75

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REPORT. Mr. Bisks to the Hon. the Minister of Public Works. Sis,— Public Works Department, Wellington, N.Z., 26th October, 1910. Tn accordance with your instructions I have the honour to report herewith on — (1.) The future demands for electric power in each of the centres of the Dominion, as influenced normal growth of the population and the existing industries of the Do minion. (b.) The possibility of obtaining a supply of power in large quantities and at cheap rates by the development of the natural resources of the Dominion. (c.) The popularizing of electricity as a general domestic agency, and the introduction of electrical appliances in the homes of the people for heating, cooking,.and other purposes. (d.) The possible electrification of the suburban and ultimately of the main trunk railways, particularly on the heavier grades and the Lyttelton and Arthur's Pass tunnels. (c.) The establishment of special mechanical industries dependent on cheap power for their successful exploitation. (/.) The use of the surplus power for the manufacture of nitrate fertilizers, calciumcalbide, aluminium, and for other electro-chemical industries. (2.) The most favourable of the various available sources of power for immediate, development. (8.) The necessary plant and apparatus for developing and transmitting the power, with detailed capital costs. (4.) The estimated output, annual operating-costs, capital charges, and the prices at which the energy can be sold in order to make the undertakings remunerative. (5.) A comparison between these prices and the prices at which power can now be generated for various purposes within the Dominion and elsewhere. (6.) The influence of such cheap power-supplies on the industrial and social condition in America, Switzerland, Norway, and elsewhere, and the probable influence on the future of the Dominion. - In considering this question I understand it-is' to be approached with the object of conferring a public utility, improving the conditions of life of the people, and assisting in the development of the Dominion generally, rather than of yielding a large source of revenue to the Government. At the same time each undertaking must show a reasonable prospect of proving self-supporting, not only by paying interest and sinking fund, but also by Imilding up a reasonable reserve or depreciation fund, so that the whole system can be kept up to the requirements without falling back on loan-moneys for necessary replacements or renewals. The existing requirements and sources of power-supply, as extracted from the register kept by the Machinery Department, are shown in Table No. 1 herewith, amounting in all to 204,458-horse power, exclusive of the railways. This i+i generated by the various prime movers.as follows : — Hin Ht;- power. Par I lent. Steam-engines .. .. .. .. .. ] 50,137 73-5 Water-power .. .. . . . . . . 19,353 9-5 Gas-engines .. .. . . .. 23,456 11-5 Oil-engines .. . . .. .. .. 11,512 5-5 204,458 100-0 The fuller subdivision shown in Table No. 1 is intended to enable the following conclusions to be drawnWhen power is available at a sufficiently cheap rate it will be taken advantage of practically at once by the local bodies and the mining companies to replace their existing steam plants. The sawmills and flax-mills cannot be considered as probable customers, the former because they already have free fuel available in their shavings and offcuts, and the latter because they are generally in remote spots and of non-permanent nature, and it would therefore not pay to run mains to pick up this class of load. These two items amount to 30,000 i.h.p. out of 150,137 i.h.p. of steam-engines. The existing water-power, 19,353 h.p., must also be passed over as unavailable for an electrical development. But, deducting these amounts, it still leaves over 150,000 h.p. to be supplied. This figure is probably considerably on the low side, owing veryjeonservative system of rating the nominal horse-power of the steam-boiler installations employed by the Machinery Department.