HYDRO ELECTRICITY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 January 1929, Page 6

HYDRO ELECTRICITY.

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD. The monthly meeting of the Horo-AT-hcmia Electric PoAver Board AA'as held in the Municipal Chambers, Levin, on Tuesday, .there being present: —Messrs G. .A. Monk (chairman), W. E. Barber, T. G. Vincent, E. E. Bryant, E. S. Morse, C. Blenkhorn, A. J. Petherick, A. Seifert, P. W Goldsmith (secretary and treasurer) and J A. Smith (engineer). Tree-Planting. Replying to the secretary’s request for information on tree-planting, the Thames Valley Power Board supplied the following particulars of its operations:—Area planted, 30 acres; area ploughed, 54 acres; cost of land, £40.1 18s lOd; area of land, 521 acres; cost of tree per .acre, £3 4s 7d; cost to plough per acre, £1 I8s; labour and planting, per acre, £5 Os 7d. Approximately 200 acres has been fenced, the cost of the fencing being about 25s 3d per acre. With regard to the variety of the trees, the Thames Board stated thlafthis Avas loft totally in the hands of the Forestry Department, Avhich supplied the labour.

The chairman said that presumably the operations Avere being conduced on pumic land, Avliich was readily ploughable and AAdiieh in this case had been bought for less than £1 per acre. The information Avaa referred to the special committee which has been set up to consider the feasibility of the Board grOAving trees to secure its own supply of power poles.

Penalties on Accounts. .Several letters were received from consumers relative to the • penalties charged on accounts remaining unpaid after certain notice. A. Waikanae resident suggested that the Board should offer an inducement to large consumers to deposit cash in advance to cover a period of a year. The secretary had replied that lie did not anticipate that many people would Avant .to pay before they received the service; there Avere one or lavo who paid in advance for their own convenience, but he doubted whether any concession would be largo enough to induce consumers generally to pay in advance.

A Baraparaumu customer Avrote stating that he was paying a 3s 8d fine under protest, as lie had posted a cheque on the day Avhen his account was due. To this the secretary had replied that the Board had to be strictly impartial in the matter of the. penalty; and country consumers. Avhose remittances arrived by the first mail on the 21st of the month Avere not penalised.

Mr. Morse said ho had known eases where mails posted in Otaki for northern towns had been taken to Wellington before reaching their destinations. A client in Otaki was postitive that ho had posted his remittance on the ,15th of the month, but it had not reached the secretary till the 17th. The speaker had since explained to him that he could pay the money into the Board’s Otaki office.

The secretary read correspondence from the Otaki customer, who objected to a penalty of'ls lOd, stating that a cheque for his account was drawn on the due date, October 15th. He had always posted his . payments to the Board's office at Levin in the hope of saving time to the authorities, but in future he would pay it at Otaki. He refused to pay the Is ‘ 10d penalty, and would fight the matter to a finish, as ho considered it a gross injustice, Mr. Pethcrick pointed out that -the Board’s accounts were due when they were presented to the consumers. The secretary explained that consumers at Otaki, Foxton and Shannon could pay their accounts by three methods—to the meter-reader, to the local office' of the Board, or through the post. In each of the three outlying towns the Borough Council office had been appointed a place where moneys due to the Board could be paid. Mr. Morse said he did not think the Otaki customer w r as worrying about .the Is lod, but about the principal of the thing. The secretary had replied to the Otaki correspondent, suggesting that he had made a mistake as to the date and hour of posting his payment. The action of the secretary in replying to the objections was confirmed. Treasurer’s Report.

The following report was submitted by the treasurer: — The total amount of the accounts paid since the last meeting of the Board is £612 14s 7d. This amount is made up chiefly of wages and salaries: Wages £234 13s, salaries £307 ss. The balance includes payment for telephone rentals and bureau fees, accident insurance claim, freights and sundry charges. The chief account to be passed is the electricity account from Mangahao for the quarter ended December 31s't, 1928, the amount being £4344 12s. The highest peak for the quarter was reached on October 16th, at 8 a.m. The account is about £ll7B more than the preceding (September) quarter. The same quarter in previous years was as follows: —Quarter ended 31/12/25, £2996; quarter ended 31/12/26, £3730; quarter ended 31/12/27, £4764; quarter ended 31/12/28, £4344. It will thus be seen that although the bill is not quite so large as that of last year’s account for the same quarter, it is still a considerable amount, which takes some collecting, and there should be a number of substantial quarterly accounts to help the ordinary revenue to mod the account. The other accounts for payment amount to £258 15s 2d. the chid .items consisting of accounts for cooper-wire, ranges, railway sleepers, motor, spares and covers for vehicles and several sundry accounts. Receipts. The holiday season is usually quiet a quiet time so far as the Board’s revenue is concerned —and this year i.> no exception to the rule. Still, £2/00 was received during December, of which amount £IBSO was for electricitj. Over £SOO of the amount was for installations and service lines, bringing the total receipts for the nine months of the year well over £SOOO. The following table shows the position with regard to cash receipts; Dec. April-Dee. £ £ Electricity .......... 1851 27,873.

Penalties 24 245 Installations and service lines 522 ' 5,231 Consumers’ deposits .. 11 100 Interest on installations . 38 327 Cottage rents and sundries 02 OS4 ; £2510 £34,401 (Shillings and ponce omitted). The report was adopted.