WELLINGTON ELECTRICITY

Southland Times, Issue 19510, 9 May 1922, Page 4

WELLINGTON ELECTRICITY

The Wellington City Council is to decide shortly whether it will scrap its present 110-volt electrical supply system and adopt one of 250 volt, when current from Mangahao is available. Wellington has had a steam generating plant in operation for some years and consumers have had electricity supplied to them in alternating current at eighty cycles, a rate of oscillation extremely rare in these days. The 1 110-volt system is regarded by the Americans as the most efficient for domestic lighting—light and heat—but they use alternating current at fifty cycles, which is now the recognised standard. Wellington’s installation is only single phase, and as a result the incoming of Mangahao power will necessitate a lot of extra transmission line. These points affect the question of voltage, because the higher voltage means a direct saving in the first cost of the wire, and represents a substantial sum when it is applied to a city like Wellington. It was this aspect of the matter that contributed largely in inducing the British electricians to adopt the 220-250-volt system in force in New Zealand in most public supply installations. The Americans, however, make the initial outlay hei-rvier and consider that they make a bigger saving with the 110-volt supply, while securing greater efficiency. One aspect of this question of general interest is that most of the electrical equipment for domestic and commercial use comes to New Zealand from America, and as most of the American systems are run at 110 volts the equipment is designed originally to satisfy conditions which differ from our own, a fact which leads at times to complications and additional expense. The Wellington City Council will have to go in for additional transmission wiring when Mangahao current comes to the city and the councillors will have to decide whether they should stick to the 110-volts and its heavier a:id more costly wiring, or take the 250-volts, and pass on expenditure to present consumers by making most of their equipment useless. These are matters on which only experts can give precise answers, and this little problem goes to show how far we are from efficient local government when a number of very worthy citizens, who know practically nothing about the intricate factors involved, are compelled to make a decision of such importance to the future of electricity in the city.