POWER POSITION CRITICAL, SAYS ENGINEER

Putaruru Press, Volume XXVII, Issue 1363, 26 January 1950, Page 2

POWER POSITION CRITICAL, SAYS ENGINEER

BOARD WELL OVER QUOTA Voluntary Rationing Scheme The excellent season experienced by the dairy industry has accentuated the critical position with which the Thames Valley Power Board was faced, according to a statement by the chief engineer, Mr G. P. Lindsay. The board finished 1949 with an excess of consumption over allocation amounting to 4,367,956 units, or 5.68 per cent. Consumers had since entered upon another year of rationing with an allocation 4 per cent, above last year’s but still below actual consumption in 1949. For the first two weeks the board exceeded its quota by 3.29 per cent, and 2.92 per cent., respectively. Mr Lindsay said it would appear that the dairying season was taking a steep decline which might assist the board to keep nearer to allocation than in the latter part of 1949. The level of Lake Taupo at the end of last week was 1175 feet, whereas at January 30, 1949, it was 1176.5 feet, which meant that the hydraulic position was very much Worse at present. | Outlining steps taken in an endeavour to reduce consumption, Mr Lindsay referred to the publicity campaign conducted by the board, (through press and screen. It had f circularised every consumer pointing out the necessity for economising in

the use of electricity, and stressing i the board’s responsibility to maintain a continuous supply to primary producers. Certificates of Performance The next move would be to issue certificates of performance to all firms agreeing to enter into a voluntary rationing scheme. That idea . had been suggested because the board was loath to institute compuli s ° r y rationing and wished to avoid i blackouts as long as possible. The general deterioration of the hydraulic situation forboded some l arbitrary cuts, or other serious ' steps to limit the consumption. It . was really only a question of how l long the water in the lakes would last out, and at its present rate of fall that would not be very long. In a special report which Mr ’ Lindsay has prepared for the board he states that an analysis had been . made of dairy factory unit consumption for the last three calendar years, with a view to accounting for • the basic reason why the board was • substantially in excess of the electricity quota for the current year. A study of the figures from 23 dairy : factories operating over the years , 1947, 1948 and 1949 showed that : 1948 revealed an Increase of 6.56 per s cent, over 1947, while 1949 gave a i further 24.85 per cent.. That increase could only be attributed to a ■ higher volume of raw products de- • liVered to various factories. In turn r the production of extra butterfat or , milk must have had its bearing on l . the amount of electricity consumed, right back to the milking sheds, i Though figures for some Individ-

j ual factories appeared contradictory, they were explained either by a change-over from the manufacture of one product to another, or by the lifting of zoning regulations. Unpredictable Demand ¥ Increases in the number of milking motors on the board’s supply system were 2.486 per cent, for 1948 over 1947, and 2.07 per cent, in 1949 over 1948. The small increases in herds could not produce the phenomenal sustained increase in production which was now being expeNenced, and the inference was that season with its benefits had caused an unpredictable demand which could not be fully catered for by the allowance made by the State Hydro Department for natural growth—4 • per cent, increase on the previous • year’s consumption—and the board found itself in the position of being 5$ per cent, over the quota in spite of rigid restrictions on radiators and the imposition of a 4 per cent, voltage cut for 15 J hours per day over the whole year. Mr Lindsay was sure that no one in authority would or should sug- > gest that production, which was so - vital to the national economy, should be retarded in any way, especially by restriction of the electrical services. ££