ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12212, 6 March 1903, Page 6

ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

SCHEME FOR AUCKLAND AND SUBURBS.

THE QUESTION OF MUNICIPAL

OWNERSHIP.

ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTIONS.

At a meeting of the City Council last night, the Mayor said that with regard to a report by Messrs. Noyes Bros, on the electrio lighting of the city, it had not been opened. He added that Mr. Goodman would be in attendance when it was dealt with, and would answer any questions on the subject. Mr. Goodman would not be leaving for Dunedin till Saturday, and he moved that as the matter was one of vita] importance to the municipality, it be adjourned for consideration at a special committee meeting of the Council, to be held this (Friday) evening. He pointed out that certain facta and figures in the report, if made public, would be of advantage to tenderers, and that the result of publicity would be detrimental to the Council's interests.

Messrs. Baume and Parr thought that the report should be read. Mr. Masefield moved, "That the report be referred to the Streets Committee to report at the next meeting, as that committee was familiar with the electric lighting question." Mr. Glover said that the report was costing the Council £200. and its consideration should not be deferred, as the Streets Committee did not meet till Wednesday next, and it would be an advantage to obtain Mr. Goodman's advice.

Mr. Baumo pointed out the inconvenience to members of the Council of meeting this evening, and thought that it should be dealt with at once.

Mr. Masefield's motion was put to the meeting and lost, and on the motion of Mr. Parr, seconded by Mr. Julian, the Council went into committee in order to deal with the report.

The report was then opened and read. It was of a preliminary nature, principally drafted in order to give the City Council an approximate idea as to the cost of lighting the city by electricity, and the probably annual expenditure and revenue to be derived therefrom. Messrs. Noyes Brothers desired that the Council should clearly understand that to prepare a detailed report, embracing every phase of the proposal and reducing the possibility of over or under estimates to a minimum, would necessitate a house-to-house canvass and survey. By this means only could they ascertain the probable number of consumers of electric power. They were instructed to consider and set forth the arguments for and against the following alternatives : (a) Whether the City Council should carry out the electric lighting and supply of power as a municipal enterprise wholly and solely; (b) whether the City Council should purchase the power from a private supply company and undertake the reticulation and distribution themselves; (c) whether the City Council should give a franchise to a private company to undertake the lighting of the city and supply of power. Under the first alternative "they should deal with the matter entirely from a municipal' standpoint setting forth as clearly as possible, what the scheme embraced and also advising as to the system of supply and various other engineering matters which, though not catered for in their instructions, they considered advisable to furnish for the fuller information of the City Council, together with an estimate of the charges, etc., and revenue. The streets of Auckland at the present time were badly provided with artificial illumination, and if the City Council decided to undertake the electrio lighting of the city they should remedy this defect and make the installations of street lighting complete in every respect. Messrs. Noycs Brothers devoted considerable attention to the matter, and had come to the conclusion that arc lighting in all the principal streets would bo the most suitable, while for the small, narrow streets, incandescent electric lighting could be rjroperly introduced and made to gradually supersede the present gas lamps. To provide effective illumination 189 arc lamps of 1000 nominal candle-power each would be required, the same to be located at various points along the main streets and tramway routes, ranging in distance from 110 yards to 165 yards. The mains should be laid underground in the main streets, and carried overhead in the less important ones. The number of lamps mentioned would illuminate about 18 miles of streets, leaving about 36 miles to be lighted by incandescent lamps, but allowance must be made for cross streets and some of the narrow streets receiving light from the arc lamps in the main streets. It was estimated that in the city, with an adult population of about 20,000, there would be an almost immediate demand for 5000 16 candle-power lamps, which would be equivalent to about 7500 installed. A great many of the smaller consumers would only require eight candlepower lamps, which would still' further increase the lamp capacity of the station. Reference was made to the profits arising from the majority of the electric supply stations in Great Britain and to the industrial possibilities in regard to the use of electricity as a motive power. The charge for supply in this connection should be on a sliding scale. The system of distribution recommended was that known as the direct current threewire system, with a pressure of 440 volts across outside mains and 220 volts between the central main and the outer conductor. These voltages were standard pressures, and the system was considered the most suitable for a scheme embracing the supply of the city only. The system of generation recommended was that of steam, it- being calculated that the saving in fuel which could be effected by the use of gas would be more than offset by the extra cost of a gas plant. A site near the present gasworks would be an admirable position for the generating plant, the cost of which, including power and light service mains, was calculated at £71.000. The cost per unit was estimtaed at 3.2 pence, this including in addition to production and distribution interest at 4- per cent, and 1 per cent, sinking fund. It was estimated that the Council should obtain an average price of 7d per unit for light and 3.25 d per unit for motor loads. The revenue from the lighting supply was estimated at £10,705 per annum, and from the supply for motive purposes £7394 per annum, making a total of £18,099. The total cost of the generation and distribution of the. supply for private lighting and power would bo £12,173. the net profit thus equalling £5926 yearly. This profit would not be realised, however, on the first year or two of working as the demand would be necessarily' small until general confidence was established in the success of the scheme. The cost of lighting the streets by means of the arc lamps would be £2573, as compared with the present cost of about £1600 for ga3 lighting. The excess of £973 could be debited to the total generating cost and still leave •- net profit of £4953 per annum.

