ELECTRIC LIGHTING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 252, 12 July 1918, Page 7

ELECTRIC LIGHTING

POWERS OF CURTAILMENT WARNING REPORT FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER ( Al Inst evening's meeting of (ho City Council tho Tramways and Powerhouses Committee forwarded ;i report from tho Seneral manager of tho electric lighting department with respect to tho overloading of tho electric lighting station during certain hours of tho day. The committee recommends that tho" power* conferral on the council by the regulations jindcr 1 lie War Regulations Amendment i\ut, restricting tho use of coiil-pas lind electricity, published in tho A ; oiv Zealand Gazette of June 6, 1917, be. delegated to tho general manager of tho lighting department, the manager (o ex•e.ruiso a prelerenco for tho uso of radiators over superfluous lighting. 'h" 5 report from tho general manager (Mr. W. if. Morton) was as follows:—"! ihavc to'report for the information of tho council that during the present week tho load oil (he lighting station has exceeded tho maximum load previously recorded, and it is anticipated that iis the winter progresses still heavier, loads will requiro to bo mot. There is no satisfactory method of meeting any extra demand, and it may therefore become imperative to curtail at short notice tho output iu some satisfactory manner. 'After giving the matter careful consideration, I have to recommend that tho council pass a resolution delegating tho power granted m terms of the War Ite. ®ulalious contained in the New Zealand (.iazetto of Jimo 8, 1917, paragraph 7. IThis will onable tho department to cut out advertising signs, radiators, and other heating devices during tho hours of peak load, i.e., from i p.m. to 6 p.m. Tho difficulties wo have to contend with «t tho present time aro due to the overloading of our plant during tho hours of maximum load. There aro at present oyer 1100 radiators-iu use in the commercial area of tho city, and the discontinuance of the»c during the hours mentioned will bring the load within the capacity of tho plant without inflicting undue hardship." Tho Mayor pointed out that tho trouble was experienced at peak-load times, and 3io felt that this power should he given to the manager. If it were not they might find themselves probably in a tmuch worse position than they were in at present. Councillor Hildreth raised the point hs to what was to happen to a linu whose electric radiators wore cut off who lad installed them in compliance with the labour laws. Councillor Luckio asked what machinery they had for compelling peopio and business firms to cut off their light or 'heat at any hour. Tho Mayor said it was being done at the present time, and the public were falling in with the arrangement without any trouble. Councillor C. B. Norwood said that tho Mayor should amingo for the council to discuss tho whole question of tho city's supply of electricity. He knew there was a league for encouraging a 'hydro-electric supply, but they could not ' wait for the league—tho demand was too keen and too big. They would perhaps benefit if a committee was set up to 1 formulate some scheme that would bo 1 proceeded with as soon as the war ended, i Councillor J. Fitzgerald said that the .breakdown of the Lake Coloridge scheme ■ had altered the whole aspect of a hydroelectric supply. He had heen in Christ- 1 church when a breakdown-had occurred, | and it was a vory serious matter indeed, lie had been a strong advocate of hydruoleclric schemes, but the breakdown in the. south had certainly made him think there was another side to the ques- i lion, i . ,io Mayor said that as to Councillor 1 •Norwood's suggestion to set up a committee, he would point out that there ! was a committeo always considering the < question. 'L'lie Tramways Committee was I always discussing and- considering tho 1 matter, and no special committee net up 1 could do any more than it was doiug. ' As to tho breakdown of the Lake Coler- 1 idge scheme, the conditions prevailing in ' the south would nevor prevail intha 1 ■Wellington district. They never had 1 snowfalls here anything like they had in , J Canterbury. Apart from that,, the Mayor s said tlie breakdown had been- attribut- < able to the poor-quality insulators which c wero in use, because better ones could not : obtained owing to the exigencies of war. Those insulators had heen affected J jiot so much' by the snow tis by the irost, which cracked them. < The powers proposed in the recor.iTueu- 1 dation were granted. - i ===== 1