OTAGO POWER BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21647, 18 May 1932, Page 14

OTAGO POWER BOARD

MEETING OF NEW BOARD The first meeting of the Otago Power Board, as newly constituted after the recent election, was held yesterday, and was attended by Messrs J. K. Simpson (chairman), C. R. Smith, R. H. Michelle, William Lee, D. Boyd, A. M'Kinnon, W. Moore, T. Lewis, and A. E. Russell. The chairman said that it was his pleasing duty to welcome members to the meeting. He congratulated them on the confidence reposed in them by the electors. It was fitting at this time, he said, that they should pass a vote of thanks to those members —their former colleagues—who had not been successful at the elections. They had given much time and hard thought to the problems that had confronted them in the past, and he moved a vote of thanks to those members for their past •. labours. The motion was carried by acclamailoD‘ AVAILABILITY RATE. Mr Boyd, dealing with the availability rate, said that they wanted an amendment to the Act. It was 1 not fair to the .district. The clause that would have to be enacted, however, 1 would be of such a nature that it wquld put power into the hands of a board which the Government thought it might be inadvisable to give. FINANCE REPORT. Mr Russell, chairman of the Finance Committee, submitted the following report for the month ending April 30:— Cash receipts for the month totalled £4257 4s 7d, of which electricity sales amounted to £3174 11s lid, compared with £2916 14s 2d for April last year. Rates amounted to £B4l 5s 2d, sundry sales to £259 7s 6d. The expenditure for the month totalled £lß4l 12s 4d, wages and salaries absorbing £524 9s 3d, motor expenses £B7 19 s 6d, sundries £126 10s 8d t stock £304 3s Id, appliances £2 9s 6d, meters and time switches £196. 14g 4d, rent £66 10s, Macraes line progress payment £lB7 10s, refund cash on deposit £3OO, petty cash £55. The overdraft after paying the accounts for May totalled £15,467 12s. The gross expenditure to be authorised that day totalled £IOSB 19s 6d. The report was adopted. THE MINIMUM CHARGE.

