ELECTRIC LIGHT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 276, 10 August 1918, Page 9

ELECTRIC LIGHT

DEPARTMENT'S ANNUAL REPORT NET PROFIT £29,000 Tho Electric Lighting Department is (ho best trading department the city possesses. According to the figures presented'. in 1 the annual report and balancesheet, a net profit was made of £!9.U8 18s. (id., on a total capital' expenditure of ,£221,165 05. fid., or a shade over 13 per cent., and that is after providing for interest on loans, for public and private lighting, a sinking fund (in both cases), a reriewal fund of H per cent, on depreciable assets; and a reserve fund of 11 per cent.-a total of .£16.791 18s. Thus it will lie seen that the department is in a very satisfactory way, perhans a little, mo'ro so than the iuzures would serve to show, because, owing to tho exigencies of war time, tho department is at the end of its resources (in mid-winter), and cannot extend in tho manner it would under normal conditions. A considerable sum of money will be required for new plant and buildings, as soon as it is practicable to go ahead, and the policy of piling up the reserve in view of that ■contingency is a wise one. The report states that the total iinraber of connections at March 31. 1918, was 15.640, an increase of IS2I during the year, and are as follow:— 1917-18. 1916-17 Lighting connections' .... 10,35 l 9,454 Heating connections 4,878 4,003 Power connections 378 362 Totals- 15,6-10 13,819 "The following table shows tho yearly expansion during the last ten complete years , :— ■ Total .Yearly Year. connections, increase. 1908-9 4,136 453 1803-10 4,510 374 1910-11 5,868 858 1911-12 0.613 1,245 1912-13 7,88-1 1,279 1913-14 9,057 1,173 1914-15 10,453 1,396 1915-16 12,130 1,677 v 1916-17 13,819 1,089 1917-18 15,640 ' 1,821 "During the past year tho department has had many difficulties to contend with, mainly caused through the inability to procure -supplies of materials. Despite these difficulties wo have been enabled to make 1821 now connection, which constitutes a record for the department. Unfortunately, we cannot continue to increase at this rate, as our plant has now reached tho stage when it is inadvisable to further tax its capacity, and there is little prospect of'overcoming this obstacle -until the war is over. "During tho year there has been an increased demand for current for heating purposes. The connections have increased by 875, and the units sold for heating purposes show an increaso of 28 per cent , ' "Dunns tho year a now domestic tariff was inaugurated, and up to the present about. 2000 connections have been made ou _ tho new system, which is workins admirably, and promises to be advantageous to both consumer and corporation. Briefly, the system is that only one rnctoy is installed for both lighting and heating, instead of Wo meters as formerly, a predetermined number of units being charged for at lighting rate, and all units used in escass of such amount at heating rate. "The amount expended on tiio maintenance of the overhead mains is considerably less t'ban it ought to lie, as several of tho mains should be renewed and increased in size. Unfortunately, nothing cau be done in this matter until the war is over, and tho market is open for a snpply of vulcanised rubber cable."