TE AWAMUTU POWER BOARD.

Waipa Post, Volume 44, Issue 3180, 21 May 1932, Page 5

TE AWAMUTU POWER BOARD.

ANNUAL IvrEETING. . ' The thirteenth annual meeting of Te Awamutu Electric Power Board ■was held yesterday, when there were present: Messrs J. T. Johnson, W. J. North, J. B. Teasdale, A. L. Storey, G. G, Downes, S. C. B. Macky, and N. M, Lethbridge. Mr. 1). T. B. McArthur, secretarywas in attendance. Airfipology for unavoidable absence was received from, Mr J.. G. Sutherland. Mr .McArthur invited nominations for the position of chairman, and Mr Downes promptly nominated Mr Johnson for re-election.—Mr Macky seconded, and, there being no other no? mination, Mr Johnson was declared elected. Mr Downes, in proposing Mr Johnson for re-election, said he doubted if any other board had such a capable and successful chairman. Mr J ohm son had piloted the Board’s affairs Very ably ever since its inception, and even though thehe was very lifttle doing just now in construction work there would ag^ n be activity as the Dominion recovered from its economic stress. He hoped Mr Johnson would still be chairman when that good time came. Mir McArthur, in declaring Mr Johnson re-elected for the thirteenth successive year, said it was particularly pleasing to himself and the staff, who deeply appreciated the chairman’s many considerations and courtesies. It was a pleasure to work for him and with him.

Then arose the question of honorarium for the chairman, it being pointed oitt that for years the payment had been £2OO, but last year he approved reduction of 20 per cent, making the actual payment £l6O. A suggestion was made that the payment for this year be £132, members who spoke expressing the hope that the usual payment would be possible ;again when good times came once imbre. Keen appreciation was expressed of the exceptional services rendered by-Mr Johnson, and the hope was advanced that he would be available as chairman for a further thirteen years. He had fully earned every penny of his honorarium every year. The proposal was unanimously approved. Mir Johnson, in thanking the members for his re-election, said the years slipped by, and he had hardly realised that thirteen years had passed. He had really enjoyed the task of helping to develop the district, and therefore it had been a happy occupation. As to the honorarium, he left that entirely to his fellow members, -and fully realised the desirability of: economy. The times were, unfortunately, making it necessary for serious consideration of all payments for services rendered, and more especially where those services were for work and time that did not occupy one's whole time. He had fully approved the lowering of the previous rate of honorarium, and this would not cause him to relax one iota of his keen interest in the Board's affairs. CHAIRMAN'S ANNUAL REPORT. The following interesting report was presented at the annual meeting by the.chairman (Mr J. T. Johnson): In my annual report of the previous year's operations I had" occasion to refer to the difficult situation due to the existing depression, and it is regrettable that not only has that depression persisted, but has steadily grown in intensity, thus adding to the and anxieties which we, in common with all commercial undertakings, are at present experiencing, notwithstanding the fact that the JESoard has continued to add to the total of its connected load in response to increased demand, this is the first year since the inception of the Board that the revenue has shown a decrease, due to two factors—the economic conditions prevailing and the reduction fef £1 per horse-power on cowplant motors and Id per unit in the domestic lighting rate, which in the aggregate amounted to £IB6O. The decrease in revenue as compared with the previous year was £633 17s lid, so that natural increase accounts for the £1226 2s Id required to make up the balanee on the reduction in the charges. ... The number of new connections to our lines, exclusive of small heating appliances and electric irons, numbered 127, thus increasing the total number of our connections from 3601 at 31st March, 1931, to 3728 at 31st March, 1932. The connections at the last-mentioned date under each head were as follow: 31/3/32. 31/3/31.

Xn~a&<iition to the above there were also 135 extensions to existing plants. ' These additional connections and extensions, together with the increased load of the dried milk factory, which has this year been added to the Board's connected load, raises the total connected load from 5482.189 k.w. at 31st March, 1931, to 5787.227 k.w. at 31st March, 1932, an increase of 305.038 k.w. • The Board's maximum demand for the year, including the dried milk factory's load, was 1114 k.w. _ The diversity factor, which is the relation of the maximum demand of 1114 k.w. Ho the connected load of 5787.227 k.w., is 5.19, a very satisfactory figure. Coming to the financial side of our operations, our revenue from sales of rurrent alone amounts to £29,518 lis nrevious year, a decrease of. £633 17s lid, being » decrease of 2,1 per cent

