NIGHT BAKING WANTED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLI, Issue 20340, 12 February 1936, Page 7

NIGHT BAKING WANTED

WHAT PROHIBITION MEANS POWER BOARD MUCH CONCERNED An indication by the Minister of Employment (Hon. H. T. Armstrong) that he was prepared to legislate to forbid the baking of bread at night, has been viewed with concern by the South Canterbury Electric Power Board which, at yesterday’s meeting, considered that such a step would seriously affect the sales of electricity. The chairman (Mr G. Dash) reported that the engineer (Mr G. W. Morrison) and he had drafted a memorandum for submission to the Electric Power Boards and supply authorities. The memorandum states that the Minister’s proposal affects not alone the employees and the bakers, but is a serious matter for electric power boards because there is a large quantity of electricity used in night baking which cannot be economically supplied in the day hours. The South Canterbury Power Board supplies current for night baking at Id a unit. The peak load comes during the day hours when it is impossible to supply current at id per unit, as the cost to the Board in day hours is approximately Id plus the costs of distribution which are at least as much. It is easily seen that no Power Board can sell for Id that which costs the Board 2d. Lines and transformers need not be of the capacity for night loading as would be demanded were the baking load a daytime load. This, in the case of one bakery alone, would involve an expenditure of some £6OO to make the alteration. Boards become dependent on the income from night sales for the keeping at a reasonable rate of the price of electricity to the working man whose loading is at such times as bakers are not on the wire. It is essential to the progress of the Government’s investment in electrical generation that there shall be increased sales and also, in particular, an increase of twentyfour hour selling. All sales of current at night are factors in the success of the Government’s experiments in electrical development and sale, and this aspect must be considered alongside any other aspect of night baking. Much capital of bakers has been sunk in electric ovens which capital will become a loss to be written off if night baking is forbidden. The ruin of small bakers is inevitable if their investments become of no value. The capital sunk by Power Boards in electric baking is considerable, and if this is a loss, the public will be called upon to bear that loss. The health of the operator is much more conserved in electric baking than in operating in the heat thrown off by wood and coal fuel ovens for there is no deleterious overheating adjacent to electric ovens. From the point of view of Power Boards, their consumers, and all those affected by the price of electricity or by the success of the sale of Governmentally generated electricity, the proposal to in any way detrimentally affect the sale of electricity in night hours, is one calling for fullest investigation and the weighing of all the factors. The Electric Power Board and Supply Authorities Association acknowledged receipt of the memorandum and advised that the matter was being taken up with the Public Works Department, who were investigating the position. The Board would be advised of what further action the Association was to take. The action cf the chairman and engineer was confirmed, and it was decided to forward a copy of the memorandum to the Minister of Public Works (Hon. R. Semple).