THE FLAT RATE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16861, 11 October 1922, Page 9

THE FLAT RATE.

GOVERNMENT’S ATTITUDE CRITICISED. j : The decision of the Government to ! introduce a flat rate charge for ; hydro-electricity over the whole Do- i , minion, coupled with 4lie recent an- j . nouncement of the Minister of Pub- | lie Works That he would “ sit tight " j over Lake Coleridge until the City j Council’s intentions regarding the | 4 Wairnakariri proposal were known. ; were the subject of a strong protest ■ \ by a conference held in Christchurch J . last night. The conference was convened by the : •Canterbury Progress League, and there • were present-—Messrs A. G. Hender- , son, J. H Judd. I*. 11. CTimie, Cyrus J. R. Williams, J. H. Blackwell, J. R. Tempiin, E. Turner (engi neer to the Tramway Board), Frank . Thompson (general manager of tram- ; ways). A. Al’Kellar, W. J. Jenkin, A. Manliire, E- Hitchcock (manager Municipal Electricity Department) and J. Lytligoe (City Council Electrical Engineer). Mr Blackwell was voted t-o the chair. The chairman referred to the recent I announcement of the Minister ot Pub i lie Works that lie would ‘‘ sit tight ” j over-" Lake Coleridge until the City j ( ouncii’s intentions regarding the Waimakariri proposal were known. Naturallv that announcement had surprised j and startled them. The Canterbury ! Progress League considered #tkat tin* j subject involved vitally important con Federations. The league also held that 1 the G overnment’s proposal to establish, a flat rate for current throughout New Zealand, and also the decision over ; Lake Tekapo as a source of supply, was ot very great importance. “ NOT REALLY SURPRISING.” Mr A. G. Henderson said that the attitude of the Government had certainly given them violently to think, j li had been the impression of the Can ter bury Progress League that the Pub 1 lie Works Department intended to push j forward the development of the Lake j Coleridge scheme, as it had had as • surances to this effect. The league, i further, had been told that plans hail j been drawn up and arrangements made i tc speed up the work of development. ! Mr Henderson mentioned the Harper diversion works, .saying that one reason why the Progress league had been So interested in this work was because j °i dm possible extensions being mailed to the power plant. It had been stated ! by the electrical engineer to the Citv i Council that the full supply of the I first, half of the Lake Coleridge plant j would in all probability be absorbed J before next winter- The fact that the | Minister had made an announcement of the kind published the other day was i.-ot really surprising, however. If thev j inquired sufficiently it might be dis- j covered that the Government was not t very anxious to spend a great deal in ilic South Island. Viewing the sub jeet as it stood now, lie considered that i* could not be regarded with a great deal of equanimity. FLAT RATE UNREASONABLE. Referring to the flat rate pro- : posal, he said that the assertion ! had been made that its enforcement would mean that the City Conn, j cil would have to double its present charges for electricity. The Govern ment wanted Canterbury to bear part of the increased cost of establishing other power schemes in New Zealand. Developing this idea, one might say that it would Ik; a right thing tc ask the Government to carry produce free of charge to Lyttelton, ; ,o that Christchurch would j be in the same position as North Island ports. ’1 he mu rate proposal dm not appear reasonable, and he considered that a very grave mistake had been made in bringing it forward. There was cheaper power in Dunedin where the people had made wise provision against the increase to be made by the, Government. He hoped that the conference, if it did anything, would enter a very emphatic, protest on behalf of the people of Christchurch and Canter- [ bury generally to the proposed flat j rate. What lines the conference should I adopt he was not prepared to say just i then, but after the preliminary dis-| ension the meeting might resolve it- j self in t-o a committee of ways and means to take what action it thought { advisable to take. citv oorxen. s position. j Mr A. M Keliar. who C chairman j ol the Electricity Committee of the City Council, said that Mr Henderson had put the position exactly as most of those present desired it to be put- ; The City Council had been faced' with I hints of a shortage in supply some two ' and a half or three years ago. They j wer<- threatened with a diversion of ! portion of the supply to Timaru. and | the council then turned their eyes to- j wards the Wnimakariri as a source of j supply. This scheme, by the way, was J provided for by an Act of Parliament | prior to the Lake Coleridge scheme ! being started. Lake Coleridge - was ; then investigated and all of a sudden i the Government took over the whole thing and left the council with their rights over the Wairnakariri. When the Government took 'the Lake scheme in hand they brought it to maturity. Ihv Lake Coleridge scheme undoubtedly h«d very many advantages owing to its being fed bv a lake, and there were not many physical difficulties in obtaining power. At the same time there had been a great deal of difficulty at times in having a sure supplj*. as several break-downs had occurred. Another reason ijhat had weighed with the City Council was that there should be an alternative, or standby plant which would be of advantage both to those who drew their power from Lake Coleridge as well as those who drew their power from the Wnimakariri, and when the council found that they could cany the latter scheme out. They hail now reached the stage when they were getting—as far as they could ascertain—the best advice from the most experienced j>eople in this line of hydraulics in the world- “ BENEFIT OF CANTERBURY. I*‘ Of course. from a business point of view r .” said Mr *M’KelMar, I must agree that the Minj ister is wise in delaying liis hand j in proceeding with Lake Coleridge extensions until he sees exactlv what the City Council are going to do with the Wairnakariri. That is not affecting the position very much so far as we are concerned, because up to the present nothing tangible has been done about the extension of Lake Coleridge. What the Government has got at present are probably only a few* paper plans; T doubt whether there is very much more. The fact that the Minister lias to wait three months or a little longer until the C-'ity Council have got their report is not a verv serious matter.” Tt should be borne in mind, he continued. that if the Wairnakariri scheme were feasible and were carried out, the fact, of there being two separate units, or generating stations, for electricity must b“ for the benclii o; Cmterhurv &i a whole. as well as tlic benefit,

