OTAGO POWER BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22293, 20 June 1934, Page 11

OTAGO POWER BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the Otago Electric Power Board was held yesterday at Milton. Mr G. Moore occupied the chair, and there were also present Messrs W. Lee,' C. R. Smith, A. E. Russell, R. H. Michelle, J. K. Simpson, and D. Boyd. FINANCE. The following are the, financial transactions of the board for the month of May:—Receipts from rates amounted to £552 5a lOd; sundries, £lB 3s 3d; sundry debtors, £127 14s 3d; electricity, £4357 17s 2d;—total, £4856 0s 6d, as against (electricity, £3508 5s 4d). The-pass.book showed a credit balance of £6055. Accounts amounting to £5645 'lls 7d , were passed for payment during the month. For the same period last year the expenditure totalled £1150,5s 9d, and the. bank overdraft was £6138 0s lid. The report was adopted, and accounts amounting to £469 14s lid were passed for payment. ENGINEER’S REPORT.

The engineer (Mr R. D. Veitch) reported as follows: — In Owaka two new services were run and one service changed from a two-wire to a four-wire. The district quarterly meter reading has been performed, together with the usual servicing. The Lawrence area’s H.T. fuses have received attention. At Beaumont a service involving a pole extension has been run. As in Owaka the quarterly meter reading has been performed. In the Balclutha-Stirling-Kaitangata district five new services have been run and line work in connection with the Kaitangata Coal Company’s supply of power proceeded with. Low tension in Balclutha and Kaitangata has received attention; At Inch Clutha strengthening poles have been fitted to the high tension. Several transformer fuses have been removed’for galvanising and fitting new insulators. Strengthening repairs have been made at Rosebank. In Milton four dozen meters have been tested; repairs have been carried out to ladders. Three specially insulated fuses to resist the action of lime have been made up for the Dominion Lime Works. Because of repeated trouble on the Milton low tension an inspection is being made of consumers’ mains. Unfortunately- it has been foi)nd necessary to condemn a number. At both Moneyraore and Lovell’s Flat a pair of telephone line insulating links have been fitted to facilitate the detection of faulty main line insulators. Low tension lines have received attention in fields where the required ground clearance was approaching the minimum. Tree trimming has received attention. At Milton North. line alterations have been made to allow of the construction of a new road bridge. On the main line extra pole steps have been fitted near Mary’s Landing, and guard hooks fitted to the main line phone. Two services have been run. Oil has been added to several distribution transformers. Longer arms and new insulators have been fitted to two high sion lines where weaknesses developed causing interruptions to supply. In the northern area a serious interruption to supply occurred on May 18, when, due to a 33,000 volt conductor breaking, through chafing, power was off from 2.15 p.m. to 6 p.m. An opportunity will be taken to inspect neighbouring points, and a section switch is being installed two miles south of Waitati to expedite the finding of future faults on this, section of lino. Heavy wind during the month has kept the Waitati reclosing gear more busy than usual, but these interruptions have been for a matter of minutes only. In Palmerston two poles were, erected and low tension increased in size to improve the voltage regulation at the school. One new street lamp has been installed. Seven transformers have been painted and the earth testing in the Waitati district completed. The high tension testing equipment has been sent to the northern test room, and 75 oil tests have been conducted on the system’s extra high tension (11,000 and 33,000 volt) transformers. Rubber gloves and meters have also been tested. Transformer leads at Purakanui have received attention. Two insulators were replaced on the Purakanui line. Pole blocking and fuse replacements have been effected at Warrington, Seacliff. Merton, and Waitati. Tree cutting has been performed in many places in this area. The report was adopted. REDUCED CHARGES SUGGESTED. Mr Smith referred to the scheme recently adopted by the Dunedin City Council to popularise the use of electricity. with particular reference to the

selling of electric ranges on easy and attractive terms. He suggested that the chairman and engineer might bring forward some scheme —preferably involving reduced charges for electricity—which could be put into practice by the board. —The matter was held over until such time as suggestions could be put before the board by the chairman and engineer. ANNUAL CONFERENCE. The Electric Power Boards and Supply Authorities’ Association of New Zealand advised that the annual conference would be held in September, and invited boards to forward remits. —Messrs Moore and Russell were appointed to represent the board at the conference. UNRETICULATED RATEPAYERS. A deputation consisting of Messrs G. R. Davidson (representing Mr T. Davidson), J. M. Hall, R. 0. Breen, and M. Gir-

van, of Lawrence, waited on the board to protest against having to pay rates when they were not able to enjoy the benefits of electric power. Mr Simpson introduced the members of the deputation and said that he knew they had a grievance. Had it been possible to give them relief the board would have done so long ago. However, by opening up the question once again they might be able to reach a better understanding of the position. He intimated that the board had just reached the decision to reduce its rates by 50 per cent. Mr Davidson said he had been unable to secure any rebate on rates and asked that tlie board should consider giving him a rebate on future rates. The Southland Board gave a rebate of 66 2-3 per cent, to' unreticulated ratepayers whose properties were more than a certain distance from the power line.

Mr Smith said that, under .the exist" ing legislation the board did' not have the power to give unreticulated ratepayers the relief they wanted. There was a lengthy discussion on the possibilities of supplying them with-power arid it was eventually decided, that the engineer should inspect the properties concerned and report to the board ’on the matter. ■ ;