POWER BOARD’S WORK

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 289, 10 November 1925, Page 10

POWER BOARD’S WORK

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

CURTAILING CONSTRUCTION AVOIDS.

In a report presented by the engineer (Mr W. A. Waters) at yesterday’s meeting of the ManawatuOroua Power Board, the activities of the board were reviewed and it was stated that, since June, 1923, the work of reticulation had been carried on until they were fast arriving at the point where .the bulk of the men engaged' would bo paid off and the work carried on at a reduced rate. An investigation of the present position, stated the engineer, disclosed that the board had reticulated all the thickly populated parts of its board’s area, the work remaining being as under: (1) Erect distribution lines of the 12) per cent return or slightly better class. (2) Deal with lines that will return a revenue less than this sum.

“What I have in mind to accomplish,” he continued, “is as follows: Pohangina: Fnish off the work in hand. When this is done all the balance of Pohangina County will apparently come under the present definition of ‘non-paying’ area. Kiihbolton: Fnish - off tho line to Kimbolton. The poles are erected right up to the township. Investigation is now in hand as to taking tho line on to Apiti to see if it will pay. We will then investigate the claims of several side roads on the road to Kimbolton. Investigate the proposed line to llcwa via Waituna. Oroua County: The balance of this county not reticulated appears to be of the doubtful order, unoccupied dwellings, resulting in long distances between homesteads making tho loosition in parts unpayable, while in other parts, if all the owners will put in a few lights, the lines would not pay. Feilding: The work of changing over Feilding is proceeding quietly, but is a job that at present cannot be accelerated owing to necessity of keeping old lines alive. We hope to accelerate the work this summer and clean the job up, as thero will bo a lot of material retrieved, which we want to use in other work outside Feilding. Manawatu : The Manawatu County'has been practically completed with the exception of the seaside village of Tangimoana, which is being investigated. Kairanga: Kairanga County reticulation is completed. “Tho foregoing brief review shows that there is very little work ahead of us at present except of the variety that will entail a lot of investigation before any construction is started. “For that reason I propose to reduce the staff to less than half of that at the present time, as it is obvious that there is no need for hustle on these lines that are only going to pay operating expenses at a 'pinch. The lines we have now erected will have a steady rate of nautral growth, which will at times call for alterations and additions, etc., to existing reticulation. It is obvious that we must, from a financial point of view,'take care of and give preference to natural growth. Then,; when the revenue is right, these lines can be attended to.

“Another reason why we must decrease the rate of construction is to gradually get rid of the present stocks of material-so as to reduce this amount to a minimum, before the end of next March, 19216. Then, with material being retrieved from Feilding, which we must use elsewhere, it is impossible to keep a big crowd of men going without big reserves of stocks of material. As far as taking out an estimate of tho cost of finishing tho reticulation is concerned, this is almost impossible at the present juncture, for, as stated' previously; every lino will have to be investigated, and a sum of several thousands of pounds will probably be required for . dealing with natural growth on existing linos. “Approximately the position is thus: Stocks of material on hand £29,036, cash available £92,951; total £121,987. “In addition to the above there is at present £17,000 which will be available from the power fund account for later works such as natural growth. The above sums are obviously ample to complete tho programme outlined. When we get the stocks down and the present work cleaned up, by the end of the present year, then will be a good time to take a complete survey of the proposed lines; the position of the board’s finances from revenue point of view, and provision for future work occardingly.“Another reason why I prefer to slow up construction on new work is to enable contractors to pay more attention to new business on existing lines, which is obviously the most profitable work the contractors can do for us, as the extra revenue secured will represent a minimum amount of further capital expenditure on odr part. t - The chairman 1 e (Mr J. A. Nash) following the reading of the report, stated that tho time had arrived when the board would have to consider tho question of its expenses, pending the ascertaining of its financial position at the termination of its year. Should it be found that a profit had eventuated, it would enable a reduction to be made in the price of power, which would naturally result in the adding of further consumers. In turn, the profits therefrom could bo used in extending the board’s lines. Mr M. A. Eliott held that the time had arrived. when a reduction in the board’s expenses should be seriously considered. On tho motion of Mr J. S. Tingey, seconded by Mr F. AV. Arbon, the report of the engineer was adopted, the construction ivorks to be curtailed pending a report from tho engineer to be presented i at a later meeting and which will review all lines.