GREY POWER BOARD

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 May 1938, Page 16

GREY POWER BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING. \t the monthly meeting o£ the Grey Electric Power Board, last evening, there were present: Messrs J. Mulcare (Chairman), J. B. Kent, .)• Smeaton, L. B. Hutchison A H. McKane, J. Unwin, W. H. Parfitt, W. Clayton, and W. Fisher. In extending a welcome to the new members of the Board, Messrs Fisher and Hutchison, the Chairman said that ho felt sure their presence would help the Board in its deliberations and' be of benefit to consumers. Messrs Fisher and Hutchison replied, giving assurances that they would work in the best interests of the Board and the public. The Finance Committee reported that the Acting-Secretary of the Public Works Department had approved the settlement of Messrs Cory Wright and Salmon’s claim for £448/7/1 extra to their contract, and had authorised payment; that the Chairman and Mr McKane he authorised to sign any documents for the transfer of the Power House site; that the Board had disagreed with the proposal of the Power Boards’ Association that the Engineers and Secretaries’ Conference take place four or five wekes before the main Conference; that no action be taken in connection with the request of the South Island Travel Association for help in publishing two books referring to South Island tourist attractions; that the Power Boards’ Union had advised of a special meeting to be held in Wellington for the drafting of the proposed Dominion Award and alterations of rules and that Mr McKanp had been appointed delegate to the Union, and had been authorised to proceed to Wellington to represent the Board at the meeting; that the Chairman and Mr Unwin had been appointed to represent the Board on the Centennial Committee, and that an account of £ll/5/- for the Scholarship Fund had been passed for payment; that the Chairman had brought before the meeting the matter of the high cost of range installations being a bar to the proper progress of the Board in range sales, and that it had been decided to request the Secretary and Engineer to bring down a report on the matter; that the Secretary’s report had been adopted, and that accounts totalling £3,169/16/- had been passed for payment. The report was adopted. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The Engineer (Mr Sinclair Trotter) submitted the following report for the period, April 27 to May 16, 1938: — Power supply: The following are the annual figures for the year ending March 31, 1938, with' last figures in brackets:—Unites sold —Power 7,233, 410 (10,935,563), domestic light, 407,266 (484,070); domestic cooking, heating, etc. 1,249,199 (1,148,613); commercial light, 279,426 (325,025); commercial heat, 174,809 (202,046); water heating, 232,200 (351,317); street lighting, 157,022 (166,342); community lighting, 87,272 (95,247); unmetered, testing and Board’s use, 39,970 (28,150); totals 9,860,574 (14.036,859). Units generated, 12,250,090 (12,203,480 (10 months); units purchased, (1,145,112); units purchased under P.W.D. contract (2,501,822); totals, 12,250,090 (15,850,414).

Total revenue from sale of energy only £46,427/1/8 (£51,037/9/8). The load on the system is steadily growing for all purposes, the increase in power load predominating owing to the nature of the district, a large percentage of the output being used for mining purposes (gold mining and collieries). Reticulation: The outside staff have been engaged in general maintenance, connecting new consumers. The work of connecting the Rotomanu line on the Arnold Road into the P.W-D. system is proceeding, and some dismantling of old lines where deviations have been made is being carried out. The Sub-Station at Blaketown is under way. On Saturday night, May 14, an interruption on the town and country supply, south of Greymouth, lasting for 15 minutes, occurred due to a broken line wire. We are arranging to put two induction voltage regulators into commission on No. 3 feeder to boost our 11 kv line until the Public Works 60 kv line is extended to Hukarere. These are at present on their way from Christchurch. Since last meeting 29 new applications for supply have been received, making the total to date 4260. Seventeen new consumers have been connected, and this brings the total number of consumers up to 4265. Extensions and' alterations to 58 existing installations have been carried out. Six electric ranges and nine radios have been connected. The connected load for the period is:—Light, previous 1631.185 k-w., present 9.300; total 1640.485. Heat and 1., .3457.430—23.520 —3480.950. Water heating, 337-300— 5.000—342.300. Power, 8898.500 11. p.— 10.000—5900-500. Cooking, 2820-700 k.v—41.500—2862-200. Load at last meeting, 14.920 k-w; load for month. 89 k.w.; total 15,009 k.w. The report was adoptedThe Secretary reported that no objections had been received to the Board making application to the Loans Board for its sanction to the borrowing of £20,000 for the additional reticulation of the Board’s district, and it was decided that the Board make application to the Local Government Loans Board for its sanction to the borrowing of £20,000 for the extension of the electrical reticulation of the Board’s district under the Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1926, and Section 15 of the Finance Act, 1936 (No. 2). The proposed period of the loan is 25 years, the rate of interest 31 per cent., and the special rate for the loan will be .1237 d in the £ on the basis, of the capital value.

ANNUAL MEETING. MR SMEATON ELECTED CHAIRMAN The annual meeting was held subsequently, the same members being present. The Chairman’s honorarium was fixed’ at £125, the same as last year. Prior to vacating the chair, for the election of Chairman, Mr Mulcare said that it had been a real pleasure to have occupied the chair during the past year—quite a contrast to previous years. He thanked the members cf the Board fox* the courtesy and consideration shown him and said that he knew they would extend the same to the incoming chairman.

In nominating Mr Smeaton fox* the position of Chairman,.Mr Clayton said that' lie had been a member of the Board for twelve years, and although he had had one previous term, there

were other members who weie similarly situated. He thought that Mr Smeaton would be a very good chairman. and that the Board would be in good hands. Mr Smeaton’s nomination was seconded by Mr Mulcare. Mr Unwin nominated Mr McKane, stating that he (Mr McKane) had had a lot of experience on local bodies — about 20 years —and that he would capably fill the position- Mr Smeaton, as had been pointed out. had held the position before. Mr McKane’s nomination was seconded by Mr Hutchison. On a vote being taken, Mr Smeaton was elected Chairman by six votes to three, the voting being:—For Mr Smeaton: Messrs Mulcare, Clayton, Kent, Fisher, Parfitt and Smeaton; for Mr McKane: Messrs Unwin, Hutchison and McKane. In returning thanks, Mr Smeaton assured the members that he would do his very best in the interests of the Board. He regretted that Mr McKane had been nominated, as he realised he (Mr McKane) was entitled to a turn as well as anyone else. Had he known there was to be any argument or an election, he would have stood down. It would be his last term, and he would not seek the chairmanship of any other body.