The Evening Star TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1913.

Evening Star, Issue 15308, 7 October 1913, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1913.

Qs the 20th September last wo directed attention to the differE lee trio Power once in price for electric antf Light . power and light between Charges. this Oity and Wellington, and on the Ist hist, ■wo published a. memorandum from the Town Clerk dealing with tho same question, Tho facts set forth by ourselves and by the chief executive officer of the ' (Sly Council, though stated more elaborately by. the latter, are substantially the same. The citizens of Wellington pay SRI permit, buy and use not a, great deal tnore than a quarter as much as Dunedin, and at the end, of the year Wellington showed a, profit ol a most satisfactory nature. Per contra, the con■crfmorß and users of electric power and light in this City pay l.lOd pet unit, purchase nearly four times .more than the good people of Wellington tdo—mainly for power--yet the net result, -When our investment is regarded from a different viewpoint, is a loss, as this journal has always maintained, But accordring to the Town Clerk’s report and to the City’s official balance-sheet the net profit earned by this department was £1,075 odd on last year's operations. These “ buts,” however, upset the most optimistic of departmental and official reports. As the ■rente of meters, which is portion of the ;|ram paid for its installation by the average householder who uses the electric light, amount to £1,397 9s lid, or slightly over £3OO in excess of the so-called net profit, it is obvious that the department, even .wore every farthing of charges debited to git that ought to be so debited, is run at '■■a-'lossd If these be (as wo contend they .are) the actuid facts of the situation, rthere are two or three pertinent questions i that should ere this have forced thempiolves on the attention of the Power and IjLi^ghtmg; Committee, but being awkward «que«tiqns they have either been too long ..oTjhave been, shelved. Whati thereCouncil are now called face, is' what all ratepayers

City Council have not- raised the question nor dealt with it directly. Their attention has been arrested because in view of the humiliating, costly, and repeated breakdowns in the continuity of tho Waipori power supply, the Chamber of Commerce, in their capacity as representatives of the industries of tho City, have called upon the Council to consider the desirability of putting down a standby plant. The demand, if not reasonable, is at least understandable, and were it not for the probable cost and the difficulty of securing the money it would possibly be conceded. But as wo have periodically pointed out, tho City has sunk fax too many hundreds of thousands of pounds in Waipori to write it off as a bad debt in this way. Tho City must forthwith put the Waipori department upon a sound and, at least, nonlosing basis. The question is : How is it to be best done? Reference to the Town Clerk’s report leaves more than an impression that a remedy is to ho found by way of enhanced prices. Emphasis is laid upon tho great difference in cost to tho consumer in tho two cities, mid a revision of the charges, presumably on an ascending scale, is urged. This being so, we suggest that the newly-formed Ratepayers’ Association might find in this relation scope for their energy and usefulness. That the price for power to largo consumers, even after full consideration has been giveii to the arguments on which it was based, in and near Dunedin has been a consistent source of objection we know, and, as this journal formerly suggested, the whole difference between a profit and a loss can he effected by an advance of jd per unit. Wo shall, however, in the absence of good reasons to the contrary, oppose any increase in the present charges to the ordinary holders, (he great majority of whom have either superseded the oil lamp and gas by tho electric light, or have been induced to install the latter in their newlybuilt homes on account of tho undeniably cheaper price at which it was temptingly offered to them, and will have just cause of complaint if this unwelcome surprise be sprung upon them. In their cases (especially on tho part of those who have built quite recently in the suburban areas) the deciding factor in favor of the electric light was its comparative cheapness as against gas. If the price is raised upon them to any appreciable extent they will bo in a cleft stick, because very few of them axe in a position financially to incur the expense of another supply. And why should they have to run that risk?