OTAGO POWER BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22269, 23 May 1934, Page 4

OTAGO POWER BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting o£ the Otago Electric Power Board was held yesterday at Milton, and was attended' by Messrs A. E. Russell (in the chair), D. Boyd, J. Iv. Simpson, 11. H. Michelle, G. Moore, C. K. Smith, and IV. Leo. FINANCE. The following financial transactions of the board for the month of April were authorised in the finance report: — Receipts from rates amounted to £SOB 6s 7d, sundries £l7 12s 4d, sundry debtors £44 11s 7d, sales of electricity £2983 10s Sd; total, £3554 Os fld, as against £3300 7s lid for the same period last year (electricity, £2877). _ Accounts totalling £727 lis lid were passed for payment during the month, and the pass book showed a credit balance oi £4804 19s 7d. For the same period last year the expenditure totalled £9Ol and the bank overdraft was £B7ll. Outstanding accounts had been very considerably reduced. Of £1758 18s 6cl outstanding, £176 6s lid had or would require to be written off, £493 3s 2d had been collected, and the amount outstanding was £IOB9 8s sd. . , . In ’ moving the adoption of the finance report, Mr Smith said that the board now had a credit balance, and it seemed certain that it would continue in that position. The report was adopted and accounts amounting to £3425 were passed for payment. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr R. D. Veitch) reported as follows for the month of April:— . , , In Owaka two services have been erected and maintenance work performed where necessary. Failure of a consumer to notify the board of his intention to fell trees caused a servicing interruption to supply in this district, resulting in the power being cut off in the whole district from 3.30 p.m. .till 10.15 p.m. on April 28, and in -part of the district from 3.00 p.m. on April 28 until the afternoon of April 29. ’lt is regrettable that in spite of the warnings issued and the assist; ance rendered by the board, the cutting oi adjacent trees without notifying the board is still proceeded with. In the Lawrence area the 6.6 k.v.a. in the township has been pulled up and portion of the Wetlicrstones circuit retied. At Manuka, Waitahuna, Beaumont, and Tuapeka, trees have been trimmed and street lighting repairs have been effected. In the Stirling-Balclutba-Kaitangata area, five new services have been run, entailing the erection of six poles and the removal of one. High tension fuses have been assembled, and assistance given in Owaka during a breakdown. Repairs to low tension equipment have been effected at Benhar, Barnego, and[Paretai, and house service maintenance effected at Paretai, Inch Clutha, Kaitangata, and Roscbank. At BenhaV several street lighting brackets have beeri fitted with springs, to reduce lamp breakages due to vibration. Repairs have been made to the fence round the boards Balclutba section. . . , In the Milton district the quarterly power readings have been taken, two dozen meters nave been tested, h.t. fuses made up, and put into service, and street light repairs effected. Five services have been run, a line at Berwick has been partly dismantled and some of this equipment transported to the breakdown hut on Mary’s landing. At Lovells Hat and Moneymore the electric light has received attention, and also the h.t. at Tokoiti. One defective pole in Milton has been replaced. A faulty blade swatch at Milburn caused an interruption to the II k.v.a. Dominion Lime circuit. The switch has now been replaced with a new one. Faulty main line insulators were changed at Clarksville, Milburn, and main switching gear inspected. Faulty main line top pins were also replaced. Two sets of service mains have been renewed. , In the northern area, a broken tic on the Milburn Lime Works’ line caused the Inch Valley circuit breaker to trip. Pole blocking at Flag Swamp has been proceeded with, and some of the material from the Busiiey deviation dismantled and returned to store. Tightening of services and l.t. lias been proceeded with as occasion and circumstances demand and permit. One street light in Palmerston has been shifted. On the Macraes line a pole has been re-armed and three spans of wire replaced. This line is being retied in exposed positions. Twelve meters have been tested in the northern district test room and alterations made to the Waitati maxigraph to reduce the time interval of this instrument. Voltage tests have also been taken. Alterations to suit range loading have been made at Warrington. The report was adopted. CORRESPONDENCE.

