OTAGO POWER BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20961, 26 February 1930, Page 3

OTAGO POWER BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. A meeting of the Otago Electric Power Board was held yesterday, Mr D. Boyd i(ehairman) presiding. Others present were Messrs J, K. Simpson, W. Taine, E. Russell, F. Carson, W. B. Galloway, and H. M. Driver. The Works Committee’s report, which included a recommendation for the adoption of the engineer-manager’s report, was adopted. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The following is the engineer's monthly report of progress:— MAIN TRANSMISSION LINES. The patrol report states that the main lines are in a satisfactory condition, but some attention to the main 33,000-voit transformers at JliUcm has been necessary. The renewal of a blown-out insulator and the renewal of packing in another transformer to prevent oil leakage bas been carried out. No serious trouble Has been experienced iu the northern area, although we have bad power off on two occasions for half an hour at mid. night in order to cut-out and cut-in as necessary 33,000*v01t transformers. DISTRIBUTION. In the Bajclutha district during 1 the month two lighting services and a temporary motor service have been erected in the borough. Low tension fuses have been fitted to several sub-stations in the, district, and tree cutting has been carried out on the Creek road,- Kaitangata. Accessary alterations for increase in voltage to flaxmills at Otanamoino and •Komahapa were made to the Fincgand substation; and the ground has been pre. i r Srl ,° r ‘‘he erection of a regulator house at Stirling. In the Milton district the 38,000-volt lino at Berwick. has been overhauled and repaired, and is now. in good, order. Necessary oil has been added to 22 translormera requiring same throughout tho i i was necessary to change some insulators on the tower at the Dominion Lime Works, and these insulators, towith those on the transformers, were cleaned at the same time. Tree cuttbpgrp^Viellß waa attended to' and the renewals on the main sub-station, as reported, carried out. The foreman of this district js at Present on annual leave. in the Owaka district alterations were t V ne B wvica for range loading, to u °^ er supply to a three h.p. motor, Ti/ erVlC< b w^ s ? rected iu the borough) 6 J na sbl ; d used . as a store was f£“„ ed fr 9 m ■c be railway property, m^ SS ? ry + n tr f alterations were ,^t+ e ii t T nshl Pv’ and a Kelman oil switch installed on the main sub. the Lawrence area general maintenance and tree cutting have been carried out during the month, i A.lightning storm caused a few minutes’ interruption by tripping the breaker on January 18. and another interruption was in£ Be 2 the.22nd by a duck coming the 6000 volt line at «S& to iber^Scliy.‘K SSSS In the Waitati-Seacliff district an extra service was erected at Warrington, *one •J®?® xF aS T> S v?^ te m ol i th® main road to suit the Public Works Department, treecutting on line to Bnghtlings, Kilmog was completed, aieceswry alterations to low tension at Doctor’s Point carried out, and as previously reported, on the fflain substation, where protective gear w a !°5 8 erected, is not w r d ’ £ £ ra 1 Bcp tr ee fall®the line at Orokonui Home caused an interruption on the 6000 volt service, tHnned U +b7V 3 Vff v D ~ lnkuown cause tripped the Seacliff breaker at 6 a.m. on January 14. Power was off from 1 p.m, Ep S‘ rr! e 7t ! i» 8t »ut to allow P the Ff • aud L. Department to renew insulators. Some 11,000 volt insulators at Jxantane were renewed in order to miniaisejirirekss faults. A branch of a tree It^instant Seac breaker, to trip on the !u e Dehnersion-Waikouaiti district «ome alterations to both high tension and d l?®? at Karitane, owing to growth of load, .have been necessary, and some tree cutting in this district was frfr^ An < v* tra service was Tfi Ka T ,tane some low teuaion wire at Flag Swamp has been dismantled, this being no longer necessary, as a trans-> former was required to rahee load+onF m Palmerston borough h ° Bhlfted OWIBB t 0 roa d altera-

TESTROOMThe testrcom .staff are still fully occupied at the main substation at Waitati, V* toped will be completed jvithm two weeks, JSftrtb testing is also ** l sf Proceeded with, a start having been made in the Lawrence, Beaumont, and surrounding districts. .Faulty earths jre being renewed while testa are made, and ”?_P?£tion of this district considerable bC ’ ng eXperieocerf getting Matters in connection with inquiries fmn residents at Katca in the Owaka district are submitted under a separate headmg, as is also a resume of matters in date 60 * 1011 Wltb tbe JlaniotQ to district to

