The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING, Luceo Non Uro, THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1922. ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT.

Southland Times, Issue 19518, 18 May 1922, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING, Luceo Non Uro, THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1922. ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT.

There seems to be something behind the sudden eagerness of the Town Council to purchase material for the extension of its electricity supply to the area beyond the limits of the town, but within the boundaries of its license. It is, of course, to the advantage of Invercargill to have under its charge the distribution of as big a quantity of electricity as possible whether it generates this electricity through its own plant or purchases it in bulk from the Southland Power Board. The discussion at the Town Council meeting left to the public a feeling that there was some reason for this haste not associated exclusively with the carrying of electricity to’ the homes of certain farmers. Has it anything to do with the operations of the Board? The Borough accounts which have just been published, show that the cost of generating electricity at the steam plant is 1.813 d. per unit, exclusive of any allowance for renewals, but if the Corporation is able to supply the farmers in the outside areas it may be able to show a lower cost per unit, though it is inconceivable that the cost at the switchboard will be lower than the price at which the Corporation may obtain the current from the Board. At the present moment the Corporation has a surplus of current from which it is anxious to obtain revenue, but it is to be hoped that the extension of the supply to the limits of the license area will not result in the development of a situation requiring additions to the present generation plant in order to cope with the increased demand. With the prospect of larger supplies from Monowai extensions to the steam plant should be eschewed, and this is especially important because in the face of the confidence with which the Corporation is extending its supply lines to the country areas, we find it hard to belie<£ that any of the Council!*-.-s can have doubts concerning the future of the Monowai scheme. It is admitted that the charges for electricity in Invercargill are high, and there is no doubt that the Monowai current will be sold at rates very much cheaper than those which the Corporation is now charging. If the Corporation can pick up a profitable demand at its ruling prices outside of the town, there does not seem to be any reason why the Power Board should not find an adequate number of customers in the rural districts. Of course the present cost of generation, I.Bd per unit, is not satisfactory The Corporation Electricity Account cannot be regarded as satisfactory while the item for renewals is ignored. It must be remembered that although the account this year overlooks the item of £927 for renewals, this does not represent the whole of the trouble. In previous years there has been a similar failure to set aside sums for the building up of a renewal fund so that there is now an accumulated weakness which goes very much further than the solitary item of £927. With the possibility of the Southland Power Board taking over the steam plant, or of its being used as a stand-by to the Monowai scheme, this question of renewals may not strike the public as one of great importance, but the principle involved in the application of this question to the Electricity Generation Department applies with equal force to the other trading departments of the Corporation: the Electricity Department, the Tramways, and the Gasworks. As we showed yesterday the renewal items for these four departments are sufficient to absorb the surplus of £4,218 obtained by balancing all the accounts on the Corporation’s books. This £4,218 is, of course, not a true surplus, as it includes many items which may not be diverted to other purposes and which cannot be placed in the general account, neither can they be used as an offset to deficiencies in other departments. The

surplus on the general account of £955 is a sum which can be diverted for general purposes and the position in regard to these four trading departments is that their joint surpluses amount to £1,686. If we suppose that £955 is diverted from the general account, wfe reach a total of £2,641, or nearly £2;000 less than the sum required to provide for a proper grant to a renewal fund. While this position obtains it cannot be said that the finances of the Corporation trading departments are sound, and it is necessary, in view of the developments that may be expected under the Local Bodies Finance Act, 1922, that this weakness should be remedied at once. The strengthening of the trading departments is of far greater importance than the rush to the outside areas in order to take up work, which it seems to us, could be more fittingly carried out by the Power Board.