Lightning Causes Power Dislocation

Northern Advocate, 12 June 1939, Page 7

Lightning Causes Power Dislocation

[fecial to “Northern Ad>vocase ”] AUCKLAND, This Day.

More than 1200 square miles of country in the board’s district were affected by yesterday’s storm, said Mr A. Main, general manager of the Waitemata Power Board, today. He said that transformers thrown out of action numbered more than treble any previous disturbance of a similar nature.

Today’s reports show that the storm violence was chiefly felt in the middle portion of the Northland peninsula. No major damage was done to power board property, and services are speedily being restored. The spare unit was installed shortly after mid-day and the normal service was then resumed. During the morning the North Auckland Power Board was compelled to cut off the supply to a portion of its rural area, served from the Mareretu sub-station, north of Maungaturoto. Trouble at Penrose.

One of the most serious effects of the lightning was that felt at the Penrose sub-station, where a unit in one of the transformer banks supplying the northern district was affected shortly after 6 p.m. by the atmospheric disturbances which travelled back to Penrose from a polo between Henderson and Rivcrlea, in the Northland transmission system.

The line struck was that supplying the area as far north as Whangarci. It was the first occasion on which a mishap of this kind had been experienced at Penrose.

When a unit in one of the banks was affected at G. 28 p.m. the whole of that bank had to be thrown out of action while repairs were put in hand, he slated. Northland Supply Curtailed. 'This curtailed the supply of power available for the North, and therefore a request to consumers to confine their use of power to lighting, cooking and other essential services was broadcast early this morning. This involved disconnecting radios and heaters. With the assistance thus given and a slight over-loading of the remaining transformers, the sub-station was able to cope with the position.