GUARANTEES FOR SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY IN RURAL AREAS

Grey River Argus, 6 October 1948, Page 6

GUARANTEES FOR SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY IN RURAL AREAS

Land to Bear The Obligation P.A. WELLINGTON, October 5. Registration against the title to the land of agreements for rural electrical reticulation is provided for in the Electricity Amendment Bill, which was introduced and read the first time in the House of Representatives to-day. The Bill also validates regulations affecting installations, some of which had been held invalid by the Privy Council. Hon. R. Semple said that the Bill was a non-contentious measure of six clauses. Before a Supply Authority would consider extending its line's into sparsely populated areas, it would usually require a guarantee from the consumer that he would take a quantity of electricity which would represent, as far as the Supply Authority was concerned, a return of approximately fifteen per cent, on the capital cost of putting the line in. The consumer might leave the property, or might die soon after the line was put in, and the first part of the Bill was designed to protect the supply authorities against such events. The Bill provided that electricity agreements covering these guarantees given by consumers might be registered against the consumer’s title to the land, whether he be the owner or the lessee. It was provided that the agreements would run with the land, thus protecting the supply authority if the original guarantor' sold out, died, or left the property. The agreements would remain registered against the title to the land until such time as the obligations and benefits of the agreement were fulfilled. The Rural Reticulation Board gave a maximum of seven and a-half per cent, assistance to people in sparsely populated areas, according to the help they required. Since the rural reticulation legislation was passed, approval had been given to 909 miles of reticulation, which would never have been provided had it not been for that legislation. The Minister said the provisions validating the regulations affecting electrical installations were necessary in view of the fact that, following a fire in Auckland some years ago, the Privy Council had ruled that certain of the Regulations were invalid. It was essential, in the interests of the safety of the public, that the regulations should be validated. The Bill also widened the scope on which the Regulations might be made.