Considerable discussion took place on the question of the minimum charge of 18s per quarter, and it was decided that a special meeting of the board be held at a later date to consider the question of charges. \ „■" It was also decided that the secretary (Mr J. Denford) prepare a statement of the consumers of power who were receiving a reduced rate charge. . The board then discussed a number of applications for a rebate in charges, and dealt with each case on. its merits. The question of hardship was a material point considered. PLANT FOR SLUICING. Messrs J. E. Keenan and W. G. Cavanagh wrote applying for the use of the board’s electrical plant at Tuapeka Flat. This plant had been put in. in order to demonstrate its value for sluicing purposes. The chairman said that the plant put in by Mr Collins had proved a wonderful success, and had shown conclusively that it could be used profitably in pumping water out of the creek. Mr Collins said that when the board had finished demonstrating they would have to return the plant to the people from whom' they had borrowed it. The board had spent approximately £25 in putting in the plant and carrying the material to the site. He had no doubt that one or more electric power plants would now be put in. From Lawrence past where the board had put in the plant the' ground had been pegged out. The board might be able , tP purchase the plant which had been borrowed. Mr Russell moved, that the value of the plant be ascertained, and that it be considered where their arrangements could be made for its sale. Mr Boyd said that once the board had finished its demonstration; its . interest, in the matter ended. The board only cwned a small part of the plant. The prospective purchasers could not look to the board for the sale. It was decided to receive the letter. MINING AT ADAMS FLAT. The details of the supply of power to Mr W. C. D. North for mining operations at Adams Flat werh explained by the secretaiy. He stated that negotiations were still under way. THE ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr J. C. Collins) submitted the following monthly report:— Main transmission lines: No interruptions have been experienced in the northern area on our main lines, but one serious interruption occurred on the 4th inst. in the southern area though investigation failed .to disclose any serious line trouble. It is presumed that a bird must have caused the interruption and have hung to the line long enough to kick out the breaker at Waipori. Two attempts were made to liven the line after the first interruption. Distribution: In the Owaka district one temporary service and one permanent service have been erected during the month. A number of h.t. insulators have been erected so that faulty insulators might be repaired. Material for these repairs is now to hand and the work is being Sroceeded with. Lines in the district ave been patrolled and found in good order, and the meter reading completed in the district. In the Balclutha district the main 33,000 v., line from Stirling to Milton has been patrolled and found in good order.. The telephone line hag been overhauled and also found to be in. good order. Poles in h.t. lines at Inch Clutha have required straightening up in .several instances; others have required blocking and the lines pulled up. The same applies to the h.t. line along Kaitangata road. Several power leaks have been located and repairs made where necessary. Several street lambs in Kaitangata have been repaired. High tension fuses' in the district, have been renewed and oil added to transformers where required., Two new services- have been connected up during the month and street lighting renewed where necessary In the Milton district the rebushing of transformers at the main substation has been completed. One new consumer with a milking plant has been connected up, and the transformers required for this service erected. Reconstruction of the high tension in the Berwick district has been completed and the necessary transformers erected. High tension fuses on several transformers have been renewed. A car collided with a pole, causing an interruption in the Milburn-Clarendon district one day last month. Repairs were necessary to. an oil switch in the Tokoiti district, which had to be replaced with high tension fuses. In the Lawrence district the time during the month has been occupied in tying in low tension in the borough and assisting to keep lines free while trees were felled at the Lawrence Hospital. Services were tightened up at Blue Spur aud on the Gully road, Waitahuna, and high tension fuses renewed at Clark’s Flat and Beaumont. One temporary service was erected and dismantled when finished with. Street lighting was attended to in Lawrence and Waitahuna. The man in this district is still engaged in meter reading, which was commenced at the beginning of the month. In the Waitati district, although our system caused no interruptions during the month, power was off on two occasions to allow of the Electric Power and Light Department renewing insulators between Halfway Bush and Port Chalmers; 33,000 volt lightning arresters were installed and livened up at Waitati, and one bushing on an 11,000 volt transformer insulator was repacked. At Evansdalc some low tension and services were attended to. and tightened up where a car had caused some damage by hitting a pole. Extra h.t. insulators at the main sub-station have all been cleaned down, and the lamps taken out and the street lighting at Warrington disconnected. Earths were renewed where required. The 3.3,000 volt line from Port Chalmers to Waitati was patrolled weekly. One new service was erected at Warrington, and some repairs effected to an installation at Scacliff. In the Pnlmevston-Waitati district most of the time has been spent on transformer

