ELECTRIC SUPPLY IN THE WAIMEAS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 24 July 1930, Page 10

ELECTRIC SUPPLY IN THE WAIMEAS

HISTORY §F THE UNDERTAKING

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES OUTLINED

"CHEAP POWER WITHIN REACH"

(Specially Written for ''The Mail" by Boot, Ellis)

Now thai more general interest is being taken in the proceedings of the recently formed Power Board in. this district T have been asked by the "Evening Mail" to give them a history of what I had done since the beginning of the electric supply in the Waimeas and to show what difficulties'have had to ho overcome to bring the undertaking to its present position. To record this history it is necessary to go back some twenty odd years to the time when I was engaged in the flax and rope making business tit Kohatu. I required new and improved machinery for the work and for this reason made a trip to England to secure the very best obtainable. While in England I became interested in the advances that were being made in electrical apparatus for both lighting arid cooking, so much so, that I brought back with me a small plant for my own use at Kohatu for lighting and heating my home. Tills I installed using water power from the Motueka river running through my property. This plant was so satisfactory and economical it suggested to me the idea of giving a public supply of electricity and from that time 1 looked round for a suitable situation. The flour-mill at Brightwater (originally erected by Mr Saunders) was on the market for sale'and its central situation in the together with its' immense for greater development OMfjpwer.': so appealed to me that I bought it and proceeded to make a^sfart'.^W* T was very much surprised,, however. ; tr> meet with great opposition. I had an interview with the late Hon. McKenzie, then Minister of Public Works, and he absolutely refused to give, nie permission to start. He said it was impossible to do what I had in view as there was not sufficient power. I assured him that there was plenty of power, but he refused to believe it. A 3 I was leaving Mm, however, he said, : 'oh, well yon can go ahead as far as Brightwater." After a lot of correspondence which followed I had to give the matter up and devote myself to the flourmill. r -.f ' i'S

MR PARRY'S INTEREST

About a year afterwards, the late Right Hon. W. F. Massey came into •power and later he brought out from England, Mr Parry, an eminent electrical engineer, to advise on the Government hydro-electric schemes for the Dominion. Due day Mr Parry walked into my house at Brightwater and said, "I understand that you wanted to start an electric supply for this district. I found a pile of correspondence';-in my office about it and thought I had better come over myself and: see if. .anything could be done in the matter." I replied to him that I had given the idea up on account of the, opposition' botb" from tlie Government and local' bodies. "Well," he said, ;( I have come oyer to see and if I find that you have plenty of power I will arrange for you to .get a license and will arrange a complete scheme so that you can go ahead at once." He was a good fellow? and had. none of the prevalent 'tendency ;td discourage private enterprise, which was a. characteristic of the Government. So I thanked him Jieartily and .said I would make another start, ~-■'•

As soon as my license .was'ts'sned, I found it was. subject to iJerniiiision being given by local bodies and on applying to the County Council for permission to erect lines on the roads I met with a definite refusal. The Stoke Road Board, however, on hearing, this kindly offered me the use of their road to Richmond which! rung parallel with tlie main road along the foot-pf the Kills'. While preparing to act on this, tlie County Council changed their minds, probably under pressure from their constituents, and wrote saying that 1 might use their roads provided I kept close to the fences and erected'and supplied free of charge a number of Street lamps in Brightwater. I declined to accept such conditions and eventually the Brightwater people held', .a meet-; ing and agreed that I be paid for any street lighting. AlFthis nowbeing settled I proceeded to erect my lines in Brightwater and on to Richmond—this was in 1912.

In a few months time I was able to supply five lights in Brightwatef and eight or ten in Richmond, the total revenue amounting to an equivalent of Is per night. (To-day this amounts to over £15.) The whole of. this work was carried out in accordance with'Sir Parry's specifications, iron rails being used for poles which he advised and aluminium bare lI.T. wires with a 40 k.w. alternator driven from a new turbine which 1 had installed. The plant was erected in a concrete building near the mill race for convenience as I was running the floiirmill in the day time. Houses were rapidly being wired and I was sooji able to supply a good load, which, although giving a useful sideline revenue, was too small in itself to be profitable. It was really the revenue from the milling business which enabled the electric supply to be carried on at all. Here I may explain that the flourmillers' Association shut out my mill and tried all they could by cutting prices, to stop me running. I found I could easily compete and the milling business grew to the full capacity of the mill. They then proposed to pay me a yearly' subsidy if I would closedown but 1 refused and continued to run, using the profits from this source to extend my lines to Wakefield, Stoke and later to Tahuna. using the large mil] turbine at night to cope with the ever increasing load.

