KOURARAU ELECTRICITY.

Wairarapa Age, 11 October 1922, Page 5

KOURARAU ELECTRICITY.

AVAILABLE IN JULY.

MB. J. C. COOPER’S ASSURANCE,

u We will give Masterton Borougl electricity from Kourarau by nexi July.” said Air J. C. Cooper, chair man of the Wairarapa Power Board at the annual meeting of the Alas terton Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Because the- engineer had advised the board that this was possible, under ordinary conditions, hr had been instructed to proceed with hie work, although the money was not actually in hand. The route foi the conveyance of current had already been laid off, but so far the only contract let was for concrete pipes.

The Kourarau contract had been held up because there was a delay in procuring the necessary certificates from the Government, proceeded Mr Cooper. The engineer had inserted the word “steam” in ;he document relating to the scheme :hat had been forwarded to the Government, and this had resulted in permission being given to erect a

team plant. whTc** would have cost 052,000, instead of £20,000 for the. proposed scheme. However, a

clause rectifying the matter would be put through Parliament before the session closed. THE CHEAPEST POWER. Further investigations had -esulted in the discovery that by shifting the- site at Kourarau further down, so that a dam could be built on a papa base, it would be possible to develop 1000 h.p., instead of 500 h.p., for £22,000. This would make this power the cheapest in New Zealand. They had a morning and evening milking load, as well as a lighting and power load, so that the power should be fairly evenly distributed throughout the day. A SURPRISING STATEMENT. “I saw in this morning’s paper that a surprising statement had been made at a meeting of the ’JJararua Power Board,” continued Air Cooper. A member had said he hoped the work in their district would not be done as carelessly as in the Wairarapa, where the engineer had merely made a trip round in a moror car before saying they wanted so much money. “As a matter of fact,

the investigations have occupied two years.” commented Air Cooper. “I put a great deal of time into it myself. Some of the money required

for this work has been subscribed voluntarily; the engineering costs were £BOO. I merely wish to correct this statement, because it might be the means of creating a wrong impression. The board is only too willing to be corrected if it makes a mistake.” A LOCAL LOAN. “Our commitments are now greater than our capital,” continued the speaker, “and we will have to raise more money soon.’” The first loan, ot £20,000, was floated at 6| per cent., he said. It had been suggested that the money might be found locally. The price for produce was improving, so that there would be a possibility for a first-class local investment perhaps after the new year . when the wool cheques began to come in. OVERHEAD EXPENSES. “I have heard quite a lot of grumbling about the amount paid to the secretary, and that the office and other expenditure was unduly excessive,” said the chairman (Mr C. E. Daniell. “Perhaps it’s justified— I’m not grumbling; but we are entitled to know why. Mr Cooper is here to explain. As responsible business men we have to face things. Therb is a general feeling that the overhead expenses are not justified.” “OUT FOR THE BEST.” “So far as the engineer is concerned we were out for the best,” replied Mr Cooper. “The board has authority to spend £260,000, and we want the best man in Australasia to spend it. (Hear, hear). We had to pay for him. The secretary is not going to be a secretary in the ordinary sense of the word; he is going to be a manager as well. He has to sell power, and manage a business worth up to £150,000. Mr P. H. Smith’s record is a very good one. During the past year he has saved the board £4OO in various directions, and the board considers that he is worth, a- good salary. His salary has been gauged on the actual work of the past 12 months.” The chairman: Then Air Smith is a secretary-manager ?

Mr Cooper: Y’es. Mr G. H. Perry: What does the engineer get? Mr Cooper: We have contracted to pay him £lOOO for three years. In reply to a question concerning the man employed in Air Smith’s office, Mr Cooper said the secretary was at present in the Waikato, making investigations about the application of electricity to milking machine plants. The clerk was carrying on in his absence. Mr D. Al. Graham: Then Air Smith draws £7OO from the board and £-300 from the Carterton Borough Council, and has to pay his assistant £350 a year? Mr Cooper: Yes. MASTERTON’S CLAIMS. Mr H. H. Daniell: Why isn’t the main office in Alasterton? “You have to remember that when the ■ board was first established it was intended to develop the Waiol.ine scheme,” said Air Cooper. “Carterton was the natural centre then. But the engineer, who knows nothing about Wairarapa jealousies (laughter), was already setting to work to get the main office shifted here. It had already been decided to pub a sub-station here, and it looked as though the main office would come to Masterton eventually. IS THE BOARD EXTRAVAGANT? Mr G. H. Perry saic'f he felt nervous about the overhead charges. Was the board extravagent? If it started with high charges it would be difficult to bring them down afterwards. They might not be able to keep the price of electricity cheap if the overhead expenses were too heavy. Air Cooper explained that at the

expiration of three years the arrangement with the engineer would terminate. He was engaged for supervising constructional work; therefore his salary was a capital charge. At the expiration of three years the board would have to make arrangements commensurate with the work involved. The idea of the board was to make the charges for current something below every other sort of power, because it was realised that there would be competition. But they must not make them so low that it would be necessary to strike a rate. The greater the number of connections made, the cheaper would become the power supplied. In it was possible to run a certain engine on electricity for £9O a year, but it would not have been possible to do that 10 years ago. The board wanted to make the scheme self-supporting from the start.

Air T. F. Watson: How much will it take to put lights into a .sixroomed house ?

Air Cooper: The wiring will cost £l7; the kind of lamps depends on the house owner.

Air Watson contended that it would cost a good deal, because there would be quite a number of lights required in a six-roomed house. The local gas engineer was congratulating himself because he said a great many houses with installed would not be connecting up for many years, owing to. the cost of wiring and lamps.

Mr Graham: The board is going to finance it, though. . The discussion was not pursued further.