The Waitaki Electric Power Board wrote advising that it was proposed to enter a strong protest against the practice of making a higher .charge tor Government supply of power to rural power boards than to cities. The board had written to the Minister of Public "Works on the matter. It was considered that there should be a uniform charge throughout the Dominion. The co-operation of the Otago Board was sought in securing this.-—The matter was held over for a month.

The Waitahuna branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union forwarded a copy of the following resolution to the board:—“This branch heartily-congratu-lates the members of the Otago Electric Power Board on the great improvement in the board’s finances as shown in the last balance sheet, and expresses the hope that the time is not far distant when a rate will be unnecessary.”—Received. ANNUAL MEETING At the close of the monthly meeting the annual meeting was held, Mr Russell occupying the chair. The chairman reviewed the board's activities for the past year, and the secretary presented a comprehensive financial statement. FINANCE STATEMENTS. The statement of accounts showed that the total operating and managing expenses had amounted to £20,177 11s 5d and revenue amounted to £39,698 Ila sd. Sales of electricity realised £39,689 for the year, compared with £38,883 for the previous year. Comparisons with estimates for the year were given as follows: — Estimated Actual. £ f Sales of electricity .. 39,444 39,699 Cost of power .. .. 10,568 10,713 Wages and salaries .. 5,225 4,780 General expenses i. .. 3,752 3,158 Interest .. 14,200 14,030 Sinking Fund ~ .. 3,403 3,403 Depreciation reserve 4,600 4,652 Depreciation on appli■ance stock 70 iO Loss on power account 2,302 1,197 Loss on trading account : "2 410 Total loss 2,324 1,010

The rating statement showed that rates amounting to £9532 8s 8d had been levied, of which £BIO3 18s lid had been paid leaving £1428 9s 9d outstanding. From 1929 to 1934 rates totalling £49,516 9s 6d had been levied, and of this sum £3641 10s 7d was still outstanding. , The financial statement, as submitted by the secretary, was adopted. ENGINEER’S ANNUAL REPORT.

In his annual report to the board the engineer (Mr K. D. Veitch) stated: During tile year, with the object of conserving its loan funds, a policy of limiting expenditure on poles, etc., for the supply of consumers to £5 per consumer was embarked upon. Notwithstanding this restriction, a satisfactory increase in the number of consumers connected to the lines has been recorded, and at the same time a conservation of the board’s capital has resulted. The number of consumers connected at March 31 was 3960. The sum of the maximum demands in the northern and southern areas reached the 1486-kilowatt mark, which is an increase on last year, while the average quarterly demand increased from 1272 kilowatts during the year ended March 31, 1933. to 1409 kilowatts during the year ended March 31, 1934, an increase of 137 kilowatts. During the year the connected load increased to 11,497.524 kilowatts, which exceeds last year’s recorded total by 323.914 kilowatts, to which must be added a total of 247 kilowatts of unnotified disconnections during last year, making the present connected load an increase of 570.914 kilowatts over the previous year. This is made up largely of general purpose healing and radio plugs and 341.3 kilowatts of motors. It is regrettable that, although this connected general purpose, heating, and