A SYNDICATE'S TROUBLES

This continued until 1918 when for private family reasons. I accepted an offer from a local syndicate to purchase (he whole undertaking. J wish to he quite fair to the. members of this syndicate, they seem to have been very unfortunate. Partly from inexperience: of (his undertaking, and their policy of continually connecting new consumers without making provision for more powei, iJiey were soon in terrible, trouble. In addition the Government control of wheat quite disorganized the milling business and in the end the mill wiii shut down and dismantled. As 1 have already .stated the electric branch was hardly big enough to stand alonv and with the milling musinsss

] lost difficulties increased. T had now been back on my Kohatu property some two or three years when the syndicate asked me if I would return and help them out of their electrical and financial difficulties. 1 agreed to do so and set to work to relieve the overloading by erecting another powci-house a short distance down the river below Brightwater on the site of an old flaxmill. After straightening out other matters the syndicate decided to take over tlie concern again and T returned to Kohatu but not for long, as continued trouble caused the Government to threaten to close down the plant and the syndicate again appealed to me for assistance. This time I decided to return for good, as I felt it would be unfair to the consumers who had wired their houses if they were left without a supply. When I first sold out to the syndicate, everything was in good order as the Government made an inspection before allowing me to transfer the business and at this time it was becoming quite profitable but what t came back to was very different and can only be described as a wreck. The plant and lines were out of order due to want of maintenance, the Hour business as previously stated was now closed down and there was an annual loss of about £SOO, equal to more than £1 per consumer. To make matters worse Mr Parry had returned to England and instead of an attitude of benevolent assistance, to which 1 had been accustomed, the Government Department was now irritated and suspicious and blamed me for the ilefects caused during the time of the syndicate, which J was now trying to put right, at the risk of my own capital and for which I was not at all responsible. I was not under compulsion to return hut I knew that I could bring the business back to a profitable and successful footing and I deemed it a matter of honour and duty to the consumers to return and straighten matters out.

CONTROL RESUMED

I had come back this time with the intention of staying and stipulated that a new company be formed and that the syndicate should retire from the management -which should be under my entire control—this was in 1022.

My first step was to correct a trouble in the. race at the upper station due to a silting Up at the intake and, causing a shortage of water. Ultimately it became necessary to make a new race from an intake about half a mile higher up the river where there was a rocky bed which would not silt up. This also would give four feet greater fall so I bought the land required and started the excavation, advancing the money from my own pocket, a sum of about £IOOO. The work was practically finished with only a strip left on the bank of the river when a Government officer from Wellington came on the scene and in a severe tone said, "I hear that you have been digging a new race to -the river. Do you know that you have 110 right to do so?" I replied that I thought I could dig on my own land but be continued, "Who surveyed it and took the levels ?" I replied again that I had done so myself, to which ho finally remarked, "Well if you let the water into this race you will get into trouble." \ This was a severe blow after all tlie trouble and expense I had gone to but I said nothing at the time. Very shortly after a flood quite blocked the intake of the old race, so I sent a telegram to the Department, "Intake blocked, no -light to-night unless new race Used." A reply came back giving permission to use the new race and with a plentiful supply of water the people had a good light that night. By raising the banks of the race and clearing the tail race I increased the original head from 9ft to 14ft 'and was thus able to get much-'more power from the turbines. (By excavating the tail race a further 7ft can still be obtained). Other improvements were now undertaken. With the exception of Wakefield the singlephase system was changed over to a 3-phase. An 80 h.p. suction gas engine was installed to assist with the load at flood periods and several miles of; tlio lines were reconstructed. j