as compared with the previous year. The revenue from all sources for the year just closed amounts to £29,690 6s 7d, which gives us a return of) 16.73 per cent on the total capital expenditure,, including property, buildings, lines, sub-stations, and machinery and plant. On the year's transactions as disclosed by the annual accounts to be presented at to-day's meeting, the net revenue account shows the position as follows: Credit balance from this year's income and expenditure account, £14,402 7s 3d; interest on advances to consumers, £67 6s 7d; rent of house, £7O 17s 2d; court fines paid to Board, £4 15s; total, £14,545 6s. As against the last-mentioned figure there are the following charges: Interest 'on loans, £10,061 Is Id; sinking fund, £IBSO 19s Id; bad debts, £137 10s 4d; superannuation payment, £l3O 16s 2d; and depreciation reserve, £1000; a total of £13,180 6s Bd, which leaves a credit balance on the year's operations of £1364 19s 4d; and this, added to the credit balance of £6382 7s Id brought forward from last year, now makes the balance carried forward £7747 6s sd. Due to the tightness of the money market rendering it difficult to raise loan money, a sum of £3521 8s 6d has been advanced from this account to the loan account for construction work and the present financial outlook leads me to think that for the major part of the coming year the Board will have to rely upon the same source for its finance for new construction. It is of interest to note that, in addition to this credit balance in the net revenue account, there are further reserves, as follow: Sinking fund reserve, £15.266; depreciation reserve, £3892; foreman's house and office furniture, paid for from revenue account, £906; total. £20,064. The following also gives an interesting comparison of the revenue from sales of current and number of consumers since the Board's first year of supply, ending 31st March,. 1932: Year. Amount. Consumers.

You will note that in the income and expenditure account maintenance costs were very much higher than usual. This is due chiefly to a falling off in construction work; and with a view to keeping an outside staff in employment at the minimum strength necessary to deal with any emergency that might arise, extra attention was given to our lines and reticulation system generally, so that to-day out whole system is in as high a state of efficiency as is possible with our present copper capacity. Another very intei’estmg feature is the comparison of our revenue and costs as expressed in unit values and the very fine margin of difference m these, amounting to .12d per unit: Revenue from sales of electricity, 1.37 d per unit; costs, including purchase, working, interest, and sinking fund, 1.25 d per. unit. Further, it is interesting to note that the net result of the year’s operations, as shown by the net revenue account, was so-close to the estimates drawn up by the manager and adopted by the Board that the difference in estimate and result is Is on the debit side. „ , Arapuni, which at the time o± our last annual meeting was out of action and giving grave concern to all interested in electric distribution, is today rehabilitated and once more taking its place as the source from which we take our bulk supply, and we trust it will go forward to its maximum development without further trouble. In conclusion, gentlemen, I would like to congratulate those of you who, like myself, are county representatives, on your return to membership of this Board for a further term. 1 thank you each and all for the support and courtesy you have always extended to me as your chairman, l also thank the manager and his staff , who, without exception, have rendered unstinted service in his or her sphere of work, and by their loyalty and merest have made possible the results achieved under the present difficult conditions. , , , ~ , . Mr Downes congratulated the chanman upon his exceptionally clear and interesting report, and the secretary and his staff upon the financial position. He was confident all ratepayers and consumers would appreciate the position. It was one to be proud ot. The secretary-manager briefly acknowledged the kindly references to the work and interest of himself and the staff.

3 3 Dwellings 1391 1346 Business premises... Public halls - 192 183 26 25 Churches 16 16 6 6 •ScWools 13 13 Street Lighting 5 4 iCow-pIant ../motiors 643 615 Pumping motors 248 231 Other power plants 113 98 Electric stoves 214 198 Water heaters 565 572 Gi'illers, large 240 239 Radiators, large 53 52 ■'•" 7 3728 3601

& s d 1922 1292 17 5 348 1923 7031 13 11 666 1924 ... 10,912 13 4 856 1925 ... 14,579 5 9 1018 1926 .... 17,772 5 0 1180 1927 ... 21,313 3 1 1275 1928 ... 23,403 8 11 1353 1929 ... 26,006 16 8 1434 1930 . 28,044 10 4 1550 1931 ... 30,152 9 8 1650 1932 ... 29,518 11 9 1696