GREY POWER BOARD

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 May 1943, Page 3

GREY POWER BOARD

ANNUAL MEETING.

Mr. J. Mulcare was elected Chairman of the Grey Electric Power Board at its annual meeting last evening, on the motion of Messrs P. Blanchfield and J. B. Kent. Mr. W. 11. Parfitt was also nominated for the position by Mr. J. Smeaton, with Mr. \V. E. Bring as seconder, but on a show of hands Mr. Mulcare was elected, Messrs Blanchfield, Kent, W. Clayton (the retiring Chairman), J. Mulcare and J. Unwin supporting him. Messrs Smeaton, Pring, Fisher and Parfitt supported Mr. Parfitt’s nomination. The Chairman's ■ honorarium was fixed at £lOO prior to the election. All members of the Board were appointed the Finance Committee with the Chairman of the Board as Chairman of Finance. Prior to the election the retiring Chairman (Mr. W. Clayton) read the following annual report: “It is gratifying to me to be able to report that the Board has experienced a record year, the gross revenue from : the sale of electricity having reached a new peak of £82,740. As a local authority our duty is to the people of our district, and I feel that we can justly claim to have served them well in maintaining the service as well as we have, despite shortage of labour and materials, and without raising the unit price of electricity one iota. Not only this, but the Board’s area now extends as far south as Kumara Junction, while consumers are now connected as far away as beyond Reefton. The steps necessary to include legally in the Board’s district this last area, virtually the whole of Inangahua County, are being taken. With this area to be reticulated, the problem of providing extra post-war work to assist in absorbing the surplus labour which may then be available will be no problem at all. The provision of materials, both reticulation and trading stocks, is likely to prove the bottle-neck in any extension scheme, and the provision of electricity is the concern of the Government, who doubtless have that

matter in hand. The matter of the buik supply of electricity is one that doubtless would have been considered at the Conference of Powersupply Authorities had it been held in 1942, as the shortage of power, particularly in the North Island, is a matter that promises to assume ;i1 arm i ng prop orti ons. “A happening of interest to supply authorities is the judgment given re-

icently against the Auckland Electric Power Board in connection with the fatal fire in Messrs John Burns and Company, Ltd.’s building, in which the Judge decided against the Board because the wiring installations had not been re-inspected within the period laid down by the regulations. I. Obviously this is a most serious matjter for supply authorities, almost all of whom since the war commenced are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with their re-inspec-jtion work. At the next Electric Power Boards’ a'nd Supply Authorities’ Assoication Conference, schedI tiled to be held in August, 1943, bulk (supply, liability for not re-inspecting ■and restrictions will certainly be dismussed, and this Board must be repI resented there. Restrictions on the i supply and installation of domestic . i electric equipment have been partly { I responsible for the drop noticed ini | all classes of domestic consumption. I The drafting of family men into the'. 'Armed Forces has been another con-I itributing factor, and this, with light- i ling restrictions, also adversely affect- ! i ed the revenue from commercial con- j I sumption. The Secretary mentions ■ i in his report on the annual accounts ithe fact that the revenue from the ’ sale of power was the only group that showed an increase, due. as the Engineer showed in his April meeting report, to the addition of three

new large consumers, two coal mines and a gold dredge.

WRITING ASSETS OFF.

“There is also mention in the Secretary’s report of the fact that the Board is showing about £28,000 worth of “assets” which are not assets at all, being only expenditure which the 'Board could not meet out of revenue at the time it was incurred, and which, as a matter of expediency only, was capitalised. This was quite good business at the time and was sound accountancy, but such items are never intended to be left in the •accounts indefinitely, and I am strongly of the opinion that the Secretary’s recommendation to write the figure down, be given effect to. A further matter upon which members will remember I have often spoken is the provision of an adequate reserve fund. This is directly related to the fact mentioned earlier in this report—that this Board derives. a great part of its revenue from a source which cannot be considered stable, gold mining and dredging. It must be realised that a drop of say, £2 an ounce, in the present high price of gold would render gold dredging unprofitable, and would result in an immediate and considerable loss of revenue to this Board. For this reason I have always been of the opinion that we should put away, while times are good, money that we can spare, against the time when the sources of some of our revenue are closed to us. I therefore ask the Board to sanction the investment of £3OOO in either short term Government War Loan stock or fixed deposit, as an addition to our general reserve. The Board has been in operation for 17 years now, and has a depreciation fund of £7735 to cover fixed assets of over £200,000, or a percentage of a little more than 3:j per cent. This also I would commend to the Board’s notice, if not now, then in the near future. Since in the case of the Government electricity schemes a fund of 12> per cent, of the fixed assets is considered reasonable foi’ this purpose, we may fairly consider that the same rule should apply to our smaller scheme.

“In conclusion, I would tender to you my thanks for your co-operation, and also to the Board’s executive officers, whose help has assisted in making my third year of office very happy. I know all members will join with me in wishing the soldier, sailor, and airmen members of the staff a speedy and safe return to Greymouth, and in expressing thanks to the Press.”

