OTAGO POWER BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21393, 22 July 1931, Page 4

OTAGO POWER BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the Otago Electric Power Board was held yesterday, and was attended by Messrs J. K. Simpson (in the chair), D. Boyd, W. B. Galloway, H. M. Driver, A. E. Russell, and G. Moore. FINANCE. Mr Russell submitted the following report on the board’s financial position:— Cash receipts from electricity sales for June amounted to £2769 19s sd, as against £2923 2s Id for June last year. The cash received for electricity sales r or the three months ended Tune 30 was £9614 18s sd, as compared with £9177 6s 4d for the same period last year. Cash received for goods sold during June amounted to £B9 10s 4d, the total cash receipts for June amounting to £2859 9s 9d. Expenditure during June totalled £IO7B, and included: Wages, £437 13s 6d; salaries. £167 15s lid; sundries, £lOl 5a 4d; motor expenses, £B2 18s 2d; stock, £4O 18s 2d; appliances, £2l 16s 9d; insurance, £136 17s; meters, £2B 15s 2d. Accounts amounting to £4356 2s 2d were presented, and payment of them will leave the bank overdraft at £19,262 Os Bd. Arrangements had been made to reduce the bank overdraft until the rat6s came in by accepting money at call, and it was recommended that 44 per cent, interest be offered.

The report was adopted. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr J. C. Collins) reported as follows for the month: — Main Transmission Lines.—The boisterous weather experienced over f his week-end has occasioned some serious interruptions to the supply in various parts of our district. The wind and snow caused a break in our main north line between Port Chalmers and Waitati at 3.30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and it was necessary for our man to come from Palmerston to assist the Waitati man in effecting repairs. The violence of the wind may be gauged from the fact that it was impossible for two men to ty-ect a ladder without first tying a loop trora the top of the ladder around the pole. Repairs were effected, and light restored to this district at 6.i5 p.m. In the southern district intermittent trouble has occurred from Saturday until Monday, due to snow loading and banking up on frozen snow on the arms and over the insulators. The section of the line feeding Lovell’s Flat has to date defied all attempts at restoration despite the fact that the line has been carefully patrolled and no breakages have apparently occurred. Supply to the whole of the southern area was cut off at mid-day on July 20, due to trouble on our transmission line which was located at 5.30 p.m. at pole 761 in the Waipon Gorge. Reports to hand go to show that no trouble was experienced on the main lines prior to this week-end, and occasional patrolling showed them to be in satisfactory order. . Distribution. —In the Owaka district one service has been erected during the month. The valley line bad to be disconnected once in order to remove a dead branch that had blown across the hightension wires. Assistance has been rendered to the Balcluthn staff and to the earth tester while in the district, and general maintenance work carried on throughout the period. In the (Balclutha district a single phase service was erected at Paretai and a three-phase service at Stirling. _ Two poles were shifted and the line was straightened up at the Paretai dairy factory to allow for building extensions. A pole at Stirling was also shifted to allow for building extensions. An extra earth was installed in Kaitangata, the previous one being broken by the men working in the street under scheme No. 5. The required lamps in the borough of Balclutha have been disconnected and one has been removed from Frances street to Ann street in Rosebank as required. The main line from Milton has been patrolled and necessary repairs to the telephone line executed. In the Milton district some nine chains of wire had to be dismantled at Mount Stuart in order to allow sawmillers to fell trees which were overhanging the line; the line was re-erected after the trees had been felled. A stay wire was erected at Milburn and several high tension fuses requiring renewal throughout the area have been attended to. Two second-class poles along the main line at Waihola have been carted in for use as stay poles in the Lawrence district and some low tension in the borough has been retied. In the Lawrence district two stay poles were erected in the borough, and some services were tightened up in Irvine and Colonsey streets. A pole in Evans Flat required staying and some poles were rammed and earth guards were attended to at Tuapeka Flat. Street lighting; at Waitahuna was , attended to, and alterations to low tension at Beaumont to balance the loading on transformers were carried out. A stay pole was erected there and the low tension was pulled up. The heavy snowstorm blew high tension fuses at Waitahuna, Evans Flat, a,nd Waitahuna Gully, and these were attended to with the least possible delay. The lines in thisdistriet are in good order. In the • Waitati-Seacliff district no main line troubles were experienced till Saturday, although some very heavy gales have been blowing. A severe gale on June 23 caused quite a lot of damage to 6000-volt and low tension lines in and around Waitati. A gum tree at Waitati fell right across the road carrying away both our lines and the P. and T. lines. The heavy strain thus occasioned weakened the line some distance along, and this was carried away during a heavy squall late in the night. Several low tension lines and services were loosened up and blew low tension fuses in the district. While the Dunedin City Corporation had the line out on July 5. shot insulators were replaced on main line poles 44, 52, 58, 59, 60, and 02. Enclosing gear at Seacliff, Waikouaiti. and Palmerston required some adjustment during the month, but is now apparently working well. Repairs were carried out at MTieod’s sub-station at Mihiwaka, where a neutral wire had broken at the insulator. Poles at Waitati affected by the blue gum tree which fell across the line have been re-rammed. In the Pal-merston-Waikouaiti district one service in Waikouaiti which had burnt through was rectified. Assistance was rendered the Waitati men on June 23 and again over the week-end with breaks. Necessary repairs to the high tension were effected at Seacliff. Trees affected the low tension line at Merton and these were cut away. Power had to be eut off on the Dunback section for over three hours to allow of repairs due to a falling tree at Chapman’s bringing down one of the 6000-volt lines This has since been permanently repaired. Low tension in the Palmerston borough has been tightened up to allow for sufficient clearance over telephone lines, and one pole was shifted to allow of firmer blocking. A cross-arm was burnt through at Goodwood, due to a piece of wire which had been thrown across the line causing trouble. Power was off this section for one hour to effect repairs. The 0000-volt fuses on the Hawksbury line were changed, power being off for two hours for this purpose. Tree cutting is being carried out at Shag Point and Pukeviti. Insulators along the line at Bushey road had to be cleaned because of straw being caught in and around the insulators after threshing. Oil has been added to the main sub-station transformers at Palmerston and the spare transformer has been parallelled with the next one.

