SALE OF ELECTRICITY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4930, 25 January 1926, Page 2

SALE OF ELECTRICITY.

THAMES VALLEY BOARD.

THE YEAR’S PROGRESS.

The magnitude of the Thames Valley Electric Power Beard’s operations, and its. remarkable progress, fe not generally realised, stated the chairmap (Mr Frank Claxton) to a Thames "Star” reporter last week. “The board came into being in 1929, .and now distributes electricity over an area of over 2000 square miles. It serves the counties of Piako, Ohinemuri, Hauraki Plains, and Thames, tiie boroughs of Tc Aroha, Waihi, Morrins.vilfle, Paeroa. Thames, and the Matamata township. These areas are populated by 30,000 people, andr unimproved value is £7,500,000. Since its inception the board has been particularly fortunate in its management. The district was reticulated by Messrs Gauvain and McLeod, engineers, of Auckland, and Mr R. Sprague is the manager of an efficient staff. The board itself as' composed of men experienced in executive control, and includes five ex-county chairmen, two ex-Mayors, ajnd one extbwn board chairman. The board buys its electricity per quarter from the Government station at Horahora on .wihat is called the maximum demand. This .means that if .the board’s load reaches 2000 volts •’ K.V.A. on a certain afternoon, that is the amount charged far every day pf the quarter. A simpler explanation is given in an instance of a large consumer, who held hfe' peak load to a fairly low figure for two months and twenty-nine days. On the jtihrtieth, the last day of the quarter, the load suddenly shot up to an unusually high figure. The experience shows that the peak load throughout the board’s extensive area, occurs at the hour .of 7-30 o’clock’ in the morning at five o’clock in the afternoon, occasioned! by the universal, use of milking machines. ’ • Though the board does not claim that its charges to the consumer are the lowest in the Dominion, they nevertheless compare favourably with ( the charges levied by the majority of New Zealand power boards. It sends its electricity current along 1250 miles of wire, and, in addition, can talk ’ over a distance of 250 miles through its own telephones, which are served by 35 telgraph stations. , Electricity is n<Jw supplied to no less than 1600 farm motors, of which 1400 are of the 2-h.p. type used in driving milking machines. Wa,ter heaters, for farm hygiene, totfil 650, and 80 farmers’ wives do their cook-; ing with electric stoves, apart from those used in the boroughs'of Thames and Te Aroha. , The following revenue table indicates the growth of the board’s business :— - .

1922 __ __ — 27,057 1923 __ — __ 59,543 1924 __ __ __ 82,321 1925 __ __ __ 99;107 From the figures for three-quarters of this period already passed the indications. are that a record revenue may be expected at Marcli 31 next. One explanation is that the utility of elec-i trieity is every month being more demonstrated in farm, mine, foundry, workshop, quarry’, flaxmill, sawmill, and the home.

Farmers have, also, been interested in the electrical, treatment of maize for ensilage, and experiments are now being made with a view to utilising the surplus power for what are now useleiss, swamp areas. By far the most important feature of the year’s undertakings has been the negotiations with the Public; Works Department for the connection' of the Tauranga McLaren Falls Power' Station wjth thus supplementing the present supply and furnishing a stand-by in the event of any mishap’on the Horahora line. A further connection has also been* arranged for at Bombay with the Horahora-Auckland line to proceed; via, Wiatakaruru ,to Waikino. This is ; expected to prove of great advantage, to the whole of the board’s district,, and more particularly the Haurakii Plains, inasmuch as’ greater security of supply will be afforded with) much’ more regulation of voltage. Tikis' Hine will cost £24,000 in addition to a £5OOO s.ub-s.tation, which will probably be erected in the vicinity of Ngatea. The department has advised that this work will be commenced before the autumn.

Some indication of tiie. huge quantity of current paid for is given by the fact that ten million units are being used this ye;ar. Thig’ is approximately a quarter of the whole output from Horahora. *

Three years .ago farmers in certain areas responded indifferently to a canvass, for more consumers. There is a different story fo-day. A' recent canvass disclosed that these farmers are now impatient for electrical ir.-’ ptallations, and it will not be very long before practically every farm in the boards area will be lighted and heated by electricity. There have been frequent comments. on competition from' benzinedriven motors. These are best answered by the fact that not single electricity user has returned to benzine. Such is the popularity of electricity on the farm that just recently the board installed 97 milking ma.chine motors in one month. Loans authorised to date amount to £700,00'0, of which £650,000 has, been Kpent, and the balance is. arranged, for to allow the continuance of operations until September next. The board will then approach the ratepayers for authority to raise a further loan of, probably, £150,000. No difficuflty is anticipated because of the year’s remarkable progress, which is s.ure to convince ratepayers of the soundness of the board’s position and the extreme improbability of any rate being istreuk to pay interest on additional loans.