sub-station changes, etc., in connection with the PalmerstomDunback conversion, and in the alterations required to services, etc., in the borough; The opportunity has been taken at the same time to balance up the different phases. One new service has been connected up at Karitane, and preparations for the new sub-station at Inch Valley are at present in hand. The rebushing of insulators for the main Milton sub-station has been completed; meter panel and protective equipment required for the Macraes extension has been prepared, transformers required for the Berwick change over have been dried out, tested, and filled with oil and dispatched for service. Assistance has. been given the man in the southern area in the Berwick work, and 18 single phase meters have been tested and despatched for installation. Plans of the Macraes extension have been prepared for the Post and Telegraph Department and the Public Works Department. Some necessary alterations to the tappings of the .transformer bank for Macraes are at present being carried Connected Load. —Lighting 1310.16 kilowatts, heating 3872.38, cooking 2205.31, Water heating 322,2, motors 3181.24: total, 10,891.29 kilowatts. The report was adopted. The secretary submitted the following report:— On Wednesday, May 11, we were informed by the Southland Power Board that they, could not arrange a joint deputation seeking alleviation from the Government in order to reduce rates. •'lmmediately communications were sent to Messrs Bodkin and M'Skimming asking if something could not be .done in the dying hours of the session to afford the relief we desired along the lines of deferring Sinking Fund payments. The Executive Committee considered the time opportune and necessary that the chairman of finance and the secretary proceed to Wellington to stress the urgency of our appeal. In the meantime Mr M‘Skimming replied that the Government would not consent to Sinking Fund deferment, but might countenance further deferring of Depreciation Fund. The deputation proceeded to explore this new avenue of relief, and found that it might achieve the desired end. On arrival in Wellington, we were immediately met by Messrs M'Skimming and Ansell, who repeated the strong opposition of the Government towards anything savouring of repudiating of contract rights implied in a deferment of Sinking Fund payments. We then discussed the question of Depreciation Fund, and the chairman of the Local Government Loans Board (Mr A. D. Park) was introduced and made aware of our necessity. His promise was that, conditional upon a held report from the Public Works Department showing that the estimated life ot our lines would be such as to warrant a further extension of depreciation payments, he would undertake to introduce legislation validating the board’s action if it went beyond the present statutory limits with regard to deferring depreciation payments. He pointed out that we were rather premature in asking for legislation covering a situation that would not arise until 1935-30. We replied, that our contemplated method of reducing rates for, say, one or two years, and then resorting to normal rating, depended on the decision on this matter. If we had to abide by present legislation, and reduced rates for two years, it would be necessary to raise rates above the normal when we had to make Depreciation Fund payments. However, his attitude was so favourable, and as legislation at this time seemed out of the question, we accepted this conditional promise. Formal .application submitting our programme has to be forwarded to the Local Government Loans Board. It was then deemed advisable to explain the position to the secretary of the Loans Board, the Audit Department, and the Public Works Department. To the accountant of the Public Works Department we explained that we wished the previous stipulation of the Minister waived with regard to levying a rate equal to Id in the £ on the unimproved value. It was pointed out that the National Expenditure Adjustment Bill enacts that a rating local authority must pass on the interest saved through the stamp duty of approximately 10 per cent. Whatever the board decide with regard to rates, this point should be covered by an application to the Minister of Public Works. Opportunity was taken on this visit to ascertain the mind of ns many departments as possible concerning the result and working and the levying of an availability rate. It may be summed up by the public works dictum that if is successful for the purpose of raising the standard of revenue per consumer, but is unpopular. There are also technical difficulties with regard to the keeping of the

accounts. However, the advantages seemed to outweigh the disadvantages. It was decided to hold over further consideration of the question of deferring payments to the depreciation fund commissioners to a special meeting of the board to be held on Monday, May 30. ■ ANNUAL MEETING CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS. ' The chairman submitted the following report:— ' “ The greatest factor that has played its part in our activities during the past year has been the continued low level of prices received for the country’s primary products. As our district is affected by the adverse conditions arising from this cause, we naturally have felt the effect in our, operations. Nevertheless, in some measure, the position is brightened by the fact that economies were effected to a greater extent than anticipated at the beginning of last year. The details of the situation are ably and amply covered by the statement submitted by the chairman of the Finance Committee. The controlling principle that has guided our policy during the past year has been to place the board on as sound a footing ag possible, at the same time ensuring that only necessary hardship be placed upon our ratepayers. The method we have employed in this respect has been to follow out the recommendations of the experts employed by the board 18 months ago, with such variations as circumstances demanded. As you know, one of the major recommendations was the alteration of our tariff.. This important task was undertaken cheerfully by the staff, and I am glad to say that the consumers appear to have accepted it with a very good spirit. Last year saw a reduction in rates on the land as against the previous year, and it is the hope of the board that rating should be continued for ensuing years on an even level. Although ordinarily it would not be advisable to have rates fluctuating from year to year, if it bo possible during a time such as this to reduce rates, I believe the board should follow that course. To do this, however, it has been explained that our ratepayer-consumers must aid the board by increasing revenue as time goes on. Wo feel that it would be far better for our district that the people should receive electricity for their money rather, than use a little amount of electricity and pay rates. This is a matter which will merit your closest attention during the ensuing months. "The following information compiled from office and engineering records win show that, in most instances, our progress for this last year has been a satisfactory one. “ The number of consumers connected to the board’s mains has increased by 62, being 3816 as against 3754 for 1031, and 3662 for 1930. “The increased load connected to our system and a comparison with the previous year is as follows: — Increase 'lncrease in No. in No. K.W. Present for 1031, for 1932. Inc. K.W. Total. Lighting points .. 901 70(5 28.24 1300.88

