ELECTRICAL SUPPLY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 700, 9 May 1916, Page 3

ELECTRICAL SUPPLY.

THE CITY SCHEME. "AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS." CR SCOTT STILL CRITICAL. A report which was placed before the Christchurch City Council last evening, by the Electric Light and Power Committee, shows that the city electrical undertaking is succeeding well. The first complete year of the city's electrical undertaking under the supply from Lake Coleridge ended on March 31 last, and the report reviewed the financial result for that year. The complete details of the accounts will be laid before the council when the audit of them is finished.

"The year's operations have been an unqualified success," said the report, "and beyond the expectations of the committee, more especially in view of the difficulties and extra expense of obtaining s'upplies owing to war conditions, and the natural reluctance on the part of many to incur the expense of installing electricity at present." The revenue from sales of current, etc., was stated to be £27,807 16/5, and the working expenses £l4,(i4ti 8/6, leaving a gross surplus of £13,161 6/11. This surplus was allocated to standing charges as follows: Interest on overdraft, £364 18/4; interest on loans, £4OBO 0/3; sinking funds, £2IBO 13/6; balance for depreciation and extensions, £6535 14/10; total, £13,161 6/11. SELF-SUPPORTING IN ONE YEAR. "A few comparison's with Mr F. Rlack's report, which guided the council in entering into the contract with the Government, will illustrate the very satisfactory result of the first year's working," continued the committee's statement. "Mr Black based his report upon two periods of two years and five years from receiving the supply from Lake Coleridge. He estimated that there would be a probable loss of between £I6OO and £I7OO at the end of two years, and that the undertaking would take from four to five years to become self-supporting. The figures given above show that not only at the end of one year is the department selfsupporting, but we stand with a substantial balance, after paying working expenses with which to meet interest, sinking funds, and other standing charges. "Owing to the difficulty and increased expense of obtaining supplies, together with the shortage of skilled labour, the committee has been unable to embark upon the active campaign to obtain new business, which it would otherwise have done. In spite of this the number of consumers has increased during the vear from 1623 to 2930, an increase of 1307, or 801 per cent. The connected load estimated by Mr Rlack to be 3700 kilowatts in two years is to-day 5592 kilowatts. THE GOVERNMENT CONTRACT. "The year's working has produced a complete refutation of the criticism which has been aimed at the city's contract with the Government. Mr Black estimated that at the end of two years our peak load would be 2090 kilowatts, and we would be paying the Government £ll,BlO with a connected load of 3700 kilowatts, an average of £3 4/- per k.w. of connected load. At the end of this our first year of Lake Coleridge supply, with a peak load which has been kept down with the aid of the steam plant and the storage battery, to only 1020 kilowatts and a connected load of 5592tj kilowatts, we have paid the Government only £6200, an average of £1 2/1 per kilowatt of connected load. COMPARISON WITH TASMANIA. "A comparison may be usefully made with the contract recently made by the Hobart City Council with the Tasmanian Government's hydro-elec-trical supply, an undertaking which is considerably larger than that at Lake Coleridge and which should therefore be able to give cheaper prices. If this city's contract had been the same as that of Hobart we would have paid the New Zealand Government during the past vear £8775 instead of £6200, or an increase of £2575.

"Further, as the power load during the day tends to equal the lighting load at night our terms with the Government will become even cheaper, especially in view of the change recently made from yearly to quarterly reading of the maximum load taken from the Government. "The committee is indebted to the engineer and his staff for the very valuable work done. The past year has been a strenous one, and the many dilliculties inseparable from the inauguration of such an undertaking have been surmounted by the staff with decision and success. In conclusion, the committee feels that the council has every reason to be salislied with the progress of the undertaking, and that, although there are many problems still to be met, the future can be faced with confidence." CR SCOTT FINDS FAULT. When the adoption of the report was moved, Cr G. Scott started to criticise it. After quoting some figures which were difficult to follow, he said that he did not want to criticise the electrical undertaking at the present time, because he was waiting for the full report of the officers, and he wanted full details. But when the committee was making the comparisons in the statement now before the council, why did it not make others? Why didn't it compare the street lighting charges this year with what was proposed to the ratepayers? Cr Taylor (chairman of the committee): You'll have them by next meeting. Cr Scott went on with his criti-

cisms, and asserted that this report was brought forward to mislead the public. The Mayor: No! As a member of the committee and as Mayor of the city, I protest against that statement. No officer or member of the committee has attempted to mislead the public. Cr Scott: Well, I.'vc made the statement.