SUPPLY "FOR TAHUNA

The supply to Tahuna now presented some difficulty. Only »a few consumers signed up at the outset of our lines being extended there but when the supply became available there was a rush of many who had taken no interest in the matter and had not previously been taken into account. The late Mr E. H. Bisley came to me and said, "I will require a supply for my property on the hillside which I am cutting up for building sites where I expect in five years to see 200 houses built." This increased load at a distance of eleven miles from the power-house would require a. new H.T. line to give a satisfactory supply. I therefore first offered to transfer Tahuna to the Nelson City Council but they refused to consider it. I then stiggested to the Tahuna Town Board that they themselves should obtain a supply direct from the city. This also fell through, so I approached the City Council for a bulk supply for Tahuna and came to an agreement which has since been extended to include Wakatu and Stoke (the Company now pays over £IOOO a year to the city for this supply). This required further heavy expenditure, in reconstruction of the lines to take the city supply, also transformers, etc., and I was still labouring under the handicap of restricted finance owing to the recurring annual loss and the continual demands for extensions in other parts of the district. To pive one instance of (he vapid growth of the scheme, when the original transformer was erected in Tahuna it was considered large enough for all requirements for five years, in less than 12. months this transformer had to be replaced with owe just double the size, and in two years more a second one had to be installed. At the time when all of this work was undertaken material was at its highest price and the extent to which extensions could be I made and oth«r necessary improve. i meats effected, was restricted by the [incoming revenue. .After some lengthy negotiations however, the Government agreed to give the. Company power to

increase its charges to (lie level of those ni1,,„,..1 in other districts. This was an immediate help ami soon greater progress wns made and things began lo look brighter. I was later able to start rebuilding the upper power house in preparation tor additional new plant which I could sec would soon he needed.

HOW TUP, POWEN HOARD WAS FORMED

Passing over these busy years of work to 102 S, J considered then that ii definite plan should be made for the future. All urgent mutters thai needed attention had by this time been put in order and I had plenty of power for the following year or two, enabling unto give an "excellent supply. All this had been done (up to date) without drawing any salary, expenses, interest or other money from the Company, but 1 had repeatedly to make advances out of my own pocket to meet new capital expenditure and all debts had been duly met. lint in considering the future 1 realised that if the business continued to extend as it had been doing, much more capital would be required for new plant and reticulation. In revenue the concern was now on a profitable basis and could pay a dividend. Here is 11 point not usually understood by the average public, that, either proper security for invested capital must, be obtained in a business of this kind or (he consumers must pay higher charges,

It was an easy matter to decide what new plant was required but the more difficult question was, what security could be given for capital investment'.' The licenses issued by the Government are drafted to suit local bodies who can supplement their charges by rating, but licenses held by private companies are no attraction as a security for investment. For the installation of new and up-to-date plant and extensions of the lines 1 would require not less than £IO.OOO. but I felt I was not justified in spending such a sum if, when all was established and giving a reasonable re-

turn, a Power Board could step in and reap the benefit.

1 decided that it would be belter to settle this matter first and put the position to he public. If they elected to take the business over, well and good, but if not. I would then ask the Government for security for a term of years, so that capital could be safely invested. Under these circumstances, it seemed best that a Power Board should be formed to represent the public, but two attempts which had already been made in this direction had failed and there is little doubt that but for my next action the present Power Board would not vet, be in existence.

I proposed first to hold public meetings at each main centre in the district to explain to the people what could be done, and to show them that a Power Board limited to the Waimeas with a power-station at Brightwater could supply all the needs of the district for many years to come, and could pay its way without any rating. The suggestion was put to the Government who approved of it but failed to meet my request to assist at these meetings by sending an officer of the electrical department to explain the formation and working oi a Power Board. Eventually meetings were held at Stoke and Richmond but Tahuna and Wakefield declined my offer to attend and failed to arrange a meeting at all. Those held at Stoke and Richmond -were attended by only a small number of consumers, but fortunately energetic representatives were appointed at these meetings to form a provisional committee to which cithers from the other centres were appointed later and so, from this committee the Power Board as at present constituted, came into existence.