radio load increased by 184.325 kilowatts, contributing to some extent to the increase of 137 kilowatts of average demand, the domestic revenue has not exceeded last year’s figures. On the other hand, for an increase of 341.3 kilowatts of motor load, the revenue from this source has increased by £1052 per annum. When, however, it is realised that 137 kilowatts of demand costs the board approximately £1049, it will be seen that unless the domestic and off peak revenue ' can be boosted with the power revenue no substantial increase of revenue above increase of demand can bo hoped for, and in this respect it is a matter of sincere regret that the recent negotiation with the Dunedin City Corporation for reduced charges for range power broke down the way they did. At March 31 last the total number of lighting points was 33,648, general purpose, heating and radio points 4782. _ To supply the board’s 3905 consumers eight additional transformers have been commissioned, bringing the total up to 540 and the total route miles of line up to 598 J. The units (kilowatt hours} of electricity sold exceeded last year’s figures by 89.139, the total for the year being 4A75.793, a reduction for the year of 145,557 on the previous year’s domestic figures being more than compensated for by an increase of power units sold. With the exception of the Milton-Btr-wick section, the primary (53,000 v) transmission lines have received necessary repairs. On the Berwick-Waipori section two trouble huts equipped with tools, conductor, insulators, poles, etc., should prove of assistance, and the shifting of the section switch to the roadside trouble hut at Berwick and the installing in this hut of; a telephone system will reduce delay should severe trouble be experienced. The strength of the conductor supports on the Milton-Bcrwick section are being calculated in preparation for the extensive repair of this section after week-end supply from the Kaitangata Coal Company is received. The Port Chalmers-Waitati section is now standing satisfactorily, and the proposed strengthening of conductors does not at the present appear warranted. Work on secondary (ll.OOOv) transmission lines, distribution .lines (CGOOv), low tension and house services has mostly been confined to that of a maintenance nature, although strengthening operations and deviations for extra stability have been undertaken. It is satisfactory to report that with the exception of the Milton Borough district and certain portions of Kaitangata, deterioration of poles has been practically nil, and confirms the wiseness of our policy of buying good, though costly, poles. Voltage regulating and load balancing on these feeders has received attention. Power leaks, tree cutting, and patrols have received attention. . The periodic testing of oil. transformers, gloves, earths, meters, including special meters for. the board’s new system of prepayment and fixed charge collection, meters, relays, instruments, etc., has been continued, the earth testing taking a considerable amount of time and money, but as the Public Works Department dictates what must be done in this respect we have no alternative but to face the charges. All necessary' district and construction plans have been drawn and substation loading and peak charts prepared. With the exception of one at Owaka in the last week of the year, no serious interruptions to the supply have occurred. Although the strengthening of lines has in a small way contributed to this desirable end, the two main reasons are a mild winter regarding snow and the wholehearted support received from consumers in notifying observed trouble or anything which tenas to cause trouble, and the ready response by consumers to the board’s request to notify before the felling of trees adjacent to the board’s property. There are, however, isolated cases of non-notification. The license recently granted by the Public Works Department to allow the board to draw supply from the Kaitangata Coal Company under certain conditions will assist in reducing interruptions due to transmission line failures. The chairman said that the report was a very illuminating one, and it should be a guide to members in their work. He moved its adoption. The motion was seconded by Mr Smith, and other speakers complimented Mr Veitch on his report. The motion was carried. ACCOUNTS OUTSTANDING.

It was reported that outstanding accounts last August had amounted to £1748. but this total had been reduced last month to £ 10S9 as a result of £493 being collected and £176 written oil. The chairman said that this was an example of the work of the secretary (Mr L. W. Potter). Mr Potter, he said, had come to the board 18 months ago, and he was then new to power board finances. He had, however, grappled with his problems and overcome his difficulties in a manner which reflected great credit upon him. The speaker was of the opinion that the improved goodwill which was known to exist in the boards district was largely due to the tact used by the secretary. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN. The retiring chairman nominated Mr Moore as chairman for the next year, and as this was the only nomination, Mr Moore was declared elected, and assumed the chair. In doing so, Mr Moore said that though the board’s position was steadily improving times were still hard, and there were still many difficulties. He had, however, no doubt that better times were coming, and, with the co-operation of the members, he hoped to see the board’s affairs improve during his term. THE RATING QUESTION,

A lengthy discussion took place in committee on the striking of rates for the ensuing year, and it was eventually decided, subject to confirmation by the next meeting of the board, that the usual schedule of rates should be reduced by 50 per cent.