Test Room.—Earth testing has been continued throughout the month, and now most of the southern area has been completed. Tests are being effected to a 10 kva transformer which has been causing trouble in the northern area. It is questionable whether the expense necessary to repair this transformer is justified. Twelve pairs of meter brackets and hangers for the Stirling sub-station have been made. Additional high tension fuse pullers are being made and high tension brackets prepared for galvanising. Loading tests are being carried out at the Stirling sub-station and particulars compiled. Assistance was given at the time of the interruption at Waitati. A guard has been prepared for erection at the Milton main sub-station, but weather conditions made it inadvisable to cut off the current on Sunday, and it has been left to a later date. Range tests and repairs are being attended to in the test room, and oil from the main transformers at the sub-station at Waitati has been tested. APPRECIATION EXPRESSED. Reference was made to the action of the City Corporation Electric Power and Lighting Department in proffering the services of its employees to repair the fault which caused a prolonged interruption to tlie power supply to the board’s southern district on Monday, and it was decided to send a letter of appreciation to the City Council. Mr Boyd also spoke of the unenviable position in which many of the board’s

employees had found themselves when called upon to deal with the faults which had occurred during the bad weather oi the past few days. The staff, reduced as it was, had done excellent work. TREE CUTTING. Mr Galloway made reference to the work of tree cutting which was necessary in protection of the hoard’s power lines from time to time, and expressed the opinion that unemployed labour should be used for this work.—There was some discussion on the difficulty of arranging such matters, and it was decided to make application to the Unemployment Board for the Power Board to have representation on' the various unemployment committees in the board’s district. RENEWAL OF LINE. It was decided that, in the event of the agreement with the City Council for the supply of power being completed, the board should purchase copper wire to replace the iron line at Berwick. UNUSED POWER LINES. A letter was received from the Lawrence branch of the Farmers’ Union stating that at the last meeting of the branch a resolution had been adopted suggesting that the board should, with unemployed labour, dismantle certain lines in that district, and that the material should be sold. —Mr Collins pointed out that the lines would undoubtedly be of use in the future He also remarked that, if it were decided to dismantle the lines, it would be necessary to provide skilled labour.— It was decided to reply to this effect.