Cr Scott was proceeding (o ask why the committee had not given certain estimates by Mr Black, when Cr Reanland rose to a point of order, that Cr Scott should not be allowed to continue until he had withdrawn his remark about misleading the public. The Mayor then insisted on Cr Scott withdrawing the remark.

Cr Scott: I withdraw it. I'll deal with it later on.

In the course of further remarks, in which more figures were mentioned, Cr Scott said that the electrical undertaking was in a most unsatisfactory condition. It was costing £50,000 more than Mr Rlack and Mr Scott estimated, and was not supplying as much as they estimated.

Cr McCombs: What about the £6535 for depreciation and extensions? That is fairly satisfactory, isn't it?

Cr Scott: I have not got the details of those figures, so I cannot discuss them.

Cr Taylor: Do I understand you to allege that the figures are wrong? Cr Scott: I'm saying that I haven't got the details, and until I have got the details I cannot discuss those figures.

The Mayor congratulated the committee, the council, and the citizens on the magnificent report the committee was able to present. It exceeded anything he had expected. He was very pleased to have his name associated with the undertaking, as one who had taken a keen interest in it.

Cr McCombs said that from a financial point of view the report seemed to be eminently satisfactory. The only comment he had to make was that it was too successful—that on the face of it the council was overcharging the people. ItTooked very much as though the council could cut another third off its prices, and make the convenience of electricity available to many people who could not avail themselves of it. He spoke of the use of electricity, by working people, for heating, cooking, washing, and other domestic work. Cr Rurgoyne said he would be glad to see the time come when the council could do as Cr McCombs suggested. But Cr McCombs should remember that the undertaking had only been running a year. The speaker pointed out that the time had not come when the cost of electrical cooking and heating apparatus was vithin the reach of the working man.

THE CHAIRMAN'S REPLY. Cr Taylor said that he did not feel inclined to follow Cr Scott into the various highways and byways that gentleman had taken. The report itself stated that full details would be published in the council's annual report, upon completion of the audit. The idea of the present report was simply to give the council a bird'seye view of what was going on. He strongly objected to any councillor saying that the public was being misled. He had refuted statements like that so often that he was sick and tired of them, and he thought the public was, too. Cr Scott's figures were too involved for him to follow what Cr Scott was driving at. Cr Taylor then quoted, from a report of a meeting of the council last November, a statement by Cr Scott that by March 31 the city would be several thousands of pounds short on the undertaking. That showed how true a prophet Cr Scott was! Continuing, Cr Taylor said that the committee had in preparation a progress report on street-lighting. After dealing with some of Cr Scott's other remarks, the speaker paid a tribute to the work of the engineer and staff. With regard to Cr McCombs's remarks, he pointed out that the committee was anxious to put current into houses at bedrock prices —there was no profit-mongering with the committee, —but it would have to take great care for the next few years, for there were problems still to be faced. There was an overdraft from the old scheme to be wiped off, and renewals of the old scheme in the centre of the city to be provided for, as well as other matters to be taken into consideration. As for prices, there was no city in New Zealand, except Dunedin, which came anywhere near Christcln:rch's prices; in several cases, the Christchurch prices were below Dunedin's. The mere fact that without any canvassing, and in war times, the number of consumers had increased by 80 per cent, spoke volumes for the cheapness of the current. The committee had not been able to institute an advertising campaign, as it had intended, because of the difficulty of getting materials and skilled workmen. But already it had been able to make some reduction in the heating load prices. There were very many things it could do in the future. Without any undue boasting, he really thought the council could feel very well satisfied with the year's working. The report was adopted.