A PROMISING ENTERPRISE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 134, 1 March 1919, Page 6

A PROMISING ENTERPRISE

In tlio 'preliminary work put in ,hand at Mangahao a beginning is beingimade upon an enterprise that ought to .develop with very great benefit, to'-the southern districts' of the North Island. The /people of Wellington City and those' of many boroughs and towns and wide rural areas in the Wairarapa and Manawatu are. alike interested in seeing that no time is lost in harnessing the power that is, now running to waste at, Mangahao -and turning' it into usehi'l channels of - industry. ;ahd municipal service, flic position locally in regard" to the. supply of electric current admittedly, is acute. The municipal steam generating plant is heavily overtaxed, and .there- is a big unsatisfied demand • for current, a demand which seems likely ,to expand rapidly.,, No-doubt tile existing steam plant will have to be enlarged considerably in the. 'hear, future, and. it js; I'kcly to be retaiiied as a stand-by. for a long time to come. But. it seems to be' clearly established, that water-power offers at once a much cheaper source of electrical energy and one which can he exploited and turned to ac•eo.ujit on a much greater scale. In regard to the first of these points an informative comparison is made by Mr. Evan Paiihv (Chief Klecfcrical Engineer) in one of his recent reports to the Government. He states that at Auckland. the total cost of generating electricity with a isteain plant which is particularly good'-and"efficient of -its-kind is O.Od. per unit. As against this, current generated at Lake Coleridge is bcing'.spld.in Christc.hurqh.at.rather lessHlian half' the estimated,.cost of: generation'in, Auckland. In regard to' the general prospects raised at

Mangahao, iln. Parry h ils said that "there is no doubt but that at rates comparable with Coleridge tho scheme would be paying all chargesill a very short time." While there is no doubt that a big market for Mangahao power exists in Wellington City, the brisk agitation in favour of the active prosepution of the scheme that is being' conducted in the provincial centres of the Manawatu _ and Wairaraps sufficiently indicates that the demand for electric current for municipal and industrial purposes is widespread. Rural areas as well as boroughs and townships are intimately concerned in the matter. It has been fully demonstrated that electrical energy is capable of being profitably utilised in various ways ou the farm, particularly in dairying districts. . Available information seems to leave it in no doubt that this country stands to gain enormously from the energetic exploitation of . its water-power. The position of the Lake C()leridge undertaking is-sum-med up' in the official statement that' it has earned enough in its third year to pay working expenses and' interest, with a surplus to. the credit of depreciation. Bearing in-mincl that-current is being supplied at a low rate, that the capital 'cost of such a scheme is inevitably heavy in comparison with the cost of its' subsequent.maintenance and operation, and that war conditions have seriously hampered : development at Lako Coleridge, these results must be accounted remarkably good. Owing to the impossibility of obtaining plant which is needed to cope witlr the";demand for current,'restrictions on business have becii in operation for two years. The " works, Mr. Parry has said, are only half-com-pleted, and-were never designed to pay- their way: at .such, a stage. In spite of .these, handicaps and limitations,, hydro-electric -.development has made' it possible to'cstablish new industries- in Canterbury and has given such a fillip to industry generally that'it was stated in evidence before the Industries Committee a few days ago that Christchurch- was in a-fair , way to become the.manufacturing centre of the Dominion. Reason'may appear for revising .this opinion if due eftergy and enterprise are shown in harnessing water-power services in the North Island. Such a policy is urgently demanded alike in view of the "existing demand for power and the immensely important piajiliilitics in the way of industrial 'expansion, . and transport, reorganisation which would; bo opened -by making a flexible and adaptable form of power freely available. The harnessing of Mangahao is only a stage.in the full development planned for tho North Island,' but in itself it holds particularly good promise. -The people of the extensive area immediately.. concerned-' have every incentive to 'maintain siioh a pressure upon the Government as will compel it to prosecute the enterprise'■-with all possible energy and 'expedition.-;.'