WAIRERE GENERATING PLANT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4809, 12 July 1939, Page 5

WAIRERE GENERATING PLANT.

(To the Editor)

Sir,—iWith a fine display of empty words and incorrect statements, your correspondent, "Candle Light," in last Wednesday's issue apparently reaches what he claims, to be the ideal solution to my Board's problems of electricity supply—viz., the purchase of power in bulk from the Government, the only bar to which desirable result has in the past been due, in his opinion, to parochialism. The letter shows a complete lack of understanding of the Board's policy and of the very important factors which have governed such policy and, so that others may not be misled by your correspondent's mis-statements, I take this opportunity of explaining the true position. Interruptions to the supply of late have been part of a plan of comprehensive improvement to the plant and this work is practically completed. The object of this programme has been to increase the output capacity of the plant and assure better continuity of supply. The size of the spare generating set was chosen for sound technical reasons and is of sufficient capacity to meet the essential requirements of the district when overhaul of the main plant is necessary and to make the fullest and most economical use of the water supply available during dry seasons, without involving the Board in excessive capital outlay. Your correspondent's main bone of contention is that the recent restrictions compelled all industries dependent on the supply to cease operations and that the whole cause was insufficient generating capacity. It may be of interest to know that four industrial consumers were seriously affected and not one complained officially. Two of these (being garages) were required to postpone certain work until after normal working hours while the other two, having received ample warning, were able to make preparations in advance for the five working days they were affected. "Candle Light" completely ignores another important factor which influenced the schedule of restrictions and that was the work of increasing the conductor capacity of the main Pio Pio feeder line to improve the supply to that part of the area. This problem arises sooner or later with every supply authority and is dealt with in precisely the same manner. In our case, it meant the disconnection of the supply to Pio Pio and surrounding area, while the line was being worked on, viz., 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.im to 5 p.m., and the Government supply,, had it been available, could not have removed this restriction. All the industries referred to by your correspondent will benefit by this work — in fact, they are the primary cause of it. The remaining 99.3 per cent, of the Board's consumers were not greatly inconvenienced and, unlike "Candle Light," had the common sense to realise that the work being carried out is for their ultimate benefit.

And now this matter of parochialism! Your correspondent skips lightly over the apparently unimportant relative costs of power generated and power purchased and arrives at his "amazingly simple" solution (like a conjurer producing the proverbial rabbit from his hat) of buying power in bulk. The Board has considered this question very fully over a number of years, and there is still overwhelming evidence in favour of its present policy. The extremely low capital and maintenance costs of the first generating set installed at Wairere has been the only reason why electricity has been available for the past 13 years in a district so sparsely settled that it has the lowest number of consumers per route mile of line of any supply authority in New Zealand. Yet the average cost of power per consumer is among the lowest group in the country. Similarly, when considering the relative merits of extending the plant as against purchasing Government power, the Board found that the cost of plant additions and improvements will be paid off in two to three years by the additional earning power obtained by such outlay.

This Board's policy of endeavouring to give the backblocks settlers the same amenities enjoyed by "Candle Light" is generally known and recognised in this area, and my Board invites all its consumers—including your correspondent and his advisers (?) —to inspect its generating plant and the recent work at the falls, and to judge for themselves what is being done to preserve and improve their own asset.

I regret having taken up so much of your valuable space but, even now, I have been able to give only an outline of the subject matters under discussion. Had "Candle Light" been prepared to sign his name, his letter

might have carried more weight and the Board would know if he really is a consumer (?) as he claims. Also, if he had made enquiries from the obvious quarter—the Board itself—about the subject he raised, he would have found no need to waste your readers' and his own time. Might I suggest that a better nom de plume for him would have been "Glow-worm," as I understand it is "a creature which works only in the dark," and that is obviously what your correspondent has been doing as regards my Board's policy.—l am, etc.,

R. BODDY, Chairman, Wairere Electric Power Board.