D.—l

XXIV

The installations when completed will have a capacity of 24,000 h.p., which is the full capacity of the available supply of water. The distribution of the power will be entrusted to Wellington City and seven Electric-power Boards which have been constituted for the purpose. Each of these Power Boards is making good progress. The power will, of course, be supplied to the districts which are first ready to take supply, and, obviously, power cannot be held idle for any district unless it is paid for. But on the basis of all being ready to take up their quota on the completion of the headworks and distribution-lines the following allocation has been made : — Horse-power. Wellington City and district .. .. .. 12,000 Hutt Valley Electric-power Board .. .. .. 2,000 Uorowhenua Electric-power Board .. .. . . 1,200 Manawatu Electric-power Board .. . . .. 3,300 Rangitikei Electric-power Board .. .. .. 1,800 Wairarapa Electric-power Board . . .. . . 2,000 Tararua Electric-power Board . . . . .. 1,000 Dannevirke Electric-power Board . . .. .. 1,300 Negotiations are now in hand for the contract for the supply to Wellington City, but the Power Boards have not yet entered, into negotiations for their supply contracts. The above allocations amount to about one in ten of the population — approximately the same proportion as the output of the Lake Coleridge and Waipori plants bears to the population of the districts supplied. It is therefore anticipated that Mangahao will be fully loaded to the same extent, as those plants now are within a very few years of the inception of supply, and that it will then become necessary to supplement the supply by joining up with Waikaremoana. Arapuni Electric-power Supply. The Arapuni scheme stands on a different footing to the others that have previously been put in hand in New Zealand in that it cannot be developed to advantage in stages to meet the load as it grows. Owing to the large dam and heavy headworks, this scheme cannot pay until the output reaches about 36,000 h.p., and the only district which could offer a sufficient demand to ensure this load being reached in the early future is Auckland City. But the City Council had recently arranged to consolidate and increase its steam plant to 26,000 h.p., and it was necessary, therefore, to know definitely before putting the Arapuni works in hand whether the city intended to take power from Arapuni when available or to continue to operate its steam plant. A contract was therefore negotiated providing for the supply to the city from the Arapuni works, and this contract has been completed by the Auckland Electric-power Board, which in the meanwhile was formed to take over the whole electric-supply system from the City Council. This contract anticipates that the Board will take a supply of at least 15,000 kw. (20,000 h.p.) in 1928, when it is anticipated that the Arapuni works will be ready to supply, the Board building up its load to this or such greater demand as may be available in the meanwhile by means of its steam plant. In the meanwhile the surveys and preliminary works at Arapuni have been put in hand. Waikaremoana Electric-power Supply. Tins power-station will be required in the early future, mainly to supplement the demand for power from Mangahao Power-station, and the proposal is to then provide an installation of 40,000 h.p. In the meanwhile the exciter units of the large plant consisting of two 500 h.p. water-wheels coupled to 350 kw. alternators and direct-current generators are being installed in a temporary power-house, and will be utilized at once for supply to the Wairoa Electric-power Board up to a capacity of 750 h.p., the balance of 250 h.p. being reserved for the construction of the main works.