LIGHT BILLS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1798, 22 August 1906, Page 66

LIGHT BILLS.

WHY PEOPLE THINK THEY APE OVERCHARGED. THE ELECTRIC LIGHT METER. “Now is the winter of our discontent made hideous by our light and coal bills” —even Shakespeare said nothing more reasonable than this, and flic impish Richard, who loved the dark, was not bothered by the questions that at present agitate tho minds of many residents of Wellington. July and August are the months during whicn we feel winter most keenly, though truth to tell, it has so far been an honest well-meaning season, and its bite has fortunately not been objectionably sharp. Still during tho past week there have been sharp frosts, and on more than one evening damp, searchingly-cold fogs have covered the city, and driven people to burn coal in a manner that would seem positively reckless at any other time. The evening fogs. too. have caused -jigliring to become necessary twenty minutes before such would be the case with a clear atmosphere. _ In Wellington there wore tin 1905) more private consumers of electricity than in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide combined, so that it must be assumed that the proportion of houses fitted with an electrical installation is considerable, particularly as the electric light mains have been run out to fast-ex-tending suburban areas, that know not gas. , . . One thing consumers of artificial light cannot or will not grasp is the great range there must b© in the amount of their accounts for the electric current used, between the beginning of winter —say, May—and such a month as we are living through now, and it is not, therefore, surprising to learn from Mr G. S. Mabon, manager of the Electrical Syndicate, that the company has received more complaints about tho July accounts than for previous five months combined. The reason is thus explained: The previous month’s reading was done a little too early, and July’s reading was a couple of days late—hence the tears. “Look here,” said Mr Mahen, “I’ll bet £IOOO that none of our meters are much out —a mere trifle—and if they are out, it is usually in favour of the consumer. A man thinks that because his account is a shilling or two more than the previous month that he is being robbed, but if that same person would carefully note the dates of the readings he would either find that it covered a longer period, or would recall occasions when more light was used than ordinarily. “Besides, consumers of electricity have tho remedy—l don’t think they have tho same with gas——of calling on tho Government department, of which Mr J. K. Logan is the chief, to test their meters with a standardised one kept for the purpose. Only the other day a prominent citizen complained of an account that really did seem an extraordinarily heavy one. He had his meter tested, and discovered that instead of it being fast it was, to his great chagrin, 2.7 slow, and that consequently he had been getting the best of the company for a trifle. Another medical man was certain that he was being imposed upon. His meter was tested, and found to be 3.5 slow! “Every meter,” says Mr Maben, “is tested by the Government before it goes out, and even if a tested meter is brought back from a house after a few days’ use, and is known to be quite in order, it is not allowed to be installed elsewhere without being tested again. “Of course,” Mr Maben continued, “I don’t say that people aro never overcharged a little by circumstances over which wo haven’t absolute control. For instance, we have discovered meter-readers who have been too tired to note the actual figures, and have struck an average on the user s previous consumption. That was discovered on changing the readers for different districts, and has led to their being changed more frequently from time to time.”

Mr Maben added that there were always complaints about alleged overcharging at this time of the year, but it had to be remembered that this was the darkest month, and further, this was the season when fogs were to be expected—as liad been the case quite recently—and these made an appreciable difference in the quantity of current used. Mr Maben’s argument is that a meter cannot fluctuate. It is either correct, a little fast, or a little slow. If a consumer thinks that hid meter is “fast” and registers the passage of move current than is used, there is a remedy. But in the experience of tho “trade,” the tendency is that a meter 'is more likely to got “slow” than “fast” because of the dust that gets into the works and the wear of the pivots and jewels. Indeed, in his experience of meters that had been returned for testing in Wellington he had never come across one that was fast to apy appreciable extent —it was rather the other way—and consequently in the favour of the consumer. During the recent controversy between the Syndicate and the Council it was stated that the Syndicate intended to reduce the price of electricity shortly. Asked if the matter had received any further consideration, Mr Maben stated that nothing would be done until the arrival in Wellington of Mr Salt, one of the London directorate, now on his way out from England.