Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1939 ELECTRIC ENERGY IN NELSON DISTRICT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 May 1939, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1939 ELECTRIC ENERGY IN NELSON DISTRICT

THE electrical supply authorities in conference yesterday afternoon took the only sound course open to them when they decided to obtain definite assurances regarding the Cobb hydro-electric scheme. For some years past development on ordinary lines has been suspended in view of prospective power from the Cobb. It is now obvious that this scheme cannot be completed in the time previously stated —18th December next—and the local supply authorities are naturally anxious to know' just where they stand. The position has been made much more serious by continuance of

the drought which has thrown extra load on the Diesel standby plant at Stoke.

~; It was stated by a speaker at E ; yesterday s conference that Nel- ; son is the only district in New E Zealand not supplied from one of ~ the Government’s major stations. : This is correct, but the difficulty l here has been that every possible : scheme dependent on ordinary : demand has been either too large ; or too small for the district’s : requirements. For many years j hydro-electric investigations have : been carried on in the Nelson dis- : trict, first by the Nelson City : Council and later by the provis- : ional Power Board and by the ; Board as now constituted. The : Motueka River, Pearce River, l Wairoa River, and Boulder Lake were all investigated but no suitable scheme could be devised, and city and district were advised by the Chief Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department, Mr T. M. Kissel, to build up a load by small sectional stations until such time as a demand sufficient to warrant large capital outlay was in sight. The very essence of hydro-electric development is that it be cheap and abundant. For this reason the Government refused to develop the Gowan. The revenue in sight, or likely to be in sight for many years (unless exorbitant chargtes were fixed) was totally inadequate. Confronted with these difficulties, the district received an offer from the Hume Pipe Co., to supply electric energy from works it planned to construct at the Cobb. After considerable nego tiation (the Government had been asked by the Power Board to develop the Cobb or, if not prepared to do so, to grant a license for its development by other means) the previous Government decided to grant a license with safeguards of the public interest —provided there was district unanimity.

At a conference held later in the year (1935) Mr Kissel, speaking in his capacity of Electrical Engineer-in-Chief, said:— “My advice is, take the Cobb scheme while you can gel it. I could not advise the Government to proceed with the expenditure required for development of the Gowan on the guarantee given this morning. The Cobb development gives to the district the opportunity of obtaining power at prices which are at least as good as the prices charged by the Government to Tower Boards in other parts, but it is better in that the local authority is not called on to give any guarantee of the amount of power it will lake from the Company.” After considerable delay local unanimity was secured and on 18th July, 1935, an Order-in-Council was gazetted giving the Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Ltd., the right to develop the River and to transmit power and supply the districts of Nelson and Takaka. It was understood, however, that the construction and operation of the works would be undertaken by a new company, whose - sole function would be to produce and supply electricity. This necessitated obtaining the consent of the incoming Government to the delegation of the license and rights to the new company, known as the Hume (Cobb River) Electric Power Co., Ltd., a New Zealand company registered in Christchurch and controlled by New Zealand directors. Some considerable time naturdly elapsed before the new Minster could give the question the rttention needed. However, when he matter was dealt with the right :o assign the license was granted, ind speaking at the turning of the rrst sod of the Diesel station at stoke, the Hon. R. Semple said re considered the present move to se one of the most forward in the district for many years. He -eferred to the fact that, before re could allow the company to proceed with the scheme, he had satisfied himself that the public nterest was adequately safeguarded. The subsidiary company was composed, he knew, of honest men well known in business Circles m the Dominion. When, then, he had fully satisfied himself on these points, he had felt it his duty to speed up development as i.uch as lay in his power. It was a big thing for the Minster to do. If he had looked -nerely to established hydro-elec-:ric policy in New Zealand he would have refused the transfer. Vfore easily he could have pointed to one of the chief planks of lis party's policy. But, to his credit, he took all the circumfiances into consideration and vhile safeguarding the public inerest did that which was in the sest interests of the people of this

district, handicapped as they were in regard to hydro-electric power. The present difficulties do not arise from any defect of the Cobb scheme. Mr J. G. Lancaster, in reply to a question at yesterday’s conference, stated that with the completion of the dam 25,000 k.w. could be generated (which is greater than the capacity of Mangahao, constructed to supply Wellington City and province). The Minister is to visit Nelson next week and the local supply authorities will ask for definite assurances regarding the Cobb, and failing early completion, for the provision of generating plant to tide city and district over the period that will elapse if the Cobb scheme is subject to extraordinary delay. The position is serious, but not alarming—provided adequate steps are taken to safeguard the district against shortages pending completion of the Cobb scheme.