In regard to the question of ownership, it was not considered that the Council should enter into any arrangement involving the purchase of power from a supply company, and the city to undertake distribution and reticulation. The difficulties and extra expense inseparable from dual control rendered this inadvisable. If the Council had anything to do with the supply at all, it should have full control of the system, including generating -plant and distribution. As to whether the Council should give a franchise to a private company to undertake the lighting of the city and the supply of power, this was a matter for the Council to decide. There was no doubt that under competent private control the system would prove satisfactory. The Tramway Company, it was believed, was negotiating with the Council for the rights to supply the city, and if an arrangement could be made there was no doubt that the company could supply light ind power at a cheaper rate than the City Council. As the company already had its plant and engineering staff, it would not materially increase the cost of management or generation to supply the power required. The supervision and wages portion of the charges of operating a station of 1000 horsepower did not materially ncrease if the station is increased to 2000 horse-power output, and the company's present buildings could be extended at comparatively small expense. If the Council was prepared to consider the advisability of granting a concession for the supply of light and power, they should first ascertain at what rate the company would guarantee to supply current, the class of supply, and what free services would be granted to the Council in return for the concession.

Although the question had been dealt with, according to instructions, from .a city standpoint, the scheme, whether carried out by - the Council or by a company, should embrace the surrounding suburbs as well as the city. The following was an estimate of the probable requirements of the various suburbs, the figures indicating 16 c.p. incandescent lamps and are lamps respectively Grey Lynn, 400 and 10: Parnell, 700 and 12; Newmarket, 300 and 5; Epsom. 200 and 5: Onehunga, 400 and 7: Eden/Terrace 225 and 3; Mount Eden, 600 and 15; Devonport, 650 and 16, making totals of 3475 and 73 respectively. It was also estimated that Devonport would require an average motor load of 150 horse-power for eight hours a day. This greater scheme would necessitate a generating station capable N of supplying 8475 ' 16 c.p. incandescent lamps, which would equal about 11,500 installed, and 262 1000 c.p. arc lamps, and a motor load of about 500 horse-power for eight hours a day. A scheme . ■. ;■■■■■■ '.!■■■ - '.. .' ,■ ■ > ../■ : ■ ■..-.-..._■

of this magnitude would involve a different system of supply and distribution to that required if providing for the city alone. If the Harbour Board installed electric cranes they would probably take power from a supply station, but their requirements had not been included in the estimate for motor loads. The total cost for a scheme to embrace the supply of city and suburbs was estimated at £130,000. The total operating expenses would be £21,336 per annum. . For day motor loads 3d per unit should be obtained, and the average for lighting should be 7d per unit. From this scheme the total yearly revenue would be £29,976, leaving a net profit of £8640. The report, which covers 23 pagea of typewritten matter, concluded with an expression of thanks to the town clerk (Mr. H. W. "Wilson) and the city engineer (Mr. Wrigg) for assistance given in the matter of •data and statistics. The report was referred to the Streets Committee for consideration.