' MEMBERS’ DISCUSSION. ' Mr. Smeaton moved the adoption of the report. He said he was wholly in agreement with the Chairman in his statement regarding the reserve 1 funds, but he thought that the time I had come when some consideration should be given to the small consumer. He took an optimistic view of the future and thought the Board could have its adequate reserve fund and still give consideration to a reduction in the rate paid by' the 'small consumer, subject to a favourable report from the executive officers. , g The motion was seconded by Mr. Pring. Mr. Kent congratulated the Chairman on his illuminating report. He ■'joined with Mr. Smeaton in supportI ing further investment in the reserve fund, but he thought the part | of the report which recommended 'that £28,000 worth of assets be written off needed more mature consideration. If it was “good business” at Ithe time the expenditure was capiitalised it had not yet been explained 'why it was not still “good business.” , He would support the adoption of I the report, subject to the deletion of I the recommendation regarding the writing off of the £28,000. It had to be remembered that a similar set of circumstances might arise again and

those “assets” might be. useful. At present the Board was trading on its stock and - could not purchase a ha’p worth. The Secretary (Mr. W. S. McClymont) said that the reason the amounts were not debited to the revenue account when they were incurred was that the Board’s position was such that it could not afford to show them on the revenue account and they availed themselves of their right to postpone debiting them to that account. They had postponed that debit for some 17 years. The recommendation really meant that the fictitious assets would be written off the books and that the debit, which should have appeared years ago, would now appear. This action had been recommended by the Audit Department at different times and he (the Secretary) did not know why it had not been taken before. Mr. Kent said he agreed that the amounts concerned were never actual assets, but he had not yet been told in £ s. d. what difference it would make to write the amounts off. He moved an amendment that the report be adopted, subject to the deletion he had mentioned.

The Chairman said all that • was concerned was cleaning up the books. The Treasurer and the Audit Inspector were in accord on the matter. Mr. Smeaton said that in such matters he was prepared to accept the advice of the Treasurer and the Audit Department. Mr. Kent said he respected the advice of the Treasurer on finance, but he always did his own thinking. Mr. Unwin said he did not see any “nigger in the wood pile.”

Mr. Kent’s amendment was not seconded, and the Chairman’s report was adopted as read, Mr. Kent dissenting. It was resolved on the motion of Messrs Kent and Clayton that the Engineer prepare a sketch plan of new buildings that the Board would require for adequate accommodation. The preparation of such a plan, said Mr. Kent, would give members some basis on which to work when the time was opportune to go ahead with the necessary building.

MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the Board was held prior to the annual meeting, Mr W. Clayton presiding. Accounts amounting to ' £. 1 ,927 10/2 were passed for payment. The Finance Committee’s report, including the following report from the Secretary (Mr W. S. McClymont) was read and adopted:—The bank balance in the Power Fund Account is £2006/0/4. The amount outstanding under the Board’s scheme of financial assistance towards the purchase of ranges is now £2,202/6/6, out of a total of £10,352/7/3 advanced since the plan was started. The Board’s annual accounts for the I year ended March 31, 1942, have just been returned from the Audit Department, certified correct except that moneys were held in the Per /er Fund. Accounts which should h ive been banked in a separate, accoi nt. The position was that the Power Fund Account could not afford to make the transfer without incurring an o ; . 'rdraft, and further, that a certain sum must always be owing by the Power Fund Account to the separate account as transactions occur daily. The following report from the Engineer (Mr Sinclair Trotter) -as read and adopted.—The line staff h: ,ve been engaged on general main I nance of overhead lines in Greymor th, Blaketown and Ten Mile, and C; nnccting new consumers. Some maintenance has been performed on small transformers and work done in c: nnection with fitting out the new substation on thb Town Belt, Grcymouth. A ' substantial increase In load has taken place on the approach of coldei- weather, with some in- 1 crease in the power load, but Hie

maximum condition has probably not yet been . reached. No exceptional operating condition has been encountered, except for a short interrpotion in the south part of Gleymouth and the Paroa-Marsden Districts due to the breakage of a high tension pole by a heavy truck. connected load for the month was 37 18 k.w., making the total load 29.050.19 k.w.

Mr E. Hitchcock (Christchurch) advised that a conference of South Island Power Boards and Supply Associations would be held at Christchurch on June 24. The Chairman said he thought the Board should be represented, as such important matters as rehabilitation, re-inspection of wiring installations, and meeting the demand for electricity would be considered among other questions. Mr Smeaton moved that the Board be represented, but that the appointment of the delegate be held over until the next meeting. Mr Blanchfield asked how many conferences the Board was represented at during the past year and how much it cost the Board to be represented?

The Secretary said that the Board had no delegate to a conference last year as no conference was held. Mr Kent attended a meeting of the executive of the Power Boards’ Association, but he was an executive member and his attendance did not cost the Board anything. He (the Secretary) had attended two conferences and the Engineer one. The cost to the Board had been £5/6/5. Mr Smeaton said he considered the money.was never wasted in sending delegates to conferences, particularly at times like the present.

Mr Pring said he thought the Board had ded.ded that there were to be no more “joy rides” to conferences during the war period. He did not think conferences got anywhere. He had yet to see a delegate to a conference of any bodies who brought back anything more than could be read in the newspapers. Mr Kent said he thought the Grey Board had been saved many thousands of pounds by its delegates attending conferences, by their being able to avoid mistakes made by other Similar bodies,. He had no doubt of the value of conferences.

Mr Blanchfield said that proceedings affecting the Board could well be sent to tb/e Board in writing by

the Association, of which the Board was a member. Mr Smeaton’s motion was seconded by Mr Unwin, and it was carried, Messrs Blanchfield and Pring- ; dis--sentfng.