GREY POWER BOARD

Grey River Argus, 6 March 1937, Page 9

GREY POWER BOARD

• WORKS TO BE TAKEN OVER By the Government Hon R. Semple, Minister of Public Works, yesterday made the announcement that the Government is takingover the generating works of the Grey Power Board.

Negotiations between the board and the Government have been proceeding in the matter, these relating to . the terms on which the Government is to supply power to the board, which is to retain control of the distribution of energy in the district. It is stated that the Government, in addition to operating the hydro plant at Kaimata, proposes establishing at Dobson a Diesel generating plant. Mr F. T. M. Kissel (Chief Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department), who on Thursday returned to Christchurch, had been in Greymouth for some days previously in connection with the negotiations between the Government and tho board. It is stated that 400 b kilowatts are now- required in the Grey Power Board’s district, or double the quantity which the hydro plant is able to generate. The Government will be taking over a proportion of the debt liability of the board, but the exact amount has not yet been indicated, and probably is still subject to negotiation. The additional demand for energy is largely in connection with gold mining, and may not, therefore, prove permanent, so thaf for the board to borrow further in order to meet this demand might not be advisable, but it is a question which will no longer arise. Power from Coleridge or Waitaki will’ be shortly available to supplement the local supply, and the question is the rate which the Government is to charge the board for this. It is. understood that up to at least 2000 kilowatts the board would expect the Government to supply at no greater cost than the present cost of generation at the board’s hydro works.