GREY POWER BOARD

Grey River Argus, 18 April 1940, Page 12

GREY POWER BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING Mr J. B. Kent was in the chair at the monthly meeting of the Grey Electric Power Board last evening, when there were also present Messrs J. Mulcare, A. M. Carroll, J. Smeaton, J. Unwin, W. Clayton, W. Fisher, and W. H. Parfitt. An apology was received from Mr A. H. McKane. The chairman said members would be pleased to know that Mr Mc.Kane’s health had considerably improved. Motions of sympathy with the relatives of the late Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage and the late Mr G. B. Mclnroe were, on the chairman’s motion, carried, members standing in silence. f The secretary, Power Boards’ Association, advised that the committee appointed had done everything possible to bring into effect a compulsory superannuation scheme, but there hud been some delays, and the proposed scheme with the National Provident Fund was now under discussion. Mr R. A. Barrowman presented a report on the recent visit of Mrs Barrington for cooking demonstrations. There had been increased attendances, including a large number of range users who were glad of the opportunity of witnessing the demonstrations. The chairman said that the report was highly satisfactory. Those who had attended had expressed appreciation of Mrs Barrington’s work. It had given them a new orientation of electric cooking. The secretary (Mr W. S. McClymont) said that Mrs Barrington had expressed her appreciation of the arrangements made for the visit by Mr Barrowman.

ENGINEER’S REPORT Mr W. S. Trotter (engineer) reported for the month as follows: — The line staff have been engaged on general maintenance, connecting new consumers, and the following works: Short 11,000 volt branch line at Red Jack’s Creek for dredging, installing heavier mains in Alexander Street, Greymouth and in Cobden. The Cobden sub-station has been re-organis-ed and overhauled to cope with the increasing load there. Some routine maintenance has been carried out on small transformer units. A few cases of radio interference have been investigated and rectified. . Work has been carried out preparing a route for the high tension line required for dredging at Atarau, and the construction will be put in hand when the necessary permission from the Electricity Controller is obtained. Since last meeting, 6 new applications for supply have been received, making the total to date 4733. Ten new consumers have been connected, and this brings the total number of consumers up to 4756. Extensions and alterations to 47 existing installations have been carried out. Six washing machines, 25 radios and 5 electric ranges have been connected. I The connected load for the period is: | Light, previous 1854.895 k.W.j preI sent, 6.000 k.w., total 1860.895 k.w.; heat and iron, 4201.270 k.w.—42.180 k.w. 4243.450 k.w.; water heating, 484.160 k.w.—8.800 k.w., 492.960 k.w.; power, 11,261.05 h.p.—16.75 ' h.p., 11,277.80 h.p.; cooking, 3972.300 k.w.. —20.500 k.w., 3992.800 k.w. Load for the month, 94 k.w.; load at last meeting, 21,800 k.w.; grand total, 21,894 k.w. For the quarter just ended, the units purchased were 4,880,000, and the demand 3659 k.v.a., which occurred on February 2 at 11.45 a.m. On the morning of Friday, April 12, a short interruption occurred, affecting the total power supply, due to the failure of the main transmission line over the Alps. On the motion of the chairman and Mr Carroll, lhe secretary was instructed to write to the Public Works Department concerning the! short interruptions of power which had caused stoppages in collieries, stressing the safety factor in the mines as well as the economic losses sustained.

THE YEAR REVIEWED The chairman in a review of the work of the board for the year, stated that the cost of power purchased by the board from the Public Work" Department had been £29,901 against £28,633 12s 4d in the previous year The net revenue from the sale of energy had been £72,511 ss, compared with £63,249 6s 6d in the previous year, an increase of 14,65 per cent The estimate had been £72,510. The estimated cost of power was £32,085 an increase of £2,184 on the actual cost. This was due to the power cost being decreased owing to an improved power factor correction and elimination of losses. Coal mines contributed in revenue £9,918 5s 9d; gold dredges and mines £14,403 Ils sd; other large users £2,656 0s Bd, making the total for large consumers £27,277 17s lOd. Six large dredges had been supplied by the board.

Mr Smeaton: How many are going out? The chairman said one was going to be reconstructed. Mr Smeaton: There’s another one for sale. The chairman said that extensions at the Blackwater Mine would require more power, as also at Wallsend Mine, where new electrical machinery was being put in. The power supply from the Public Works Department had been most satisfactory except for the interruptions caused by snow on Arthur’s. Pass. The total load in Westland could not be carried by the Arnold and Dobson schemes, and the time had arrived for consideration of a major hydro scheme for the district to link up with the Canterbury transmission lines.

Mr Carroll: What we want is local steam plants to use up our slack coal. Mr Kent said that there had been 214 nevV consumers connected and 115 electric ranges sold during the year. The board’s area was widespread, and required a great deal of attention. A great deal of the credit was due to the engineer and the technical staff for the way they had done their job, particularly in the more dense areas where lines were not as heavy as they should have been

The chairman aiso drew attention to the fact that the by-laws of the board, got out when it originally started, had never been considered very much. They now found that the by-laws were not much good. It would not be a difficult job to get a new set, and he suggested that the secretary, engineer and himself should be instructed Ifo interview the board’s solicitors and have a draft prepared. Mr Smeaton suggested that stand-

ing orders also should be prepared, and on his motion, seconded by Mr Clayton, the suggestions of Mr Kent and the mover were adopted. The report of the Finance Committee stated that accounts recommended for payment amounting to £10,318/9/5 and accounts amounting to £1,016/19/9 were passed for payment. The Secretary reported that the Runanga Borough Council was unable to continue as collecting agents for the Board. Miss Davison had been asked to carry on the position until another appointment had been made, and had agreed to do so until April 19. It was decided to forward her a letter of thanks. From three applicants, Mr. W. H. Southward was appointed collector. A donation of £2/2/- was made to the Royal Humane Society, and one of £5/5/- to the Greymouth Recruiting Comrr'ttee for the entertainment of the Visiting troops. The report was approved.