BACKBLOCKS POWER

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1930, Page 11

BACKBLOCKS POWER

ELECTRICAL RETICULATION.

NEW ZEALAND AND CANADA.

Comparison between the treatment by the New Zealand arid 'Canadian Governments of rural authorities, in regard to rural reticulation schemes, was made by Mr. H. F.' Toogood in the course of his presdiential address at Wellington on Monday to the Electrical Supply Authority Engineers’ Association. “In New Zealand,” he said, “the small rural authorities pay. the highest prices for bulk supplies, and no effort is made by giving them cheaper current or monetary aid to assist them to serve the sparsely-populated districts. The Ontario Government subsidies rural reticulation schemes to the extent of .50 per cent, of the capital cost of lines in the same manner as the New Zealand Government subsidises the cost of road construction in the backblocks.

‘I am pot at this juncture advocating that the Government of New Zealand should subsidise the cost of rural reticulation, but I put forward the fact that the Ontario Government does so because I want to draw a sharp comparison between New Zealand treatment of country areas and the Canadian treatment of the same class of consumers. I can also add that the Canadian authorities hope to go still further in assisting rural reticulation, as the following extract from the Australian Electrical- Times will show: ‘Legislation is now being promoted by the Ontario Legislature’ to make available £400,000 out of the Public Treasury to be used exclusively as loans to owner farmers to pay for costs of electrical installation and equipment. These loans are not to exceed £2OO, and are to be repayable over - a “Furthermore,"' duction in posed, and vidcs -lip*-V.; ' ", r 'J cncd®