REASON WHY POWER BOARD UNABLE TO SUPPLY NEW AREAS

Wanganui Chronicle, 20 July 1950, Page 10

REASON WHY POWER BOARD UNABLE TO SUPPLY NEW AREAS

Handicapped by four main difficulties manpower, material, maintenance and money the Wanganui - Kangitikei Electric Power Board could not undertake any more rural reticulation commitments, and there was no prospect of an early supply to all who were pressing for it, stated the chairman, Mr F. Purnell (Marton), in a statement yesterday. He was referring to a deputation’s request for reticulation of the Okoia Valley-Long Acre areas, and written representations on behalf of other districts, made at the board’s monthly meeting thia week. At the end of the year, the chairman added, the board would again review the overall position and decide on the immediate programme. “In 'the minds of some of these people who are not yet connected with the board’s service there seems to be an impression that 'the board is placing obstructions in the way of them be’.ng served,” said the chairman. “I want to make it as plain ; as I can that this is not the case. The ; board is here to serve as far as practicable all the people, and as quickly as it can do this it will do it. There are, however, several difficulties —I group them under the four M’s—manpower, material, maintenance and money. CONTINUITY OF SUPPLY “The first three are closely linked. During the years of war and immediately after, shortage both of manpower and material caused a postponement of maintenance work, and doing this is now the most urgent job the board has before it. Continuity of supply of electricity to the consumers •is most important, and unless the network over which 'the supply is given is maintained in good order I and strengthened from time to time Ito keep up with ever-increasing ! loads, the continuity of the service is I endangered. “In some measure that is the position now—another main line is necessary from the Okoia sub-station to serve Wanganui and district; at Marton we must build another trunk line from the sub-station to take care ot developments there; and at Taihape a similar line from Mataroa to Taihape is even more urgent. These are all large jobs urgently necessary to serve the present consumers, and no one with a knowledge of these needs could urge 'that they be delayed and the position further endangered by additional extensions on the receiving end of the system. “The seriousness of the manpower position is well illustrated when I sav that if another gang of linesmen could be engaged to work full time on the reticulation of those districts from which applications for power have been received, the engineer estimates that the work would take from eight to ten years to complete. “Then there is the money side of the problem. The board has over 14,000 consumers now, for a capital expenditure averaging a little over £5O a consumer. The average cost to supply the now unserved areas on today’s costs would be about £420 for each prospective consumer. Some of them are much worse than the average. For instance, to supply one of the prospects whose application is before the board would cost the board £lOOO. Too many extensions of this kind, if the board were able to make them, would soon undermine the financial stability of the board and react unfavourably upon the whole district. To these four M’s—manpower, material, maintenance and money—l think we might add a fifth onemiracles, which some of these settlers expect the board to perform. SOME RURAL EXTENSIONS “But the difficulties the board is carrying out some rural extensions and is committed, in the normal order of to 'two fairly large projects this year. One of them was to have been done in 1939. Guarantees were actually signed, and everything planned when the war broke out, and the people there are still waiting, 11 years after the time when everything was arranged. When these two works have been done the board will undertake some others that can be fitted in with its maintenance programme, and it will be necessary for the board then to adopt a policy by which some order of priority is to be fixed. There are several factors which will have to be considered in fixing these priorities. One that I hope will not be considered is the pressure that some applicants bring to bear upon board members. “So until the end of this financial year the board cannot undertake any more commitments. At the end of the year it will again review We overall position and decide on the immediate programme The board should, however, make it quite dear that there is no prospect of an early supply to all of those who are noil pressing for it,” the chairman stated.