ELECTRICAL SUPPLY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 123, 25 May 1926, Page 7

ELECTRICAL SUPPLY

A NATIONAL SCHEME

GOVERNMENT'S NEW BILL

CONTEOL BY A CENTRAL BOARD.

' (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 18th March. In a recent speech at Birmingham the Prime Minister outlined a scheme for. the reorganisation of the supply of electricity cm a national basis. The actual terms' of the Bill —which contains 40 clauses and seven schedules— have now been made public. The report of the committee appointed by the Minister of Transport, under the chairmanship of Lord Weir, to review the. national problem of the supply of electrical energy, has also been published. .. ..:..: The Bill is drawn up on the basis that in 15 years' time the electrical consumption of Great Britain will have more than quadrupled. We are now using 110 units per head of the population, and the couimitte contemplate the use by 1940 of 500 units, the total now reached in the United States of America. By the adoption of the scheme it is considered that current would be available at less than half the .present average price per unit of just over 2d. The main proposals by which this development of generation and economy of manufacture are to,be achieved are outlined by the committee as follow:— All energy shall be generated in certain selected main and secondary power stations, of which &3 aro existing and 15 aro new. Four hundred and thirty-two existing station's will eventually be closed down. A "gridiron" of high-tension transmission mains will be erected interconnecting all selected stations, and coupling up with existing regional transmission systems and other existing stations. „ CENTRAL BOARD. It is proposed that the carrying out of the scheme should be entrusted,to a central electricity board, to be created by Act cf Parliament. After the' board has made the necessary arrangements it is recommended that all high tension energy generated by authorised undertakers in this country after a certain elate should be generated under control in accordance with a technical scheme for the country, and sold through the board to all authorised undertakers at cost price. It is proposed that the central board should consist of representatives of the Government, the municipal bodies, and industry,- nominated by Government departments, to receive no salary. It is estimated that the technical scheme will involve during the next 15 years new money to the extent of upwards of '£250,000,000. NATIONAL SAVING. A great saving in cost is claimed for the scheme under which it'is--re-garded as possible to supply energy at an average price of Id per uiiit^ The committee were advised that \vith existing conditions the average price could, not bo reduced below ljd> and •would probably not fall below ljd. In the former case the adoption of the scheme would result iv an annual saving of £44,500,000 on the national electricity bill when tho consumption.had reached 500 units per head, and in the latter case 566,800,000. . : . The scheme is based on the generation of all energy required for the country in crtain selected stations, and tho construction of main, transmis-sion-lines interconnecting the, selected stations and joining up with-the other .stations and transmission systems. The committee arc of opinion that, while the selected stations should-be operated in accordance with a scheme for the whole country, it is not necessary that the stations sh uld change ownership, and that, in fact, there are certain advantages in separate ownership. Aii element of control is, however, essential. At the same time, under existing conditions, there is no authority ■which could create the system of interconnecting lines. „•■•..".■-- INTERCONNECTING LINES. The Central Electricity Board, it is proposed, should be required to lay down the system of interconnecting lines, and should, subject to appeal to the Electricity Commissioners, exercise j the necessary control over the operation of the selected station's by means of | contractual arrangements. After full consideration of thr> various alternatives, the committee conclude.that there should be a virtual pooling of all1 electricity so generated. Any other method would lead'to artificial prices on a marginalor by-product basis, and would be both unstable and unsatisfactory in character. To obtain this virtual pooling, the contractual arrangements referred to rhould be of such a. nature as to secure that the owners of the select? Ed stations will act as agents of the board. All the operating expenses, including capital charges, v,ill be met by the board on whose account the energy ■will be generated. The owners of the stations will repurchase such energy as they require for their own purpose; at cost price.. BEST KS3ULTS FOB ALL. The key of the new scheme lies in an clement new to the British el ctrical industry—complete inter-connection of generating stations. "The advantages," state the committee, "will have reaction favourable in nature though varying in degree on all existing undertakers. In : word, all will benefit by the creation and use of something which no one of them could creat individually. At the present time there exists no auJfority with powers to construct and operate a transmission system on the scale contemplated. Further, it will in -olve heavy capital expenditure, and therefore presents a financial problem unlikely to be solved without some measure of State assistance or guarantee. These two considerations point to the conclusion that the generation of hightension energy must bo regarded in an entirely new light. It must be recognised that a beneficial mechanism created by the help of the StatJ must be operated so as to secure the best results for all, and the realised' economies must inure in the main' to the consumer. " ' As to how soon the proposed board •would be financially self-supporting, the report states that from detailed esti- \ mates the committee is satisfied"', that a comparatively small working capital coupled with the ability to capitalise interest for a period of up to five years, ■would enable the .board to transmit energy at about O.lod per .unity for' the "first few years, and eventually at a figure of 0.1(Uor le3S, and to' pay its way from the beginning of its operation. It is not considered that the "tariff" of the grid-iron should at-tho outset be uniform throughout the country, although this is the ideal envisage. Variations in the price of coal will probably render it prudent to zone or area tariffs in the parly years. 85, Fleet street. '