"" :so: very- far ahead, when Wellington would eat up more power than the, Government could, spare from Mangahao; that could'mean one thing,; that the city's standby plant at ' Evans Bay would carry conititoably , more ■ than a mere peak bad at rush, times, that a ■part,, at-'any rate,, of..the generating plant would operate^ watch and -watch' right .'round'the clock:'. . ' -