REDUCED TARIFFS INDICATED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 25 May 1945, Page 2

REDUCED TARIFFS INDICATED

ELECTRICITY CHARGES IN WAIMEA AREA POWER BOARD’S FINANCIAL POSITION CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT The prospect ol further reductions in electricity charges in the Waimea Power Board’s district was referred to by the chairman, Mr H. E. Stephens, in his report presented at the board’s annual meeting held at Richmond to-day. After almost a year of operation with the Government hydro supply from the Cobb, it had become apparent that the board had been conservative in the reductions in tariffs introduced with the inauguration of the Cobb scheme. At that time, said Mr Stephens, the board had to move carefully as the result of hydro supply could only be estimated and it had been realised by the board that further reductions in charges would be necessary when the result of the past year's working could be ascertained. SATISFACTORY FINANCIAL POSITION The chairman's report stated, inter alia: — “The financial position is now more satisfactory than at any time previously. The statement of accounts shows a credit balance of £7787 10s lid in the Power Fund, £3030 of which has been invested. This compares favourably with last year’s balance of £4574. “From a study of the figures covering the past trading year, it is apparent that the board was conservative in its reductions . in electricity charges, and a further review should give additional reductions to the consumers. The revenue from the sale of current other than- to supply authorities was £40,853, as against £41,055 in the previous year, being a slight decrease which was brought about by the reduction in charges. REVENUE WELL ABOVE ESTIMATE “This figure, however, was well above the estimated revenue ol £38,000. Apart from this item, the remaining items of estimated revenue and expenditure, were very icloseiy kept to with the exception, of that provided for capital expenditure. The board authorised additional extensions during the year which were not contemplated when the estimates were drawn up, which accounts for the additional expenditure under this heading.

“With the inauguration of Government hydro supply, and the consequent reductions made to consumers, it necessarily follows that the demand for electricity has increased, and will continue to increase for some time to come, especially when appliances are available to meet the full demand made by the changed conditions of supply. This increased demand will require increased capital expenditure on our distribution system.

COMPARISON OF PAST TWO YEARS “The following comparative figures show the income and expenditure over the past two years:—

DEPRECIATION RESERVE FUND “There is now an amount of £2254 invested in the depreciation reserve fund account with the Public Trustee. Interest earned on this investment during the year was £75. There is still a back amount of £1722 to be paid over to this fund. Although the board has provided for an additional investment of £IOOO in each of the past two years to make up these back payments, on each occasion, the money has been utilised for the purchase of property. The diversion of this money, however, was sound, and the board should not find it difficult to meet this, balance. Legally, annual instalments of £272 is all that is required to be invested to meet this back amount, blit it would be advisable to complete the full sum at the earliest opportunity. LOAN INDEBTEDNESS “The total loans now owing by the board, amount to £113,922. excluding the recent loan of £7500 not yet raised. This is a reduction of £7107 since last year, which has been repaid. It is significant that with the raising of the proposed loan for the central area, the board’s loan indebtedness will be more than doubled. TRADING DEPARTMENT “The trading department continues to do good work, with a turnover of almost double that of th e previous year. Sales of appliances have iri creased from £4834 to £8921 A d revenue from wiring installations has increased from £1837 to £3790 The profit for the year was £551 after allowing for all charges.” NEARLY MILLION MORE UNITS SOLD The board's engineer. Mr N. A. Andrews, in the course of his report on the year’s operations, said: “Short ages of materials, appliances, and manpower have again restricted the operations of the board, but in spite of this, the units sold have increased from 4.188.000 units to 5.159 754 units, an increase of 23 per cent The revenue from the sale of current has been slightly reduced from £4l 745 £40,853, and !h e revenue received per unit sold has been reduced from 2.5 d per unit to 1.9 d per unit, or a reduction of 25 per cent, in the aver age revenue per unit sold."

1943-44. 1944-45. Income. £ £ Sale of Current . . 41,055 40,853 Bulk Supply .... 689 9,056 Sundry Charges . . 382 680 Profit on Trading . 382 552 Interest 98 94 £42,606 £51,235 Expenditure: Power Purchase & Generation .... 18,191 17,142 Distribution Management and • 2,909 3,568 General 4,413 4.871 Interest 4,757 4,494 Plant written down •• 538 Net Profit for year 12,336 20,622 £42,606 £51,235 Appropriation of Profits: Loan Repayment . Expenditure o n 6,789 7,107 Capital works .. 3,966 9,622 £10,755 £16,729