TARANAKI POWER BOARD

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 20 February 1932, Page 5

TARANAKI POWER BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING. PROGRESS REPORTS. The monthly meeting of the Taranaki Power Board was held yesterday, Mr H. G, Carman (chairman) presided. The engineer (Mr B- H. Goldsmith) reported that the number of consumers at January 31, 1932, was 2144. Units generated during the mouth totalled 878,300. The largest daily output was 30.000 units on Saturday, January 30, and the maximum demand of 1728 k.w. occurred on eleven days during the month. Installations totalled li as compared with 29 in January of last year, comprising five motors, one stove, one heater, two pumps and eight lighting and heating. The deviation of the high pressure lines at the Eltham Road-Ha stings Road corner had been completed. Work had proceeded satisfactorily in the Mangaotea cut, 20 days being spent in sluicing,. two and a half days 111 taking out timber and one and a half days in odd work.

As this summer had been the first in which the board’s plant had operated under what might be called normal conditions, and as the season had been a dry one, the condition of the water supply had been watched with interest. From December 1 to February 11 the rainfall recorded at Tariki was 112.89 inches, which fall was almost identical with that recorded in the same period in 1938-29 —12.02 inches. The intervening summers, 1929-30 and 1930-31, showed much greater totals, namely 20.88 and 16.-10 inches respectively.

New Plymouth had taken power for the last time on November 21 last, drawing the lake down 51 inches. A fall of rain filled the lake almost immediately and from that time to the present date the lake has been overflowing on all but nine days. During these nine days the lowest level reached bad been 6£ inches from the spillway. As the available draw-off is 11 to i 2 feet it will be seen that the storage in thei lake lias hardly been drawn upon at all. The receipts for the month totalled £1629. of which the largest items were : Sale of current. £4256; goods, £80; installations, £106; rails. £72; truck®, £52. The accounts passed amounted to £1583. so that the net credit balance was £3003. The Public Works Department wrote advising that it was not prepared to at present recommend any amendment to Section 4 of the Electric Power Boards’ Act, 1928.