HUGE EXPANSION IN N.Z. DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22825, 21 December 1948, Page 8

HUGE EXPANSION IN N.Z. DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY

“Past history proves that all planning for electric supply has been on too small a scale,” said the retiring chairman, Mr. R. S. Maunder, in his address to the annual meeting of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers. New Zealand, he said, might have to provide £125,000,000 in capital outlay between 1947 and 1955 for the generation, distribution, and consumption of electricity, and that figure did not cover major special works, such as electrification of railways. “In 1920 it was not possible for anyone to see that the then load of 7000 kw. would in 30 years reach 50,000 kw., or even if it had been possible to foresee it, to lay out the capital necessary to fit in to an expanding development of that order.

“For the yera ended March, 1947, the capital outlay by the State Hydroelectric Department was more than £36,000,000, and by supply authorities £25,500,000,” said Mr. Maunder. “The investment by electricity consumers in installations and electrical equipment must be considerably greater than either of these amounts, and it is possible that the total national investment is of the order of £100,000,000.” It had been estimated by a committee of supply authority engineers that the 1947 consumption of electricity in the North Island would be doubled in eight years, provided that an unrestricted supply was available, and that there would be an actual increase of 62 per cent in eight years, with restrictions of various kinds in operation throughout the whole period.