SERIOUS PLIGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25215, 30 May 1945, Page 6

SERIOUS PLIGHT

GOVERNMENT BLAMED NEED FOR OIL FUEL PLANT Strong comment on the responsibility of Government officials in connection with the present electricity situation was made yesterday by the manager of the Waitemata Electric-Power Boarrl, Mr A. Main. He said the warning he sounded last year, that the power outlook for winters ahead was very dark indeed and that, by concentrating on water to the exclusion of oil fuel as a source of energy and by failing to develop sufficient water power in the pre-war years, the Minister of Works, Mr Seinple, and his expert advisers had left the country in a desperate position, had now proved well founded. "All. power boards ,in the North Island are now imposing drastic restrictions on 97 per cent, of the population, from Wellington to Kaitaia," said Mr Main. '"My board, in particular, had to reduce load very heavily on many of its feeders yesterday, and it is probable that as the winter advances the position will become even more serious. The dairy and poultry season has not .vet started." Advice to Consumers Mr Main advised consumers to cook the evening meal in the early part of the afternoon before 4 p.m. This would help to spread other essential loads over the critical period between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Radiators, he stated, put up a phenomenal demand on the system ■ peak yesterday and it would appear that if consumers would not voluntarily turn them off between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. the essential' industries would have to suffer. These* included in the Waitemata board's own area over 3000 electrified farms, where women and children were assisting in the milking sheds. He also advised consumers to keep stocks of candles on hand. "Remedial steps must be taken by the Government at once, ev«n if they cannot be put into operation until the winter of 1947," Mr. Main continued. "The dammed-up load in the North Island is already greater than Karapiro will produce. Karapiro is not a miracle station. .Its maximum capacity is only OD.OOOkw gross, and when it conies into action Horahora will bo flooded and its 10.300kw will go. Karapiro has been talked about and hawked about by the Minister and his responsible officefs as the lifesaver of the North Island, but it cannot be that, and in any case its output will not bo available until the winter of 1947." Board's Telegram to Mr Nash The Waitemata board yesterday sent the following urgent telegram to the acting-Prime Minister, Mr Nash: "Has the' Government taken any steps to procure from America or anywhere in urgency' at least 60,000kw of burning generating plant to avert the present desperate shortage, as has been persistently advocated? The recent statement "of the Minister of Works that the Karapiro hydro-electric station will be in operation by the winter of 1946 is incorrect. "Is it not correct that suppliers of the first 30,000kw generator for Karapiro will definitely not guarantee delivery on the site by June, 1946, and, even if the generator is delivered at that date, is it not correct that it would not be available until the 1947 winter loading? Even if the Karapiro station of SO.OOOkw is in operation by the winter of 1947. the whole output will be more than absorbed immediately and the North Island will still be faced with an acute shortage until 1950 at the earliest. Cannot the Government, even at this stage, take urgent steps to have sufficient oil-fuel burning generating plants in operation by the winter of 1947?"