ELECTRIC POWER.

Evening Star, Issue 14637, 5 August 1911, Page 12

ELECTRIC POWER.

. METER RENTS. We are indebted to Car Marlow (chairman of the Electric Power and Lighting Committee) for' the'following report on meter rents by. the City Electrical Engineer. which "the committee recommend for adoption: As tho policy of this department in charging meter rente ha« frequently been called in question, and several consumer? have drawn attention to the same matter in reply to the monthly slip isssued with the Juno accounts, T wish to show very bieny that the system is very much more equitable than the alternative one of increasing the prico per unit and charging a flat rate for all units used. The core of running the meter department is a considerable item, and this must be met out of revenue either by meterreuts .or au increased price per unir. This cost is almost directly proportioned to the number of meters in use on our circuits, and in this it differs from the generating and distributing costs, as the number of consumers might be doubled or trebled without affecting these to any great extent. Tho cost of installing a meter, inspecting, and testing it periodically, reading it every month, and making out the accounts, etc., is practically the same -whether tho consumer usee 10 units or 10,000 units per month. It is quite evident, therefore, that ;oi increase in the> price per unit to meet th? cost of the meter department would be a psnaltv'on the consumer who uses a large amount of power or light, and puts a premium en the consumer who cuts down hio consumption to the lowest possible limit. For this reason, if for no other, I consider the pre-ent. system of meter rent id absolutely just. Another poir.t that lir.s been raised is that of charging a certain number of units according to the maximum demand and the balance at a cheaper rate, instead cf charging tho whol? number at a flat rule. A peculiar feature of the supply of- electric power and light, particularly from a waterpower service, is the fact that up to the present time there is no practical method of storing at times of light load for use at times ot hc*vy loading. The plant required to supply each consumer has to be installed at waipori and kept in readiness and in reseive for tho u?e of such consumer whenever he may require it. The interact and other standing charges on this plant have to be met out of the revenue it earns, and it is quite evident. I think, that of two consumers who have exactly the same number of lamps in use. but iii the one case the lamps are used on an average of, say. an hour and a-half a day throughout the yaar. while in theother cavro they are used for three hours or more per day. the latter consumer is entitled to ». reduction in price after a certain number of units has been used. In-other words, the consumer who_ keeps his portion of the plant, at Waipori most continuously in u?e, or, in technical terms, has the best "load factor,"' receives a benefit thereby. A rent is charged to cover cost of_ maximum demand indicator, and the inspection, testing, and reading, as jn the raee ot the integrating meter, and as the whole idea of installing an indicator is to enable a consumer to keep his demand on our plant as small as possible, and so keep that part of his accounts which is charged at the high rats as low as possible, it is a clear gain to him, in spite of the rent. Indicators are never installed unless it is believed that the net result, after paying tho rent, will be in the consumer's favor, and where, after a fair trial, it is found., that the saving does not more than cover the rent, the indicator is removed. Until a cheap method of installing electricity, or of generating without tho medium of expensive machinery, which may by revenue-producing only a fewhours per day, is obtained, the present system of charging on the maximum demand id, I am convinced, the. most equitable, to adopt. No practical system of charging can be perfect, so as to be absolutely just to every consumer; we have to be content with what is a fair attempt at an equitable adjustment. As an illustration of the manner in which this system of charging works out- in practice 1 may quote the two following cases, drawn from the list of consumers who have complained of meter rents and maximum demand rating: No. 1 has used 227 units in 10 months. 152 units at 5d and 75 at Id ; the average price, including meter and maximum demand indicator rents (IQs each) works out at *|d per unit. No. 2 has used 65 units in 11 months, all at 5d per unit; the* average price, including meter rent, works out at 6.4 d -perunit. Their demand on our plant is practieally the same. >*o. 1 is a. much better coni sumer than No. 2 from our point of view, : giving exactly the same trouble in inspecting and reading his meters, yet with a flat rate and no meter rents he would have to pay nearly four times as much as No. 2 for the e>ame service rendered to both consumers in connection with the ingThe flat rate in Wellington is 7d, with discounts to large consumers.