POWER FOR OPUNAKE

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1934, Page 10

POWER FOR OPUNAKE

MONTHLY MEETING OF BOARD. DIFFERENTIAL BULK RATES. The monthly meeting of the Opunake Power Board was held yesterday, when there were present Messrs Geo. Goodwin (chairman), J. S. Tosland, A. J. Brennan, C. O. Edmonds, E. A. Col-, lins and R. B. Fleming. The treasurer, Mr. W. Sharp, reported that the April reading’ of the meters had been included in the 1933-34 revenue and was commented upon in the annual report.. Owing to the . work done in preparation of the annual accounts and in connection with loans conversion, the usual attention had not been give to consumers in arrears, with the result that arrears had increased by £4O to £599. Everything was going smoothly in connection with the loan conversion. He had interview the District Public Trustee at Hawera, who seemed to be in agreement with all proposals submitted to him. The complete list of new securities to be issued had been submitted to the. Loans Board and had been checked by it and' found to be correct, so that on completion of all the formalities everything would be straightforward to complete the conversion. The engineer (Mr. D. Fraser) repoi-ted that the station had operated continuously and efficiently. The total of units generated was 118,800, the maximum load registered being ’ 490' k.w. The Diesel

engine ran 53 hours with a/consumption of 408 gallons of fuel oil. Power was taken from New Plymouth on 30 days, compared with 21 days in the same period in 1933. Up to April 22 the river was very low but after the rain on that I date there was ample water for the' requirements of the power-house for the remainder of the month. New connections were made as follows, figures for the corresponding period last year being shown in parentheses: Lighting points 23 (21), heating 8 (6), stoves 1 (0), water heaters 1 (0), industrial motors 1 (1), alterations 4 (2), reinspections 20 (10). fhe Waitaki Power Board notified that it had forwarded a resolution to the Prime Minister and the Minister . of Public Works strongly protesting against the making of any agreements with city authorities for the supply of power at rates lower than those given to rural supply authorities, as such action in the opinion of the board was contrary to the spirit of a national scheme. The operation of the present policy was an injustice to the country boards for the reason that unlike the cities, which were closely reticulated, rural boards, owing to the sparse population of their districts, were penalised with heavy distribution costs and were, moreover, required to pay the Government higher rates for power. In a covering letter the board stated that it felt strongly J that the present system of differentiation of charges for power so decidedly in favour of the city areas was both [ wrong and unjust and should hot be ! perpetuated by granting new agreements ; in extensions to agreements embodying I 1 that unfair policy. It recognised that the Government had present contractual obligations, but the board submitted that the time had arrived when a I

I halt should be called. The onus wag on the Government to find a much more equitable basis of spreading the cost ,of i operating the nationally owned generat- ! ing plants. ; It was stated that the Opunake board was not affected. The treasurer was authorised to obI tain particulars regarding. the national | employers’ superannuation scheme .fat J consideration by the board.