THE ELECTRICITY SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17852, 5 August 1921, Page 4

THE ELECTRICITY SERVICE.

The partial failure of the city's electricity service yesterday was apparently due to a mishap of the character that may occur at any time in connection with the generation of electricity. Its consequences were very widely experienced, because, owing to the unfavourable weather conditions, there was an exceptional demand for current for lighting services, in addition to the normal power consumption. An assurance is given by the city electrical engineer that, had this mishap at the generating station not occurred, the service would have carried the augmented load. Nevertheless the incident recalls attention to the fact that the programme of extensions originally planned by the City Council has fallen into arrears through war conditions, and that some time must elapse before addi tional generating machinery can be installed. In the meantime, the demand for power for both industrial and domestic use is increasing. The question arises whether the City Council should definitely restrict further loading of the service until such additions have been made to the power plant as will ensure a greater margin between generating capacity and potential consumption. After all, the present customers of the electricity department are entitled to an assurance of a full scr vice with the accepted condition of liability to unavoidable interruption and the City Council will not gain any advantage by placing on its existing plant a heavier load than it can carry efficiently