CENTRAL H.B. POWER BOARD.

Waipawa Mail, Volume L, Issue 3, 21 September 1928, Page 2

CENTRAL H.B. POWER BOARD.

The monthly meeting: of the Central Hawke’s Bay Power Board was held at the Board’s offices at Waipukurau this morning, when the following reports were presented:— SECRETARY. Mr Fowler, secretary, reported as under: — In my report to you dated 17th August, your attention was drawn to the fact that the ratio of increased revenue for the quarter ending 30th June was not proportionate with the increased cost of energy as paid to the Public Works Department. As a result of the question being raised with the Public Works Department, it has been ascertained that the Department’s meter at Onga Onga was reading 9 per cent, fast, and that we have been charged 52.35 k.v.a. too much for the April-June quarter. The amount over-charged was therefore £lO4 14s. The true amount due, therefore, to the Department for energy for tin* April-June quarter was £ll6O, as compared with £IOO9 11s 2d for the same quarter in the preceding vear.

It will be remembered that we had a similar ease of over-charging some 18 months ago. It will he realised that a close cheek on the receipts and expenditure to ascertain the ratio between the same so far as cost of energy is concerned is under the circumstances very essential.

Community Lighting.—Since last meeting all business people in the area have been circularised in regard to community lighting, and the scheme has been fully explained to those interested. An immediate result. followed and applications were received for connection. Seotomhor 30th will see the end of the Board’s first half of the financial year. I hope to place the financial position before you at the October meeting. Raising Loan. —T am in touch with various financial institutions in regard to the raising of a further portion of the authorised loan. ENGINEER. Mr J. K. Lee, engineer, reported as under on the engineering side of the Board’s activities:— Supply has been well maintained during the period under review, with the exception of the period between the evening of Friday, 7th inst. and Monday, 10th inst,, when a gale of exceptional severity caused havoc to lines in various parts of the area. In most cases the damage was confined to trees and limbs of trees blowing across the lines and breaking them, hut in a few cases the poles themselves were blown out of plumb. The staff were on the job from 2 a.m. on Saturday until late in the evening, on Sunday from daylight till dark, and it was late afternoon on Monday before “all clear” was reported. As there was no possibility of coping with the breakages solely with the Board’s staff I enlisted the services of the whole of Mr Ashby’s gang. I want here to record appreciation of the manner in which the whole staff worked in the endeavor to get the supply back to normal. With regard to the dispute with the Public Works Department in connection with the account for current

supplied last quarter as referred to in my last report, I have to advise that on test it has been found that the Department’s meter was proved to he 9 per cent, fast and that the Board’s maxigraph was 1 of 1 per cent, slow, and a refund will he made in the terms of a letter before the meeting.

The matter of a power factor meter is temporarily held up on account of tlie fact that the potential transformers on the Reyrolle gear at Onga Onga are carrying as much burden as they were designed for, and it will be necessary to instal further potential transformers to operate any more meters, and the difficulty then arises in placing these in such a position that it will bo possible to obtain the mean between the two feeder voltages. I have the matter in hand and will report further at next Board meeting. The community lighting in Waipawa is completed with two exceptions. In one case a special fitting is necessary, and in the second case some alterations are required for the erection of another aerial, both of which jobs arc in hand. In Waipukurau the installation is in hand.

The matter of giving service to Mr U. Gray, on the Onga-Waipawa road, was attended to by Mr Rathbone and myself, and a guarantee has been obtained for £B. The construction of the necessary sub-station has been commenced.

The extension to give supply to Meredith and Sehaw has been completed and supply is being given. After consultation with the Chairman an extension has been made to the lines in Melville street, Waipawa, to give supply to the metal pit to be operated by the Waipawa County Council. The original installation was for a 30 h.p. motor to operate a spring hammer crusher, which would necessitate the erection of a 30 k.v.a. transformer, but it has now been decided to instal a further 25 h.p. motor, necessitating a transformer of at least 50 k.v.a. capacity. I would like authority to obtain this transformer as early as possible. There is a further extension of high tension necessary in Waipawa to give a reasonable and adequate supply on Windsor Hill, where a large electric range and hot water system is at present being installed. The ease is on all fours with the recent extension on Domain road. The present supply is maintained from a transformer 40 chains distant.

During the afternoon of the 27th of August the underground cable connecting the circuit breakers to the lightning arrestor faulted to earth and tests subsequently taken proved that the fault was serious and could not lie repaired satisfactorily. I therefore endeavored to obtain a new length of cable and after some difficulty Messrs P. R. Bui Hie, of Wellington, have succeeded in obtaining a length and the same is now on the wav. The faulting of this cable made the operating of the system rather difficult inasmuch as the whole control of the system was thrown on one circuit breaker instead of two, as usually obtains.. The installation of the new cable will be undertaken during the coming week.

WIRING INSPECTOR. Mr S. B. Houghton, wiring inspector. reported as under:— Seven of the community lights signed for in AA r aipawa have been connected. I made a canvass of a section of the Waipukurau shops, and whilst oniy six signed immediately I believe others will join up shortly. The hot water and range load continues to mount slowly but surely, and we can anticipate a continued steady increase. Inspection of new installations and additions have engaged most of my time during the period. During the month of August I attended to 19 faults in the northern area. Installation details:—New consumers, Waipukurau 4, Waipawa 7, country 2; hot water, country 4; milking motors, country 2; other motors, Waipawa 1, country 3; ranges, country 1; additions, Waipukurau 13, Waipawa 8, country 12.