ALL ELECTRIC

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 121, 18 November 1929, Page 9

ALL ELECTRIC

UNIQUE EXHIBITION

DOMESTIC APPLIANCES

OPENED BY THE MAYOR

The first exhibition in 'Wellington, of electric appliances, particularly those for the home, was officially opened in the Town Hall on Saturday night by the Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup). JWLis. Troup was also present. Mr. G. Lauchlan (chairman of the Exhibition Com- ' mittee) introduced the Mayor, who, in his address, traced the development of electricity in. the city. | Wellington, said Mr. Troup, was tha first city in the Southern Hemisphere ■ to install an electric lighting system. . In 1888 the Gulcher Electric Light and Power Company entered into an agreement with the Corporation to light the streets of Wellington. The Corporation undertook to supply, free of. charge, water for operating turbines,installed in two stations. One of these stations was situated in Manners street on what is now a reserve, behind the Royal Oak Hotel, and the other was in P.anama street on a site now occupied by Sussex Chambers. "It is interesting to note," continued Mr. Troup, "that the lighting of streets in Wellington with, electricity was commenced six or seven years after the opening of the famous Pearl Street Station in New York in September, ;iBB2. • ] "After about two years' operations ; the company got into difficulty, and had ;: to go into liquidation. After the com- ! ipany was reconstructed an agreement : was entered into with the Corporation. to surrender the Manners street: site and to'confine the generation to Pan,ama street. j "When in 1891 the company sought ! Parliamentary power to supply electricity to private consumers, local sup'portters of municipalisation put up a fight against the monopoly of the service being given to a private syndicate. The company, however, succeeded in. se- • curing the necessary power, and in 1892 a steam plant was placed in service in. Karris street, then newly reclaimed land. This plant was gradually extended to meet the growing demands until it was taken over by the city in 1907. | CITY COUNCIL CONTEOL. i "With the inauguration of the elec- | trie tramway system in 1904 by tho Corporation the municipalisation of the electric lighting became one of the prominent questions of the day. The electrical engineer responsible for laying down- the tramway system in 1904 recomme&ded the ,City Council, in the event .of the latter acquiring the company's business, to extend the then new tramway station and install a plant to take the place of the plant in Har r ris street. About the same time the council decided to distribute the traction supply, to private power consumers, and a loan of £30,000 was raised for additional generating plant and for an underground reticulation. Finally, in 1906, after prolonged negotiations, the council decided to purchase the whole of the Wellington-Electric Light and Power Company's business, arid a loan of £160,000 was raised for the purpose. The actual transfer of the undertaking took, place in August, 1907. The Corporation then proceeded with the construction of the Mercer stTeet station and installed a 2000 horse-power steam turbine in 1908 and another one in 1913. 'When, the Mangahad hydro-'eleetrie system was put in hand by the Government, the Corporation decided to constrtct a new steam station for standby purposes at Evans Bay. .This station, which now had a capacity of 10,000 kilowatts, was brought into service in 1924." . CHARGES PER UNIT. The following particulars, said the Mayor, showed the development which had taken place since the city took over the lighting supply twenty-two years ago:—. . "In 1907 the combined load on the tramways and ' lighting stations was1 2000 k.w. During the past winter the demand reached 15,000 k.w. In 1907 the total units supplied to the public did not reach two millions. This year the public required thirty-five million units. In 1907 the charge for- lighting was lOd per unit. The charge for domestic Ugh ting is now 5d per- unit with heating supplied from 2d to' Id per unit." ■ v In. the last four years the domestic power tariffs had been reduced and improved three times. A further revision of the tariffs was now in. hand, and recommendations would be placed, before the next meeting of the council. As the result of the policy followed in the development of the undertaking in the past, the council and management hoped to provide the citizens of Wellington in the course of a few years with one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) electricity supplies in the Dominion. . ■ ' In. the past there had not been the same development in connection with cooking and similar appliances as in other centres, concluded- Mr. Troup, but now that the change-over of the residential areas was neariy completed, he anticipated great advances in the use of electricity for domestic purposes. Mr. J. M. Fleming (president of the New Zealand Electrical Federation) also spoke of the great benefits to be derived from the use of electric appliances. "The attendances at the exhibition were good on Saturday, and are expected to. increase daily as news is spread of the many interesting things to be seen there. The musical programmes are of the highest order, items being given by Hilda Chudley, William Haydock, Frank Moran, Herbert Wood, Sthe James Haydock Quintet, the Municipal Tramways Band, Dan Foley, William Haydock, Ernest Short, and Nora Gray.