ELECTRIC POWER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19368, 27 July 1925, Page 5

ELECTRIC POWER

INTERESTING ADDRESS BY MR. P. H. SMITH. ITS APPLICATION TO THE WAN-GANUI-RANGITIKEI DISTRICT An interesting address on matters appertaining to electricity and its distribution throughout the country was dc- | livcred by Mr P. 11. Smith, managing I secretary of tho Wanganui-Rangitikei Electric Power Board, in the course of I his reply to the toast of “The Wanganui - Rangitikei Electric Power (Board,’ proposed at Friday night’s • >mok(> concert, conducted at Westmere by the Rapanui, Brunswick and West- | men* branches of the Fanners’ Union, j Mr Smith prefaced his remarks by referring to the establishment of the , Electric Power Board. “With regard Io the establishment of tho Board it may be of interest to realise the responsibilities that attach to the farmers in connection with the Electric I ower Board, and I would say that you apparently aprcciatc th" significance of this local body,” he said. The Government, he pointed out, undertook to generate current to be transmitted to the various centres so that 44 juice” could be distributed economically to servo the remoter parts in the <-ounity by combining one district with another. . Ihe whole of the country was cut up for this purpose, ami the WanganuL Rangitikei Electric Power Board was one of the largest districts in New Zealand. The representation on the boards was such that it. gave the country equal representation in regard to value and population with the largo centres. Wanganui city itself, in the first instance, was excluded from this district, and there had been a good deal of controversy in relation to the board purchasing the steam plant. The city with its steam plant was making a loss on the electrical undertaking, but th< fact that Wanganui contained a population of twenty-five thousand made it most desirable that the board should acquire the plant. Tho financial obligations in regard to the purchase of tho plant were spread over the whole district—that was the fanners were burdened with the purchase of tho plant. That was a substantial obligation to place on the farmers, but Mr Smith went on and explained the relative advantages that accrued from the purchase of the city ’s electrical undertaking. The benefit of combining a town load with a country load was

that the townspeople did not require current at the same time as the dairy farmers. A diversified load meant the sale of kw. more times than otherwise would bo • the case over the twenty-four hours. By purchasing from tho Government 1100 kw. tho board could supply tho city demand of: 1000 kvf. and the country demand of 400 kw., and this was where the country gained the advantage. In the first instance the Board by force of necessity created an unpleasant flavour by striking a small rate in order to got things going, but the board's policy was to avoid repetition of this action ami make the. rate non-recurring. Mr Smith proceeded to deal with matters in connection with the erection of transmission lines in the country, ami tho board’s attitude in requiring the settlers to guarantee 20 per cent, of the capital cost of the line for five years. In this manner the actual cost of the line was assured before the work was taken in hnnd. While there be cases of individual hardship occasioned, it must be admitted that the policy of the board in this connection was a sound one to adopt. If a scheme was advanced soundly cheaper current would be available than if they launched out all over the country, ho said. The experiment of not burdening the

settlors with a guarantee had been tried in this district, but it had been proved in this particular area that the revenue would not compare immediately with other places whore the guarantee had been asked. The policy of tho board in establishing that revenue had to be guaranteed was a sound one that should be appreciated by the farmers. A further concession granted by the Board was that the cost of the

service line was included in the capital cost, of reticulation. In drawing comparisons between tho financial position between the board and other power districts, Mr Smith said that, one board lie had in mind had raised £1,500,000 and spent it. They had no more consumers than tho local board, and have had to strike a rate. They certainly

had sold an enormous number of ranges, but these ranges. he contended, had been forced on the consumer at the revolver point as they had to use the current by some means or other. The rate struck by tho particular board would bring in £7,000, but that would still leave them short. The local board had, however, established the lines in this district to prevent anything of that nature occuring. Mr Smith paid a tribute to the " ork of the resident engineer (Air Webb) and outlined some of the difficulties with which he was confronted in regard to erecting the country lines. He next dealt with the reason for the variation in the charge for electric current, which was 7d a unit for lighting purposes and Id a unit for power. The extra was charged for illumination because there was no other form of light that could compare with electricity, and therefore the Board had to get as much as they could for the “juice” supplied. Tho variation in the othci direction was due to the competition created by other forms of cooking, etc. The fly in the ointment so far as the dairy farmer was concerned was the charge of a flat rate plus a unit charge, but at the last meeting of the board the question of the reduction oZ the cooking rate was deferred pending a reduction in this particular rate. In his concluding remarks Mr Smith dealt with the charge's required for milking motors, and continuous loads, and stated that as the Power Board flourished there could only be one tendency, and that was that the price of current would be reduced.