HUTT POWER BOARD

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 56, 3 September 1926, Page 7

HUTT POWER BOARD

THE LIGHTING OF STREETS ( ENGLISH-BUILT TRUCKS. The fortnightly meeting of the Hutt Valley Electric Power Board was held yesterday. Present —Mr. J. A. M'Curdy (chairman), and Messrs. A. J. Hobbs, G. M'Namara, W. H. P. Barber, E. Windley,~H.. Jay, A. Walker, A. W. Prdss, and G. Lawrence. Miss Earp Thomas made a claim againßt the board for alleged damage done to her property through a line going over it. The board resolved to accept no liability. The offer of the. State Fire Office to take a third party risk at 5 per cent, was accepted. . Mr. E. Page, Coroner, forwarded the ovidence of an.inquest on the late M. O'Kane, who was killed while working 'for the board. He stated that comment had been made that tho workman was too young and that gloves for each worker and not one pair only should be supplied. The Coroner himself expressed no opinion on the question. The letter was received. Tho question of deviating ,the line where it . crosses the Walker Estate, near Plimmerton, was referred to the engineer for report. The board declined to accept liability in a claim made by Messrs. A. and T. Broderiek for damage alleged to be done through the board's line crossing their property. The claim was forwarded to the board's solicitors. It was decided to ask for exemption from the Electrical Workers' Award, with a view to coming to a private agreement with the employees. The following report by the engineer on the question of asking local bodies if they desired to change tho street lamps from 100 c.p. to 60 c.p. with a reduction in the cost from £3 10s to £3 per lamp per annum was adopted:— Where thirty 100 candle-power lamps give £105 revenue per anum per circuit, fifty 60 c.p. will givo a revenue of £150 per annum. This does not necessarily require all existing 100 c.p. lamps to be changed, but only those on existing circuits which aro reaching the overload point. The ongineer, Mr. E. Bickerstaff, reported that pole erection at Horokiwi Valley was practically completed, and a start was being made at Ohariu Valley. Poles and wires had been erected on tho Mandel Estate, Lower Hutt. There were now 4641 consumers connected. j Tho connected load for tho past month [ had been increased by 606 k.w., making a total of 11,838 k.w. to date; there were now 255 ranges and 28 cow-plants. During the last month the maximum demand had occurred principally during the hours from 6 to 10 p.m., the highest demand being on 14th August, at 7 p.m., when the demand was 1233 k.v.a. which showed an increase of 105 per cent, over the same date in 1925. The units purchased during tho week ended 22nd August were 110,340, being an increase of 71.9 per cent, over tho siuiilar week in 1925. The recommendation of the TeehnicaJ Committee that'two Morris-Cowley halfton trucks be purchased at a cost, with bodies, of £270 each, was adopted. Mr. Jay was added to the Accounts Committee and Mr. £. M( Namara to the Purchasing Committee.' The revenue account of tho board for the four months ended 31st July showed a profit of £440.