PRICE OF TRAMWAY POWER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19620, 26 April 1927, Page 16

PRICE OF TRAMWAY POWER.

Sir, —Referring briefly to the comparative charges to tramway departments in different cities, I have received information regarding charges in other cities which show how almost impossible it is to arrive at comparative charges. lor example, the Dunedin supply is generated from water power, on the Waipori River, 36 miles from Dunedin, and their undertaking was completed prior to the war, and consequently at a much less cost than has ruled since. The Christchurch is also from water, viz., Lake Coleridge supply. The bulk of the supply used :in Wellington is obtained from the Mangahao hydro-electric system. This being the case, it is manifestly. impossible to expect the Auckland Power Board to supply as cheaply as these other cities, until it also receives its power from water supplyAlso, as previously mentioned, the price in Auckland is fixed by Act of Parliament, which includes capital charges. These are heavier here than in sorne of the other cities, which is accounts"' ll in great measure to the fact that the plant the Power Board had to take over fwß the city was obsolete, and a great de;il of it had to be scrapped. I think this additional information may somewhat allay the feeling of uneasiness—which others felt as well as I—that- our Electric Power Board was charging our tramways department- too high a figure far v-s power. J. Thoknfs. 231, Parnell Road.