POWER SUPPLY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23355, 25 May 1939, Page 17

POWER SUPPLY

FRANKLIN BOARD'S WORK RE-ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN {from our own correspondent] PUKEKOHE, Wednesday Estimates for the current financial year wero adopted by the Franklin Power Board at its statutory annual meeting, held at Pukekohe. The estimated revenue is £BO,OOO and the estimated surplus at the end of the year is £3OOO. In his report for tho past year, the chairman, Mr. J. Dean, mentioned that no direct reduction in charges could be granted at present, but when statistics were available from the new machine system of accounting installed in the board's office'it might be possible to consider in six months or a year's time tho introduction of a revised tariff on the sliding scale principle. The average revenue per unit of electricity sold by the board in 1937-38 was .883 d and last year .831 d. The working costs per unit had fallen in the same period from .580 d per unit to .524 d and the capital charges from ,292 d to .261 d. The board was adopting tho policy of subsidising the erection of lines to outlying settlers by reducing the percentage of annual revenue required before authorising a line to as low as 10 per cent. The normal payable load was 15 per cent. There wero yet 289 settlors in the board's area who had not been connected with the power lines. Tho engineer, Mr. L. G. Sharp, gave a table showing that tho number of consumers was now 4997.

Mr. Dean was unanimously re-elected chairman, an office which he has held since the inception of ' the board 15 years ago. Last year's committees were also re-elected, and tho chairman's honorarium and scale of members' expenses were fixed at tho same as last year. Recommendations by the engineer for additional inspection of lines and other improvements, to minimise interruptions, were adopted. These included tho completion of. the lines between Te Toro, Matakawau and Awhitu, at an estimated cost of £540.

Tho reticulation of Hancock's Road, Razorback, was authorised, at an estimated cost of £330, to serve four farmers. It was stated that the revenue offering represented over 15 per cent.