NORTH SHORE POWER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18685, 15 April 1924, Page 11

NORTH SHORE POWER.

SUPPLY FROM AUCKLAND.

REPORT BY ENGINEER.

NEGOTIATIONS TO CONTINUE

The negotiations to ascertain whether the Auckland Electric Power Board could supply electric power to three of the North Shore boroughs were the subject of a report to the board yesterday by the manager and engineer, Mr. A. Wyllie. ,

The engineer stated that the design and plans of the power station were laid out before there was any thought of the formation of & power board. "The capacity of our station will be determined by the winter load, and the winter peak, especially in the city, is becoming more marked as time goes on," continued the report. " The peak load on the city tramways occurs between 5 o'clock and 5.30 or 5.45 p.m. The Takapuna demand would be chiefly a tramway demand, which would , occur *at the same time with very sharp peaks. The Takapuna load factor would be a very poor one compared with that of the city and suburbs. This would mean that it would bo a difficult matter to get a good revenue out of it.

" After weighing the matter fully, I estimate that we have sufficient power in our present station to. meet all the demands on this side of the water for at any rate five years to come. It has always been assumed that we should have' a certain reasonable proportion of spare plant. If the Takapuna load, which is estimated to start at about 1500 k.w., should ba added, we should almost certainly have to encroach on our reserve. "We could therefore undertake /to supply a limited capacity, the peak not to exceed 1500 k.v.a., to Takapuna from our steam power station, provided we encroach on our winter reserve. This supply we could give at our switchboard at King's Wharf, Takapuna being responsible for carrying the supply across the water. The measurement of the power would be made at the Kinir's Wharf switchboard. We should require the power factor maintained at 90 per cent." The question of charges, continued the report, would require further consideration, and must depend on both the power factor and the load power. The engineer recommende*? discussing the proposal with Takapuna en the above stated conditions. He further recommended making fully provision for the supply to North Shore when Arapnni power was available. The supply would then come straight from Penrose. The report was referred to the Works Committee with power to negotiate with the North Shore boroughs and report further to the board.