Rise In Revenue From Sales Of Electricity

Chronicle (Levin), 18 August 1949, Page 4

Rise In Revenue From Sales Of Electricity

With a total net income . of £35,923, the revenue earned for ; the first four months of the current financial year, as compared with the same period last year, showed an increase of £1,385, said the managing-secretary, of the Horowhenua Electric Power Board, Mr. .R. A. Frederikson, in his report . to the August meeting of the board, held in Levin yesterday. * The July reading showed a decrease of £17 and indicated a substantial saying in mnits as the result of rationing, he added. Under domestic supply there had been a reduction of 67,319 units notwithstanding the fact that the 1949 r.eturns included -196 additional con--sumers. During July a check had been made on the accourits for the north area and, where consumption was excessive, consumers had been advised to make a reduction. The total number of accounts examined was 3926 in which 300 cases of excessive consumption 'were reeorded. A close check was being feiaintained as the meters were read and, if necessary, further action would be taken to, see that ,ali eonsumiersl kept within their allocation, concluded Mr. Frederik5son. Rural Increase. . Commenting, the chairman, Mr. T. G. Vincent, said tnat rationing was ooviousiy efiective as consumption last month was very little over allocation. The colder weather this month, however, had resulted in an excess consumption of 4 per cent., and while the co-operation of the great majority of the consumers was appreciated to the full, economy was still unfortunately necessary. He appealed for continued co-operation. -The rural load was still ahead--m« fact, 20 per cent. up month by month — and he wondered what could be the cause. He realised it . had been a good productive season, but that should noi account for all the rise. He wondered whether housewives in rural areas were "getting their hot water from the cowshed installations. Now that the school holidays were approaching he anticipated a skyrocketing of power usage at the beach cottages during this period. Some method would have to be found by the .board to counteract this, he added. Commenting generally on the power position, Mr. Vincent said that 4 per cent. of the consumers had exceeded their allocations, but m some instances it had been found that it was through no fault of the user. fn these cases necessary action had been taken to give them a little more power. In other cases -there was no reason for the excess usage. The meters of these persons would be checked and checked severely. Last week there had been excessive consumption and also the week before. This was causing the board concern and there was only one ray of sunshine and that was that the lakes were all fairly full. Whether or not the board got the cane from the controller yet remained to be seen. EngineeFs Report. During the month 60 applications had been received for new connections, including 57 light and heater installations, 27 ranges, 28 waterheaters, two milking motors, two separator motors, five pumping motors and 15 small industrial motors, reported the engineer, Mr. J. F. Bryce. During the month 96 applications had been received for extensions to electrical appliances. Sixty-four new consumers and .40 new extensions had been connected and 12 temporary connections for builders put on. Some re-inspection of consumers' installations had been carried out, 60 in all -being tested and found satisfactory. , Commenting, the chairman said that staff shortages had slowed up 'this side of the work for some time, and he hoped that an average of 60 could be maintained every month