The report of the Finance Committee, which inter aha, provided for the securi® necessary authority to raise a flo.ooo loan from the Bank, of New Zealand at 5J per cent, for a period of 10 years, was adopted, and a further 1 suggestion that the engineer-manager furnish a detailed statement, of its opera- ! turns, with particular reference to new consumers and the various avenues of consumption, was also approved Mr Russell moved that the secretary be instructed to prepare a full stato£i e ?Ar hoard s financial position, including estimates, for publication with the report of each, meeting, itie motion was cawlod. 1 , MAbfIOTOTO EXTENSION. #ai^nn^ S ? ect 1? proposed loan of scheme thV * aK ‘°s o * , ° extension ?»JVL V tbo -secretary read the following letter from the chairman of the Local Ooiornment Loans Board:— a ,The Local Government Loans Board. lie]d on the 7th inst., cone^tbe^?Psl^* t . ,Qn for sanction to bnrl- tu e £85 1 ’? 0( i. ,oall ' and. referred back the application for the purpose nnt en wl? g th l Powor Board to carry trirt a mi°( l ’ ol,s u r=Mnv»su Of the district and to obtain written enatantccs the ? h ° Ie 80 heme costfng fHo.uqo. Information should also he supplied as to the guarantees which tli°e U wnr a u? P if t°j ly tbe firafc st age of Srr7ed k oii ß (: t,ma a*K d to c ,9 Bt wnre cornea out. The estimated revenue a S t BBt out in your letter of ASeust 8 last is s£ 13,380 from 650 an aver asp nf f9n n« oj y wunßumera, As XX °L- lls Per consumer, tile Dominion averaffa tavavuio consumer is £l2 8 P or board f nr +1 ±1 *‘ 8 * SPd that of your £8 71 it eDded 31/3/29 was i SSHs ife d "~ p s: I P*.9* 3- statement showing thaf fha ; the A’MSSSS? 1 “

ENGINEER-MANAGER'S STATEMENI. a. folabove proposal ' conßicl eratien to the thil r prop“y f is m f loJbt *JS members. reassuring to the ffiesp aSSSE EtPV"'*‘ s «S.'iKftTs ttm S t™th? n p“ l p h „“'| ast “ ™ to se^tidier a .canvass by the board r . ® ** *»IW enthusiasm would be bipb-Arl were signed—and 110 board 3 district detail. This difrf-iMrf Into t,le matter in tion of the boartf tto? to^roMh^tlfe^f 11011 f ° r 6anc ‘ district for the raisin* ate r ayer<3 i ln £SS%O waVmade to a , ,oan of menfc Leaps Beard.* tW application a summary S of the position and estimates were forwarded P rrhlast,mates, as you faow. we rabieeS’K thorough scrutiny by ’the"

perts for the Loans Board, and several matters were referred back for further explanations.

Consequently it is gratifying to know, as may be construed from the letter under consideration, that the estimated capital expenditure of £85,000 is agreed to by the Loans Board; and that the estimated minimum revenue of £13,330 is also agreed to.

But, as the letter rightly points out, this revenue represents £20.58 per consumer, whereas the New Zealand average at present is £12.8, and our revenue last year amounted to £8.71. Consequently it la deemed advisable that a thorough recanvass of the district bo made and written guarantees for the estimated revenue be actually obtained before further procedure.

I would respectfully suggest that, if the board decides to persevere further with tUe scheme, consideration be given to tho advisability of holding public meetings at Kanfurly and Middlenmrch. At these meetings, the position as it stands and the requirements before further steps be taken, would be explained to the people concerned. The feeling of the meeting towards the proposal could be suaced by the members—and. if favourable, a detailed canvass of the district could bo subsequently proceeded with. It was agreed to hold the necessary meetings at Middlcmarcli and Ranfurly. SITUATION OP OFFICERS. .. •The question of removing the offices of the board to Milton was raised) but on the suggestion of the chairman, it was agreed to hold the matter over until it was ascertained what, new districts were UKely to como under the board’s jurisdie-

Driver intimated that he personally was determined not to let the matter ■tit op. He would bring it up again.

GENERAL. v A resolution was passed approving the of f he engineer-manager .in preparf a statement of the board s position tor publication a s an answer to the boards critics. -

Messrs Taine, Russell, and- Galloway, a * ,nK tlle engineer-manager on his able report, stressed the fact that it was a true and fair statement of the position, and the hope was expressed tuat .it would satipfy the ratepayers.

