ELECTRIC POWER.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 22 June 1923, Page 5

ELECTRIC POWER.

THE TARIKI SCHEME.

i — f ! LOAN PROPOSALS EXPLAINED. iXfl&uvf ratW«"* in the Town ■k. ciimie (engineer) liPPf doub?£« IT unPropit!ous weather was IlSill asi it iv a* not convenient for the net Ws to attend in tte" ftftfiriwon and 5525 PBi alteratio» in this ?e sp a e n e t » M«.' Hin^aKs *{£.* &n^^r^£ until inst prior to polling day * I the development of power it ofarT n ated th:!t the *"£ III: iSf,' H ? ey ProP°w«l undertaking initially. To accept New Plymouth's otter to supply the province with elecBoard could produce at £5 per h.p. would not be working on business lines, £?>W Sp€aker Sai^ he only aPPealed to tnerr common-sense and business principles when he asked that the! loans be authorised to enable the ' scheme to proceed. Some years ago, ' at the instigation of the Government I Mr. Evan Parry reported on a scheme ' tor electrical development for the whole , oi New Zealand. However, the Government would not countenance the1 project, and subsequently suggested, that specined areas should be con-' stituted power districts, it being left' to the ratepayers to decied whether or not a power board far developmental purposes should be formed. But he pointed out that now a board bad been formed in Taranaki voluntarily there was no need for the Government to interfere. The reticulation of the area, continued Mr. Carman, Was the main .feature of the loan proposals, whether they developed power or purchased it. Ihe estimated cost of retaliation of the district -would be £250.000 3 but in addition to this-amount it was proposed ■to borrow £30.000 is advances* to consumers for their installations, £7500 for stocks of -motors and other materials, and a further £7500 was included for land, stores, offices and denots, etc., necessary for the carrying out of all tb e t works, Tsakincr the total under the headine; of reticulation £250.000. Where an isolated farmer desired to be served with current a guarantee of not less than 20 no r cent of the cost of tbe serf vice line for a period of five years was ;■: required. Thi« would amount to ap--proximately £25. per annum. Even if ; the Power Boarr], did not/intend "<!evelopirio' Txiwer thov wonia s,till require ; tlje £250,000 for the reticulation of tbe district, as it was part of their policy ;to have a large number of consumers ; connected riV'in readiness to take the [ power Immediately it was available. As sacnritv the board had pledged tbe undertaking and the pronosed - rate of [ lid in the £, which could or.lv be colI lected in th^ event of deficiency in revenue, and if there was such deficiency only a portion of the rate , would be likely to be collected. There was no possibility of the whole l£d rate ljeing required, and the board|.was very hopeful that' not even a -oortion would be required, for it was expected that the revenue from the works* would pay all charges and expenses from the commencement. , A loss on the running of the plant was not anticipated, as the board intended organising its house-wiring operations immediately the construction works were commenced. The opposition to the scheme was mainly the result of ignorance of the board's intentions, but the issuing of the booklet had served to dissipate many erroneous idea*?. •. Turning to the financial aspect, the speaker urged the ratepayers 'to sanction the loans, and thus permit' the scheme to proceed. The board did not believe that the farmers of- Taranaki were l*ss progressive than any other J part of the Dominion, but if the pell; was not carried they would be com-' pellecl to take that view. By way of comparison he quoted loans authorised for the development of electric power in other parts of New Zealand: in no other part of the Dominion had a loan poll for tins purpose been rejected. '. Mr. H. 11. Clitme. gave a general technical description cf the scheme-on the. lines of bis p^rlvp'Fs st Stratford. • Mr. C. A. VVillynsoxi ; expressed; pleasure at being able to support I thfe; Power Bo<uxl,s scheme, which he considered on weellevit proiiosition, and 'one which f he b^Heved : t;be Ta.ranalii people should sanction. He congrstuFnted tb-? boar«l on its business-like efforts in placing the project before them. For years past the province had been labouring under" many disadvantages through the lack of facilities to be obtained from electric power, and industries in Eltham, and throughout the province, could not compete with those in the other towns which were porvided with electricity. That ■was one v of the principal reasons why Eltham had not progressed in recent years. When th© speaker bad the honour to represent the district in Parliament some years afo, Sir Jopp-nh Ward introduced a Bill for the appointment of power boards for tbe development of electric power in the various provinces throughout, New Zealand. The idea originated in Southland, where the Power Board utilised tbe large water resources of the district for the production of hydro-electric power. When the legislation was brought before the House, he (Mr. Wilkinson) supported tbe measure and w-ir glad to see that the South Taranaki . district had formed a Power Board which pro-posecf supnlying the county, with electricity. When the speaker was chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of Industries, he and his colleagues toured the country, and everywhere were met with tbft" insistency for electric power. Electricity was the key to the whole industrial situation. The committee, on return-