Christchurch inasmuch as it would be the endeavour of the cit>* to supply current at the very lowest price possible. commensurate with a due regard to the payments that would have to be met. The effect would he that the Government supply from Lake Coleridge must be available to the standard of eost from the other scheme, or lower because of the competition. Incidentally if the second scheme was carried out. it would overcome the difficulty the City Council were faced with at present—the flat- rate. FLAT RjATE UNJUST. The flat rate. in the speaker* s opinion, should I>e strenuously foughtright throughout- Canterbury. Every consumer of electricity from Lake Coleridge was going to feel the effects of that scheme sooner or later, and there was absolutely no justification for it. The Government scheme, he thought, cost about £500,000. That scheme at one time had a debit balance of pretty nearh* £70.000. The Depreciation Fund was built up to £44.000. and the debit balance was reduced to £37.000. The increased cost of materials would not be much compared with the cost- of materials a few years ago. and that increased cost would not make such a very vita! difference to the cost of supplying electricity in bulk as was shown by the demand of 100 per cent increase in the cost of current to the Cit3* Council. The flat rate had been tried most successfully -from the Governfnent’s point of view—in the case of the railways. The Canterbury railways cost somewhere between £3OOO and £4OOO per mile and they were paying railway rates based on figures ranging from £15.0(30 to £20,000 per mile, which was the average coev of making railways in New Zealand. They might f-’iy that Canterbury was paying for the North Island railways in order to lower the rates, and it was now proposed to do the same regarding hydro-electricity. * PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES * Every country must consider and secure the benefit of its physical advantages. Hero in Christchurch and Canterbury they had access to streams and lakes and were able to bring in the current at a. comparatively low cost and the private consumers and industries should not be loaded with the difficulties of the North Island. The North Island had certain advantages in the wax* of rainfall and harbour facilities and we in the South should be allowed the advantage of whatever facilities we had at hand. He considered that a strong protest should be made against t-lie flat rate proposal. Mr Henderson : You would not have a flat rate foi* rainfal 1. Mr M’Kellar: it. would be an -advantage if we could. Mr M’Kellar agreed with Mr* Henderson that the meeting should resolve itself into a eommitee of ways and means to see in what way they could further the objects they had in view. The meeting then went into committee. but the decisions were not announced! .