BEST SCHEME WITHIX REACH

A period of more than twenty years has now been covered in this history, from which you will have gathered something of what it has taken to bring the undertaking from its initiation to its present position. Jn conclusion I would like to say that 1 feel I have been very fortunate in having associated with me since 1923 such public spirited shareholders who have been willing to lend their capital without dividend or interest, in order to push the scheme through to a successful issue. I have also been privileged in having the business ability of our chairman and the engineering of Mr A. Burton, A.M.1.E.E., acquired in some of the largest engineering firms in England, and the indefatigable energy of the secretary. All of these have helped me bring up the baby business, started IS years ago. to its present position in which it is quite able to stand without nursing, and without any rate being levied on the ratepayers. And I can assure you that if the scheme which 1 have planned for all along is followed out it is possible by introducing a little more capital, for immediate enlargement, to reduce present charges and provide al I the advantages which a cheap and efficient plant can produce for the benefit of the community. I believe this is within reach, but care must be exercised in the next step taken. When the provisional committee was being formed the Government told me, and I presume the same message was sent to (he committee, that they wished to have the Moltieka Valley included in any scheme brought down. I am quite in sympathy with those districts that have an unsatisfactory supply or none at all, and I quite agree that they should have what they want. Also, I have no hesitation in saying that the only scheme that will ultimately meet the demands of the whole district is the Cowan river scheme, but if the available load in sight is not sufficient for the Government to undertake this, can the Power Board launch an equally huge scheme, on a less suitable situation and from an inferior* source of supply? All the circumstances and conditions in the places that have been put forward as a site for development need to be considered very carefully. But j apart, from this, knowing the people of the Waimeas as 1 do. having lived for so many years among them, I feel (hat .!' enn pretty accurately forecast what they will do when the issue concerning any of the proposed schemes is put to the vote, f feel quite sure they will object, and rightly so. to carry (lie burden of any unprofitable district or to supply the city with cheap power, unless the city N willing to come in on an equal footing. They will also. J am sure, object to being rated for a large and uncertain scheme, where there is an excellent source of power in the centre of their own district. Owing to lack of In (crest on the pad of many of the ratepayers in the Waimeas at the time of the recent election, the Motuka district has secured over-representation on The present Power .Board, but this position will lie rectified at- tin- next election, i:>. i 12 months time and will not alter what I have stated above.

To support my own ideas us to the best proposition for this district, and the city at the present time, T am enclosing a corp of the report prepared by Mr 11. R. Climio a year ago, for the purpose of the Company's negotiation with the Government. This shows the possibilities of the situation at the present power-houses at Bright water and gives estimates of the cost of developing it scheme on a graduated basis, as

the load, increases, reaching a total ol oll() h.p. which will nicel ' all the requirements of the district within a, radius of 2.1 miles lor a good number of years. Kvon this, I believe, can be improved on and (he costs reduced, and within a few years also (he prices named lor current could be reduced.

ENGINEERS REPORT

Messrs 11. W. Climic and Son re purled ;is follows (2.">th August, JD2KI

In accordance with your instructions we have I he honour lo submit, the following report on the hen! melius of improving the capacity of your power -t;ilion and reticulation system, so 113 to provide an adequate supply fur all purposes to Ihe consumers, within the ureii embraced by your license. POWKi: STATIONS Your Company has harnessed Ihe U'airoa river at two points near Height* water by utilising, by means of canals, the natural fall, which amounts to about twenty feet per mile. Owing to the great cost involved 111 building a dam across (he gorge, we consider that the modernisation of your power stations is the only feasible method of harnessing the Wairon river. In your upper power station (he improvements would comprise (he enlargement and deepening of both the head and tail-races and the installation of the most modern type of turbine. An equal amount of power could be derived from your lower station by similar improvements and by the addition of a new tail-race which would increase tiie gross fall to that available in the upper station, namely, twenty-one feet. These (wo stations, by utilising the normal flow in the river, could develop a "total of 500 h.p., or over three million units of electricity per year, about twice the consumption in the City of Nelson last year. During a normal autumn the power available would decrease to about 300 h.p. When the demand reached this amount a Diesel engine would have to be installed to supplement the. waterpower during the dry period. PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT The scheme outlined above has the great advantage that it can be developed stage by stage as the power is required, whereas if the power was obtained from a dam built across the 'Jorge the scheme would be burdened with heavy capita! charges from the cutset. The very latest type of turbine of at least 2.10 h.p. should first be installed in the upper station, the headrace enlarged and later on the (ail-race similarly improved, until the race could carry the normal flow of the river with little, loss of fall. When the demand exceeded the capacity of this station, the lower station could be improved and modernised in a aimilar manner, stage by stage, as required. This possibility of progressive development will greatly reduce tlio capital charges during the initial years and will permit a supply to be retailed very considerably cheaper (ban from any source requiring large initial expenditure. FLOOD RESTRICTIONS The capacity of your present stations is greatly reduced during Hoods owing to water'backing up the tail-race and reducing the fall. This disability can be largely overcome if the recently invented Kaplan turbine is installed. This turbine is very similar to a propeller, but the blades can be rotated, and thus, during Hoods the discharge through the turbine can be increased, and the power maintained even if the fall is much reduced.

