POWER BOARD OPERATIONS.

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18796, 18 November 1932, Page 9

POWER BOARD OPERATIONS.

v (To the Editor.) Sir,—Some of the remarks made by His Worship the Mayor of Hamilton in his statement to the Borough Council regarding amalgamation cannot be allowed to pass without comment. It is not proposed to discuss the pros and cons of amalgamation of the Hamilton borough electrical undertaking with that of the Central Electric Power Board. The position at present is that the council has a license to reticulate the. borough and supply it with electricity. The ideal sought by the Public Works Department in administering the Electric Power Board Act is that the power district should contain both town and country areas, these areas having community of commercial and industrial Interests.' The license under which the Borough Council is working has still many years to run, so it would appear that, under ordinary circumstances, amalgamation can be brought about only with the cooperation of the Borough Council and the goodwill of its ratepayers. The case here is different from that of most of the other towns in New Zealand which have their own licenses, inasmuoh as the latter are already included in power board areas, whilst this borough is not. As the law stands, in order to have the borough included in the power district it would bo necessary that a petition supported by at least 25 per cent, of the ratepayers should be presented to the Governor-General. After duly advertising the petition, thus giving the opportunity for counter-petitions, the authorities would take steps to include the area in the power district or to appoint a special commission to inquire into the matter and report. Presumably the commission to be set up to Inquire into local government administration generally will inquire into the merits of the case for amalgamation of electrical supply authorities, so no good purpose can be served at the present time in entering into a controversy on the subject. What my board is concerned about, however, is the criticism levelled toy His Worship at power boards generally in his endeavour to show reasons why amalgamation should bo opposed by the Borough Council. He condemned power boards for having raised loans and proceeded with reticulation work during peak prices. He applauded the Borough Council for its wisdom in having refrained from expending loan money on its electrical undertakings. As a matter of fact, had power boards waited for a substantial drop in cost of interest, I materials and labour, they would have j waited many years. Instead of being j already well established they would j only now have been getting under ! way. I

His Worship, in applauding tho Borough Council for having acted so wisely in not. spending loan money on reticulation work, must have forgotten the lavish expenditure of loan money on borough works other, than electrical. No, Sir, neither the. Hamilton Borough Council nor any other local authority can afford to throw stones at power hoards for spending borrowed money during those, years when loans were the order of the day. More especially Is this so when it is remembered that tlie boards have expended their money upon revenue-producing assets, whilst the hulk of Hie local body loan money has been spent on non-revenue-producing assets, anil rates will have to be collected for each and every year of the term of the loan. His Worship would have us believe that the vigorous development, by power boards has been detrimental to this country. He would have us believe that until rei’ently, when prices of materials and labour dropped, no attempt should have been made to improve the conditions of those resident In the country—that people in the, cities, bonousiii AJbJL to vena jiraj

entitled to receive all the advantages of eleotrlclty, whilst those In the country should ho quite content to grope ulong in darkness and lnconveni- | once. Fortunately—and I say fortunately j because power boards are business I concerns and require the revenue I forthcoming to Justify the cxpendl-' it lire —It has been possible for very largo portions of New Zealand to bo I reticulated. Most of the boards are now In a sound position, and few, very few indeed, have found it necessary to collect rates to support tho revenue. The general result of power •board operations lias exceeded the most sanguine expectations. No one will doubt but Unit tho supply of electricity throughout the power districts has been an important factor in Ibc development of the country and j die settling of people on the land, and > what is Just as important, these days, J j| has done much to keep people there. 1 instead of large sums of money being J sent out of New Zealand for benzine , and kerosene, the money has been re-j tained, and a large amount of employ- j ment is being found in a now iiulusiry, which has rcsnllcd in giving those . concerned better and cheaper service | for their vnone> . The operations of j power boards have, with perhaps a few exceptions, been justified by the i results. —I am, etc., !h J. BE EC HE, j Secretary, i Central Electric Power Board. ' Bajuilttn, r 14, 1932- !