ELECTRICAL POWER

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1038, 10 June 1924, Page 6

ELECTRICAL POWER

BOARD. DISCUSSES TARIFF. A SCALE AGREED UPON.

Tariff rates in resnect to large consumers of current from its futuro supply were made the subject of a special report presented to the meeting held yesterday of the Manawatii:Oroua Power Board by Mr W. A. Waters, chief engineer. The report Btated that much time and exhaustive calculations had been devoted to this question, as tho board now had to announce its wholesale rates. "Especially is the matter complicated in this district," .stated the report, "by reason of the fact that wo have wholesale consumers who will' vary from £2OO per annum right up to the region of £4OOO per annum. The Government lays down that, when a consumer" takes £IBO worth per annum, the maximum rate is not to exceed £l2 per lev.a., plus Ad* per unit. Therefore, it is obvious that our wholesale consumers will embrace the Palmerston North Borough Council, freezing works, fellmongeries, dairy factories and industries. Now, in a tariff wo havo to consider in our method of buying, two factors —namely maximum recorded in loan, and units used. The larger the consumer, in general his rate shpuld decrease per k.v.a., while the longhour user should receive similar consideration. Hence our objective was to find a tariff that decreased with increase of demand and also decreasing price per. unit with increase of units." The report went on to allude to a graph chart to illustrate the engineer's proposals. The proposed charges were: —First 25 k.v.a. £3 per k.v.a.; next 25 k.v.a., £2 10s; next 50 k.v.a., £2; next 50 k.v.a., £1 10s; balance k.v.a., £l. These would be plus the following unit charges:—.sd per unit for 125,000 units per quarter; .4d per unit next 125,000; .3d per unit next 125,000; .25d per unit balance. "In framing it. we were after a tariff that picked up the 2d per unit rate for the ordinary industrial user and went right down to the vicinity of id per unit for the large user, and this tariff does it automatically if the user uses the current to the best advantage. In the season the freezing works will get their power at approximately as follows: —Assumed load, 250 k.v.a.; load factor 60 per cent. These are figures that the two local works ought to produce. Price per unit works out at .715 pence per unit." The report was considered in committee and the charges adopted, although there was a division on the point of whether or not the question should be deferred for another month.