POWER CONTROL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 154, 17 July 1937, Page 8

POWER CONTROL

Our Own Correspondent)

REPORTS TO CENTRAL H.B BOARD

(From

WAIPUKURAU, Last Night. - The monthly meeting of the Central Hawke's Bay Electric Power Board was held at Waipukurau to-day. Prescnt; Messrs A, C. Russell (cLairman), W. H. Rathbone, A. C. Holms, A. W. S. Langley, M. Ryan, J. A. Kerr, F. ,T. Witherow, C. Pattison, and W. A. Chambers. The chief Electrical Engineer, Wellington, wrote confirming .the extension to Burnside. The secretary-manager reported that the line had now been opened. ' ' That is good news," remarked a member. Approval of the extension of the No. 2 line to Springhill was received from 'botk the Chief Electrical Engineer, Wellington, - and the Telegraph Engineer, Napier. ' The acting-Minister of Broadcasting advised that careful consideration would be given to the Power Board 's advice that power would be available in lhe Central Hawke's Bay area for a broadcasting station.; — Received. It was decided to purchase a ligkt truck at a cost of £258. Secretary'g Report The secretary-manager 's inonthly report read as f'ollows: — - The value of the energy sold in Waipukurau borough for the iirst two months of the financial year totalled, gross £1,111 19/2, discount £54 5/2. nett £1,057 14/-. The revenue, therofore, for the sale of energy in this portion of the. board 's area ws £1,057 14/-, as co'mpared with £1,082 2/8 in 1936 and £1,110 3/8 for the same period m 1935. Poles. — The poles ordered in Noveraber last have been very slow in delivery. I am glad to report that the balance of the 1936 order will arrive here within the next 10 days per Port Tauranga. The 26ft. poles "which are included in the c(|nsignment are particularly required for service lines. * The activity in all branches is most m«,rked, and we have not been sq busy for many yeaTs. There must, as a x«sult, be some delay in fulfilling all requirements, as much work is scheduled to be carried out in due course. Altogether close on 30 persons are doing Power Board work at present in-. this area. ' - \ Extensions. — A further guarantee fpr an extension on the Springhill 'line hha been received. The necessary pegging has been carried out to give the additional consumers supply, as it is wise fco build the -line while the contractor l& working in the vicinity. Two small extensions are waiting — viz, Mr E. Poulton, Kopua, and Mrs Kirk and Mr E. Wright, Marakeke road. As these two lino| are less tlian two miles in all, it might be as well to linish them prior to procOeding with the lengthy Tamumu line. The work would take only a few days in each case. Guarantees. — While on the question of guarantees, I think that this system could well be revised. The area to which supply is not yet available is now fairly well defined. In order that we may have some definite information as to the guarantees-, it would be as well — where requests come in for knowledge of required guau»>t?ees — if the line in question be pegged out and the necessary map also made out. The exact guarantee will then be available, and even if the power is not required at the moment, the information will be' on hand for all time. In regard to the request for the guarantee to give supply on the Wimbledon road, this course might well be ,.f ollowed so soon; as opportunity presentV itself after Tamumu is pegged out. Concrete Pole Factory. — In order to obtain an extra 42ft. of spacing between the poles, some alterations are being mado to the moulding at the eon-' crete factory. The concrete works will shortly be in full swing. agaiu. Despite the fact that power boards have made great reduction in tlie price to their own consumers, boards themselves have received nothing whatever in the way of reduetions from the department. The bulk price for energy is one of paramount importance xto all lighting authofities. , ; ■- Additions for the mohth were as f ollows: — New consumers 5," ranges iv stalled 4, hat water services 4, motors 3 (3£ h.p.), additional heat points to present installations 8. Engineer's Report The inspector-engineer 's report was as followsi— - Extensions. — Burnside extension has been completed and connected, the work having been carried out by our own gung. This extqnsion- cntailed the reconstruction of half a mil0 of existing L.T. line, suificicnt to carry high tension, with a further quarter milo to give supply to Mr Ha! as. Formerlv, tho Vicarage obtaincd supply from the extrem0 ond of th|0 half-mile section, and as their situation was Cdnveniently close to Mr Hales, I arranged'for them to be fed off the same transformer, thereby improving their service to some large extent. Stoddart's extension at Wallingford has been commenced also by our gang, and by the time this report is received by the Board, it will be completed. The L.T. Line giviug supply for the construction of the r -w Waipawa Railway Bridge has bern completed and connected. The following extensions have been pegged, and the necessary plans are being drafted: Hamilton 's, Argyll; Poulton 's, Kopua; Wright 's and Kirk's, Hatuma. The pegging of Tamumu extension has been commenced and should bo completed in two wcek's time. A further extension to the Springhill line has been pegged to Mr Gunson's house, situated on White's road, and an approximate guarantee submitted ha« been accepted, pending tho actual jruarantee 'being formod. ' " There are two power l'ailures to b» roported upon, The firat one occurred

on July 5 at approximately 9.30 a.m., and was caused through a tree being f ellgd inadvertently on a hjgh tension line in the Otowhao area, causing. cIImruption of the Waipukurau • feeder for aproximately 30 minutes before the iaulty seetion was isolated. Power was resumed in the Otawhao area in two koura' time. The second failure oceurred on July 10 at approximately 8.15 p.m., disorganising supply to a portion of the Main street, Waipukurau, and RaceoouTso' road. The failure oceurred at a most. jnconvenient time, and it was approximately 50 minutes before power was re.sumed. The cause of failure was due to two fuses blowing on the Cook street substation. There was a delay caused through the fault affeeting both a main cireuit and a subeircuit. Both oceurred at different times and required two separate investigations. . . Our line contractor is making steady progress on the Springhill extension, and has erected poles as far as the school. All poles have been transported and laid on the Springhill extension.