THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1931. WAIPORI AND WAITAKI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21265, 20 February 1931, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1931. WAIPORI AND WAITAKI.

The decision of the City Council to enter into a contract with the Government foi> a supply of power from the Waitaki system represents its acceptance of a proposition which it has had under tentative consideration for some time past. When the negotiations over the question of the purchase of the Waipori undertaking by the State were finally discontinued, the alternative proposal, that this city should secure from Waitaki some of the additional power needed to meet its growing requirements, naturally claimed attention. Broadly, the question which the Council has had to decide is whether it should proceed, in accorddance with its programme, to the dc velopment of the Waipori enterprise to its full capacity or whether it should abandon the idea of complete selfreliance in this matter, curtail its works in the meantime, and depend upon a supplementary supply of current from the Government. The City Corporation has already carried out a considerable part of the large programme of extension which was essential if VVaipori, as a self-contained unit, Avas to go on supplying all the requirements

of this district. An important question has been whether it would be better for it to go ahead independently with its own plans, or call a halt, embrace the alternative offered through Waitaki, and avoid the necessity of a large addition to its capital expenditure during the next few years. In its adoption of the latter proposal the Council has been largely influenced by the financial aspect of the programme which it would otherwise have to carry through and by a reluctance in the present economic conditions to incur further considerable loan obligations. But in any case an element that must have materially assisted it to make up its mind was provided in the unwillingness of the Loans Board to sanction the borrowing on its part of the funds needed for the construction of No. 3 power station at Waipori,—a work in respect of which an Empowering Bill was passed by Parliament last session. Since the Council has either to have this No. 3 station in the near future or secure power from some other source, the decision of the Loans Board really wears the complexion of a determining factor. The Board did not see why the Council should desire to borrow when it could defer its proposed expenditure by purchasing power from the Government source of supply. In this way the Board is no doubt rendering service to the State by assisting it to secure customers. Apart, however, from the question of the capital expenditure which the Council will avoid by carrying the new dam at Waipori to a height of seventy feet only, and holding its developmental programme largely in abeyance, there is the consideration of the desirability of its having a second source of electrical supply such as will remove the risk of the interruption of power and lighting services in the event of some unforeseen occurrence in connection with Waipori. Undoubtedly that constitutes a strong recommendation of the proposal to buy power from Waitaki. The linking up of the two sources of supply will be of advantage in this respect alike to the city and to the Government. This course is recommended also on economic grounds for the reason, emphasised by Councillor -Shacklock, that the capital expenditure at Waitaki and that at Waipori represent to some extent a duplication. The terms of the tenyear contract which the Council has decided to enter into with the Government are reasonably satisfactory from the point of view of the city, and Councillor Shacklock spoke reassuringly on Wednesday night with reference to the maintenance of present prices for electricity to consumers and the continuance of the operations of the Electric Power and Lighting Department of the city on a profitable basis. That the weight of argument is strongly in favour of the step that has now been decided upon must be conceded. It is strengthened by the consideration that, if the Waipori scheme remained in isolation till it attained its maximum capacity, the Corporation, when more power was needed, would presumably have had to purchase from the Government at whatever price might be demanded from it. Another side of the picture is perhaps not altogether agreeably presented in some aspects of the position as regards the curtailment of the City Corporation’s major- developmental scheme. A -heavy capital outlay has been involved in carrying this work to its present stage. The original estimate of the cost of a 110 foot dam was £ 226,000. It is now cal-, culated that a capital expenditure of from £40,000 to £50,000 will be saved by leaving this structure at a height of 70 feet. From this it would appear that, for the advantage of an additional ten feet in height, an expenditure of something like £170,000 is involved. There is not much satisfaction, however, in speculation whether a different policy attended with better results could have been pursued if the City Corporation and its experts had been able to see further ahead than was actually possible at the time, and to anticipate developments which now affect the general position. It may be a matter of regret to a good many citizens that the Waipori enterprise is not to remain in splendid isolation, but civic pride must adjust itself to the practical considerations that have to be