AUTOMATIC OPERATION Moth power stations could be designed to operate for long periods without attention, <'i"d thereby the operating expenses kept very low. This is already being clone in a power station of .")(;() ii.p. on the Mokau river, where the engineer does not even visit the powerhouse for a week iif a time. The necessity of installing a Diesel engine alter some years will, of course, increase the operating costs. This engine however, will only require to be started it]) during dry spells, and later on at other times when the demand exceeds iiOO h.p. AMALGAMATION Were the hydro stations and the Nelson steam station under the control of one authority, it is probable that this supplementary power could be obtained from the steam station, and the ex- ■ pense of installing and operating a Diesel engine at a Inter date could be avoided. Further, under such an amalgamation, other operating, sis well as administrative expenses could be reduced. Provided your two stations were modernised at the outset, the bulk of the demand in Nelson, as well as your district, could be derived from cheap water power, and the price of electricity reduced, due to the resulting saving in fuel and operating expenses. POWER REQUIREMENTS We consider that your modernised power stations would be capable of giving an adequate supply to consumers within your area for all purposes "for many years. The scheme, when fully developed, will be capable of an output, in units, twenty times greater than the present consumption. RETICULATION SYSTEM The consumption, when a continuous supply is given, will be spread over the d'av much more uniformly than at present. This feature of the demand will permit i( to be supplied over the existing high ten-ion lines, provided the pressure is increased from 2200 to UOOO volts. The requirements of the Government regulations are the same for 2200 and (iljbl) volt lines. The few existing transformers will icquire to be replaced by others wound for (HiOfl volts. From lime to Mine, as the demand warrants, the high tension lines will require to be extended, other transformers installed, and the low tension I sues strengthened. SECOND REPORT 26th September. 1929. In accordance with I lie proposals outlined in our interim report dated 25 8/23 we now have the honour to submit the following estimates o! i»: on eonstriuvelop your Company's S\>wer Scheme to its tidiest capacity ' UPPER i'OWKK. SCHEME The iotal fall in the river between the intake and the point of discharge is 2211.. only 56 per cent, of this fall is. however, being utilised at present. thic to losses in the head and lail races. The loss in (he head race which is " ow 3.|.fi._ean be reduced by half and the loss in the tail race, which is now 6tl. can be reduced to one-quarter of this 1

amount. Altogether ll (licioiicy of Ihe races can be increased from 56 to 04 per coiil. This improvement will en able 250 horse-power lo be developed iu a modern turbine, with a consumption of 150 cii.secs of water under normal conditions. Tail Race. The tail race will require lo be widened lo not less than 30 feet in Iho bottom and deepened by nn amount, increasing from five feel, at (lie rapids In six fool lit (he power station. This will involve. Ihe removal of sixteen thousand yards of material. l''or reasons staled below, Ibe whole of Ihe excavated material requires to bo formed into an embankment on I lie river side of (he race. The estimated cosl of this work is £2908.

