No Relaxation Of Borough Restrictions

Northern Advocate, 26 April 1948, Page 4

No Relaxation Of Borough Restrictions

ELECTRICITY SAVINGS

ELECTRICITY restrictions in the Whangarei Borough are not to be relaxed. Reduction of the cut on Sturday night from an hour and a quarter to half an hour and on Sunday night to quarter of fin hour led to the belief that restrictions would be partly lifted. It was made clear at a meeting of The electricity load control committee this morning that the circumstances were unusual and might not occur again.

On Saturday night the electrical engineer (Mr W. J. Dawson) was informed by Portland that, after power had been fed to the Government line to its capacity, a quantity was available to the borough if it was required. Mr Dawson immediately took advantage of the surplus with the result that five minutes after receiving the notification power was switched on. the black-out lasting for only half an hour. A similar position occurred again last night, the cut being reduced to quarter of an hour in the northern and southern sections of the borough, with no cut being made in the inner area. ' . Mr Dawson told the control committee this morning that the circumstances were peculiar and might not

occur again this winter. Instead, it might be found necessary to increase the cuts already in operation. The position was being watched carefully and, if any extra power was available, it would be taken, so that the black-out periods could be reduced as much as possible. On Saturday the demand by commercial users had not been as great as the previous Saturday and the shutdown of the dairy factory yesterday had given a small surplus. This was no indication, however, that the difficulties of the power supply were over. STREETS TO 'STAY LIT The chairman (Mr H. W. James) said that the use of street lighting had given rise to many complaints from people who considered that savings could be made to the advantage : of other consumers by discontinuing this system. Mr Dawson said that the maximum saving that could be effected by discontinuing street lighting was 500 units, or 100 units an hour. At the most this would give five minutes’ extra lighting to ordinary consumers. He considered that, in view of the small saving that could be made, such a move would not be justified considering the inconvenience, as well as risk of accidents, that would be caused. The committee decided that to discontinue street lighting would not be worth while. FRIDAY NIGHT CHANGE Later the committee met representatives of business and'commercial interests to discuss suggestion advanced by Mr Dawson that a change could be made in Friday night cuts. Mr Dawson’s proposal was that supply to the whole of the borough, including the business area should be cut off on Friday nights from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., superseding the present cuts of from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the business area and 6.30 to 7.45 p.m. in the residential areas. Stating that this proposal was a trial, the chairman said that the present cuts were considered unfair by business people in the outer areas as tiiey were at a disadvantage through being linked with the domestic supply systems and a petition had been made to the council for a change. MORE CUTS PROBABLE Mr W. A. Christiansen said that while the business area could stand such a cut it would interfere with domestic arrangements. He suggested that the business area could be cut from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., but the domestic cut should be from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Heat was stored in electric stoves and meals should be cooked by 5 p.m., said Mr Dawson. The half-hour consumption saved in the business area would not offset the demand made in the residential area if the cut w T ere confined there to an hour. If it was found the proposal was not practicable the position would have to be examined again, said the chairman. “I think that cuts will be more severe as the cold weather comes,” j said Mr Dawson. “The position is I changing from day to day.” | It was agreed that on Friday nights j the cut for the whole of the borough i should be from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. j The engineer was given authority to instal emergency lighting at the' Town Whaff to permit unloading and j loading the Ranginui, the ship to supply power and lamps. EASING IN N.A. AREA “The consumption pf electricity : s satisfactory in comparison with the board’s allocation,” said the engineer of i the North Auckland Power Board (Mr T. R. Overton) today. j “This shows that consumers have observed in a considerable measure the compulsory restrictions on domestic water-heaters. “The board consequently has been enabled to relax the power cuts. “We are now eliminating the evening cut between 7 and 7.30 and extending the supply from 10.15 to 10.30 at night. “We trust that the lifting of these cuts will not encourage consumers to over-use the supply.” RAIN AT TOUPO Further falls of rain at Taupo dur ■ ir.g the week-end amounted to l.lPin, of which nearly an inch fell in the PA hours ended at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The rise of the lake in this period was a fifth of a foot. Only 0.17 in of ram fell at Waikaremoana over the week-end, but the level there also rose slightly, bringing it to about five inches above the reading a week ago. The dams at Mangahao were practically full yesterday. King’s Wharf and Evan’s Bay power stations which are fuel plants, did not run during the week-end.