The increase in our connected load for the year is 530.06 kilowatts, compared with ,400.13 kilowatts in 1931. the present figure being 10,784.20 kilowatts. “The route miles of the board’s lines has increased by four miles during the year ns Compared with 2.5 for 1931. The present total stands at 587.5 miles This increase will not be confused with extensions along lines already erected, tor, apart from the above, approximately 22 miles of wire of various sizes have been erected to provide for increased loading, while approximately 25 miles of wire have been erected on the main south line to replace iron wire. “The number of transformers in service has increased by 15, as compared with five in 1031. The present total is 524. “ I might mention that included in the new consumers is a lime company and a mining company. Negotiations have taken place for further connections to supply a coal company and another mining company. It is pleasing to relate that a greater revenue has been received from our domestic consumers for last year. On the other hand, certain industries felt the effect of the depression, and the revenue diminished from that of the previous year. We are now more hopeful of the outcome of this scheme. We have been able to strengthen opr finance by a favourable agreement with the Dunedin City Corporation for the supply of power.

The position of our affairs demands continued rating on the district, while the only ultimate relief from this situation lies in the hands of our consumers in increasing revenue. We feel that the board will have greater support from the! community than it has had hitherto. There are hurdles in front of us—and stiff ones—that have yet to be overcome. However, I believe that you, as a board, will do your utmost with a right goodwill to obtain the co-operation of our ratepayerconsumers towards a happy solution of these difficulties. At this time, I would thank the press for its able assistance in keeping the district informed of our activities. A better note is being struck with our ratepayers because of this information being available. I have commented before, and I comment again, on how well our staff, particularly the executive officers, have worked during a trying period, and I extend to one and all the board’s thanks and congratulations.” The chairman was thanked for his adFINANCIAL POSITION. Mr Russell (chairman of the Finance Committee) said that since last meeting of the board their financial position had improved. The financial statement on March 31 showed a much better position than was indicated at their last meet--ID|ir Dcnford said that the measurement of the City Corporation’s peak in February . last had been gone into by Mr Collins and Mr Veitch. As a consequence the corporation had amended its account in the board’s .favour to the extent of £2BO. < Mr Russell said that they had balanced their budget and that they had a surplus of about £2OO. It was many years since the board had been able to do tins. (“Hear, hear.”) It was decided to consider the estimates for 1932-1933 at a later meeting. The secretary said that the total expenses for 1931 came to £47,279 and revenue to £30,687 (deficit £10,592);. 190-, £46,044 and £36.506 (deficit £9538); estimated revenue for 1933, £45,432 and £38,283 (deficit £7149). Some discussion took place on the question whether the estimate of revenue was on the generous side. „ , Mr Smith wanted to know if the board could increase its revenue, or, alternatively. was it possible to make any savings in the administration. He raised the question of reducing their interest payments. Mr Boyd said that the whole point was that the Government, in doing what it was in the reduction of interest, was acting in a legal way because it had the power If the board did it, however, it would be doing it in an illegal way. The board was dealing with bonds. It was decided to consider the question of the policy of the board at a subsequent meeting. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN. Mr Simpson nominated Mr Russell for the position. There was no other nomination, and Mr Russell was elected. Mr Russell, in returning thanks, welcomed the new members to the board and also those who had been returned. He said that they were on the threshold of a new three-year period, and lie felt sure that it was their desire, as it was his, to sec the board on the road to a stable financial position. The speaker concluded by referring to the excellent manner in which Mr Simpson had occupied the chair during the past year. It was resolved that the chairman s honorarium be £6O per annum, plus all travelling and out-of-pocket expenses. Mr Boyd was appointed chairman of the Works Committee; and Mr Simpson chairman of transport. Mr Smith was nominated chairman of the Finance Committee, but as he has not yet been officially declared a member of the board this business was held over. The executive will lie composed of the chairman of the board and the chairmen of the various committees.

G.r. anti heating points 235 371 341.8 3801,58 Ranges 21 (1 3S.8 2*104.18 Water' heaters .. 213 I 7.1 322.2 Motors .50 41 114.37 3080.42