Head Race. In order to divert info Iho headrace the whole of Iho water during dry weather, the headrace requires at Iho intake lo be deepened two feet, Ihe deepening gradually tapering off to six inches, thirty chains down. The concrete foundation of the existing headgates is two feet 100 high and has insufficient waterway. Consequently these control works will have to be largely reconstructed. In addition the embankments oil both sides of tlio lower end of Iho headrace, require lo be raised aI, least five feet and widened to give a top width of not less than four feci. A permanent spillway requires to be constructed in concrete near Iho site of I he existing wooden si reel are to allow surplus water to be discharged without endangering the embankments. The concrete parapet at the. power station requires to be raised fivefeel, and correspondingly widened to give stability against the increased head of water. It is estimated that these im provements lo the hcadworks will involve fourteen thousand yards of excavation and live hundred and ten yards of concrete, the cost of which works will be. £3756. Turbine Pit. The excavation for the turbine pit will require to be carried down lo a depth of fourteen feet lower than the existing tail race. It will be necessary to drive steel sheet piling around the pit before the excavation is made, in order to support Ihe power house. The bead rare during this work will require lo be drained out and a pump installed lo unwalcr the pit while the excavation and concreting is being carried out. About 180 yards of concrete will be^ required in tlie pit and foundations. The estimated cost of this work is £1435.

Flood Conditions. Under present conditions practically no power is available from the turbines during heavy Hoods, owing to the loss of bead. Under Hood conditions the water sweeps across into the tail race in front, of the daii'v factory and backs up the tail race, so that the fall at the power station is almost eliminated. The. embankment proposed along tho tailraco will limit the amount of backin" up. to the rise in the river at the point of discharge of the tail-race. If high embankments along the headrace were similarly raised there would be no loss of head during floods, as tho loss in the tail-race would be compensated liv the increased level in the bend-race. It is not only not feasible to raise, tlie einbankmenfs' along the headrace to this great height, but it is also unnecessary, as a modern propcllor turbine with adjustable blades can be arranged to maintain its output even if tho head is reduced by 50 per cent, provided tho wafer under siich conditions is three times the normal volume.

Power Plant. \ single turbine of the propcllor type w ilh adjustable blades and vertical shaft direct, coupled to an electro generator should bo installed. The. turbine must be capable of giving at least 250 horse-power under a lhcacl varying,from 10 to mil: The turbine will require to be controlled bv a sensitive oil-pressure. governor and the generator controlled bv modern switchgoar, complete with automatic voltage regulator. Such a plant could be arranged to operate for several tfays without attention. Ihe estimated cost of Ibis power plant, erected complete, is £4796.

Total Cosl. The estimated cost of modernising your upper station is £14,830, as under:

Tail-race improvements 2,908 Head-race improvements *,«* Turbine pit and foundations l,«o Rower J lam Contingencies, etc •• -->^j £14,830 LOWER- POWER. SCHEME 1, is found that there is a total fall of twenlv-one feet available from the present, intake to a point in the river thirtvoinlit chains below the power station At the present time only about half tins fall is being utilised, as there is no lailrace. If 11 modern fcirbme were installed 250 horse-power could be developed with a consumption ol 10U cusecs under normal conditions if a tailrace were constructed and tho existing bead-race enlarged.

Tail Hace. . The tnilrace wonlil require to bo thirl v iVot- wide in the bottom and eighteen feet deep at the power station Ins would involve the removal of IhnlAehdit thousand vards of excavation, lho spoil from the nice should be built into embankments to prevent, flood water enteriiiT U„-. vace and thereby causing a reduction in the head. The estimated cost of this work is £5814.

Head Race. The crest of the rapids immediately below tin- intake should be maintained at ;. uniform height by driving 01 steel sheet pUiii-' across the channel on that side of the river. This would also obviate the lowering "f th< ' concrete sill of the hcudgatcs, which would Mien have sufficient waterway. lho heartrace requires to be widened to at least I went v feet and the upper portion deepened by eighteen inches. 'J he embankment round the. lower end of the head race requires to be raised by three feet and widened to give a top width of lour feet. A concrete spillway with concrete apron requires to be constructed near the existing power station to discharge excess water. ( The estimated cost of these works is £2215.