£15,000 LOAN. f 3 c .u chairm H a sa * d in view of the tact that a ban of £15,000 had been raised without reference to the ratepayers, he considered that a statement on this subject was due, to the ratepayers. He stated: Because of a question, that seems uppermost m the minds of many of our ratepayers, I consider it necessary to make a statement in connection with the raislniE , of ., thc las . fc lP a n of £15,000. From what the engineer-manager has pointed out, as to our position in respect to capital at March 31, 1027. it is obvious to anyone that if further construction m the original area , was to take place, “ f °IP i n ? ney was re O«n:ed, The board, at that time, proceeded to raise, and after certain difficulties had been overcome, obtained the extra 10 per cent, allowable by law. Early in 1928, it was realised that more money was required if we were ou \ u furthec durable extensions have d hepn Ce o nH n, i oply payable extensions f rscted ln , our original area—- „ it* 6 J V i re .to reconstruct where lead made such necessary; to enlarge our aub-atations to meet increasing demands and adequately to protect our lines so as to cut maintenance charges to a minimum. Now, this is what I want our consumers to know; A remit had Been unanimously approved of by the Power Boards’ Association—and had been placed in the hands of the member# in "P? House—and we had every reason to inoo ? T£> hW be made law during the 1928 . session. This remit was suiffi as f? i jF n ' e , any boar( i the right to raise, with, of course, the consent of the Minister and the Local Government Loans Hoard,, m any one year, fop the purpose or extension and reconstruction, an amount not .exceeding 5 per (cent, of'the required. However, this remit did not, nor has it yet, become | avi i, and the board had consequently waited over long. Three courses of aC i °2, we , re then open to the board:— 1. To place the matter before the ratePnH®, 8 . , aad ask for sanction by poll, ihis had the disadvantage of being an expensive course that would take considerw +w 36 a , ud aarta toty liable to defeat o wbo already had the power. i. The second course would have followed as an outimme of the failure of E T oF .-these capital charges would have v a - d *° met—the only available source the r«,lif ?£ f Mr pOT ? r account—with the result that an extra and a heavy nlver aV f e been k Ol * 5 ® by th® payer for the two or three years follow-

was ond the one adopted, was to place the whole position before WelliSn 8 if overDtn , ent departments in Wellington, showing how the board had been short of capita], how and why the extra money was required, and asking fothe Government's sanction to the raisin? diH^„f reqUlre . d SUR S the able and miX”+i aßsls . tan , ce , , of the various departments, the painstaking consideration of the , tel of'"p,® works, and the Minister of Internal Affairs, coupled with the assistance of and M^nW I’’ 1 ’’ Bitchen <*. Bodkin, Waite ana Macpberson, members of Parliament and the sanction of the Local Government Loans Boards all of XmtKS thanks are due—this. last method has become an accomplished fact Mr Galloway said that the loan in auesreferred toVhe 7 T raised J vitho^t law* 10 lts and l ui to according to

DEMAND FOR INVESTIGATION. A letter from the Miltou branch of the Farmers Union supporting the demoqdof the Lawrence branch for an independent HWb ° f th< ? W's affafrs waj read, hut it was fleciclqtl to clefcy con. SI deration in the meantime pendin'- a con. ferenoe between the board and flie mo vinciai executive of the Farmers’ Union renhed tf 1 ?°,T ecl tha £ *> lo kttw be wm P J nnf*o follows:—That the board provided ff to . 6uch an investigation SWUh^uir o }.” 1 *" <° b <« «» Mr Simpson supported the mover in b>l| t withdrew his Bupport in view matter shoild “he 8 I M geefitioU tl,at tl)0 matter snouict be held over until after the proposed round-table conference with the banners’Union Executive board Sa ‘ f fl tllc riticimn Of tiw boaid had gone far enough, and it was time that they showed that they w ere not Evervth?„ f VZ , iu vestigatioii hnnr?u ad be ? 15 ln order and above- *“ *p *«* Ateris *£ « Lawrence was concerned the root oPi! trouble was* differential raLgT if thev had a flat rate ail over the board’there would bo no complaints 6 SaftW IZrT'ha”' of „ tlioE . BatTktSlaSlS a JSote"’* '-"“I of