Pc*ver Station. \ single turbine of 250 horse-power idculicaf to that proposed for the upper station should be installed in a new powerhouse close to the existing one. Tiu , estimated cost of this plant and foundations is £6046. Total Cost. ■|i,e total cost of modernising the |,,wer power scheme is £16.175. as un- £ Const ruction of tailracc 5,814 Improvements to headrace 2.21 j Power station and plant 6.046 Contingencies, olc 2.100 £16 ; 175 P roj: rcssi vc fi e vc I opine ni. H should be noted that if a modern Jurbine as described above were, installed, the nceseiil fail and lite capacity of I he existing rare is slllli. ienl to develop about 125 horse-power in either station under normal conditions. The following programme would give a progressive' development for the estimated costs as under:--Total 1 TorseStage.. Cost, power. £ 1 New power .station, lower scheme ' 6.952 125

2. Improvements In headliier. lower scheme- 0,408 200 3, New turbine, upper scheme 16,574 325 'I. Improvements to headrace, uppor scheme .... 20,993 400 .'"). Improvements fo (ail nice, upper scheme 24,337 450 6. Improvements to tail race, lower scheme .... 31,005 500 It. should be noted (hut Ihe Inst two [lems provide nguinst loss of power during Hood limes. Kcliculation. In the (irsl place the transmission pressure should lie raised from 2200 to 6600 volts. As soon as the remaining iron poles on the northern high tension lines are replaced by others complying with the latest Government regulations, applicaliun should 1)0 made to the Public Works Department for permission to change over to 6600 volts. The existing 2200 volt transformers should then be replaced by others wound for 6600 volts. This is not an expensive item. In order to meet the heavier demand due to cooking, heating and power, it will bo necessary to inslal transformers at closer intervals on existing high tension lines and to erect high tension feeders and transformers on some of the branch lines. Low tension lines and services would require to be strengthened in a number of cases where consumers instal cooking and heating appliances. This work could bo carried out from time to time as the demand developed. The estimated cost of this work is £6670, as under:— £ Replacement of balance of iron poles on north high tension feeder 750 200 K.V.A. stepup transformer 185 Replacement of existing transformers 300 Additional distribution transformers 625 branch high tension lines 1,000 Strengthening low tension lines and services 2,500 Switchgear 350 Contingencies 960 £6,670 When the demand exceeds 300 horsepower it will be necessary to supplement the main transmission lines. A diiplicate line if constructed at an earlier date would give considerable advantages in operating and an assurance of continuity of supply. Such a line could be erected on the back road at the foot of (ho hills and would cost approximately £2500. Dayload. A commencement could be made to build up and supply a dayload (up to the capacity of your Company's existing generating plant) provided an oil-pres-sure governor and an automatic voltage regulator, "wero installed to maintain constant speed and pressure. If fitted with these accessories the plant would require little attention. The services and low tension feeders supplying such consumers who proposed to utilise the supply during the day for cooking, heating or power would require to bo strengthened. The change over to 6600 volts transmission should next be made. Later on when the prospective demand warranted it, the, first stage of modernising the plant should be undertaken. The estimated cost of the work outlined above is:— £ Fitting up existing oil pressure governor ..' 65 Installation of voltage regulator 150 Preliminary strengthening of services, etc 1,000 £1,215 Th,c price per unit for heating and cooking would require to be not more than 2d, otherwise it would not attract consumers. From your present plant, the output in units could probably only bo doubled if a supply were given to consumers continuously. For these reasons the annual revenue from this preliminary day-load supply could not be expected to exceed £IOOO.

Amalgamation. A hydro-station such as your Company's if modernised as outlined above, could be coupled together electrically with a steam station such as the Nelson City/s, to their mutual advantage. Owing to lack of storage, the hydro-station would in this ease be run at_full load continuously and the steam station would carry the peaks. Under these circumstances your hydro-stations could generate over three million units annually or about twice the, present consumption

in Nelson City. The annual charges for interest, depreciation and operating expenses would bo less than £6OOO per annum and the cost per unit generated under these conditions, would ho less than a half-penny. The cost for; coal alone in the steam station would

equal this figure. Jt is evident tl your district as well as Nelson C could lie served more economically coupling up with a hydro-station of m< erato capacity, rather than by installi additional boilers and steam gcneratii plant.