POWER BOARD LOAN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4971, 7 May 1926, Page 3

POWER BOARD LOAN.

NEXT WEDNESDAY’S POLL. ADDRESS TO RATEPAYERS. \ To give a general outline of the progress of the Thames Valley Power Board’s work, and to enlist sympathy and support for a proposal to borrow a 'further £150,000 for extensions, to the system, the. chairman of the board (Mr F. Claxton) and the engineer ' (Mr N. G. McLeod) are now travelling 850 miles to address 21 meetings of settlers in thirteen days. Probably owing to the adverse weather during the last few days the at- ; tendance of settlers' at the centres visited on .the Hauraki' Plains has been small. As the benefits’ of electricity are. sb apparent to all those who are fortunate enough to be within a reticulated area, and the loan proposal is to enable those, benefits to be secured by other settlers at no cost but very probably a saving to present usersi, Mr Claxton’s address is pubIshed/in extensor ' . Incidentally',' it, is worthy of. note that there milking motors Jn the Hauraki Plains County thajiin any other county of-the same size in the Dominion, a,nd that of the farm- • ens who have had the power installed ..for milking and who have not had. their engines removed from thedr sheds, not one in the 'whole of the board’s area has changed back from electricity to benzine, though ’after the first quarter they could, have done sb without, any expense. MR. CLAXTON’S' ADDRESS. “The huge sums,.bf money that have been and are now being spent by the Government on generating plants - make it compulsory that electric current'should be used in every possible way to ensure these generating works becoming commercial ’ propositions J without becoming a drain, on the Consolidated Fund of the Dominion. It is, then, not only common sense, but common selfishness, that w®, as ratepayers, • should sanction the raising of further funds to provide extensions and secure more consumers'. The genera) use of alone will " be the- greatest factor in securing reduction of charges, from the department to the boagld and from the board to its consumers. "The capital involved in the ‘ 56 public supply stations operating at March 31,. 1925, amounted to £9,566,589. The figures for 1926 are not yet available,, but with the inclusion of Mangahap and Arapuni. .the total should be brought to close on £12,000,000. This does, not include the amounts expended by the private individual on instajlationp; which will amount to a large figure, possibly a further £3.000.000. ' . . “The Thames Valley Electric Power . Hoard was constituted in January, and has, I made pro- * gress that. will compare more .than favourably with any similar undertaking in the Dominion. . When you consider that its operations, extend ’ over an area of 2300 square miles the results should satisfy the board' members: and consumers alike. The total

loans raised to date amount ,to £700,000, of which £16,000 remains to be, expended. The interest and sinking fund on these loans can be paid out , of revenue without striking any rate. . This expenditure, has included the erection of 1343 circuit miles o® extra high- tension,'high! tension,‘‘low ten- ' sion, and high .tension telephone and service'lines, which means the' use of a.bout 4200 miles, of overhead wire and cable. ■- Approximately . 25,000 poles have been used, and 317; transformers totalling 6760 k.v.a. are, in use. Of the above amount £19,0.00' has been ufeed in stocks for, the tracing department and £50,000 for assistance to consumers; tor installations. "Some idea or, the growth of our demand can be taken from the following: Units purchased to ..March, 1923, 3,785,000 ; 1924, 7,019,366 ; 1925, 10,196,688 ; 1926, 14,000,000. “Our' sales are as follows : . 1921, £BO5 ; 1922, £27,058 ; 1923, £59,544 1924, £82,321 ; 1925, £99,107 ; 1926, £119,278.

“Our ■ present connected load amounts to-17,136 h.p., including 1422 2-h.p. milking motors and 19O’ othermotors, 682 water-heaters, a total of 5531 consumers including - Thames, and Te * Aroha. For the. past year 13,500,0001 b of butter-¥at were produced on, farms on which, electric milking motors wer ( e used. “Amongthe larger consumers, may be counted : Wajtoa Dried Milik Fac-

tbry, with a 'connected load ‘-of 750h. ; WahaFoa Dred Milk factory, 555-h.p.; Pulbic Works Deptirtanent, dredge a,t Paeroa, 300-h.p.; A . and O'Price, engineering' works, 300-h.p.; Rising Sun Gold Mining Co., 3.35-li.p.; four flaxmills, nine stone-cfrushors-, and 17 butter and cheese factories. You will see that our load is increasing, our volume of general- business is, being maintained, ajid. electrical energy is being used in a variety df ways and to an extent that must mean success to the.board's ope'.ratons. ' “Negotiations are now in hand for installing motors of approximately 100-h.p. to operate pumps .to be used inwatering an area, of swamp land lear Kerepeehi; Arrangemen ts have leen made for one of 1 smaller r horsepower to be used by the department, <,nd there is every reason to believe he practice will be further e: xtehded. “Attention has been drawn recenty to the danger of falling wi res, and [ .would like you to know, 5 that my. joard is fully alive to the s situation i. is taking every reasonable presaution to prevent acciden-fc. The 1,000-volt lines are protects ed with :uf-outs, which cut .the' cur rent off lutomatically. The 3000-vb It lines ,re also protected, but owing r to the ower voltage are less depend able. As m extra precaution all fences s within 10ft of lines: which are of iron i wire or lopper wire smaller than 7- -16th of ,n inch a.re earthed. As a further recaution the board is' sec uring a lumber of leakage delays, wf rich, beng dt a highly sensitive nati are, will ut off the current within ’ a given rea immediately a line fa) Ils-' from ny cause. “The scattered nature- ofoutrserdce and the. distance of.' some df pur

consumers from the point of supply haye given our engineers.’ considerable thought, which has resulted in the purchase of three setsi of 250-k.v-a. synchronous condensers.. These will, give better voltage regulation an increased efficiency to the consumer from electrical energy used, besides effecting a considerable saving to the board in the purchase of electricity. “Another matter <Jf considerable importance is the department’s, decision to erect a line from Bopibay to Waikino, to be completed this year, involving an outlay of nearly £30,0'00. This will, give a new' point of supply, and will be particularly useful to the Hauraki Plains, Which are now at somewhat of a ..disadvantage due to the distance from the. point of, supply. It will also act? as a separate source df supply to our whole system, thus: reducing the possibiility of interruption in service. , “The connection from Tauranga to Waikino has already been extrdmely useful, not only in supplying additional current, but in being available for use on several occasions, when 'Horahora' was temporarily cut off. . “Comment is frequently made on the possible life of our poles, and exaggerated reports are circulated in regard to the number df renewals’. In the early stages of our' operations W© could not sedure ajl irpnbark, and a (Proportion of mixed Australian hardwood .was received? Later iron-bark only was purchased under Government inspection and acompanied by a Forestry Department, certificate. I 'do not think yre have more than 20 per cent, of mixed Australian hardwood, in the. 25,000 poles now erected. In a. report furnished this month the chief -engineer states that 42 poles have been renewed and 52 more are under observation. When these are renewed the total will mean less than one-third of one per cent, of the total. “Then, again, our trading department has been seriously exercising the minds, particularly, those with whom we are in competition. It will be of interest, to our competitors and consumers to know that two reports have been received this month on the working of our trading department. “The first is from’ a gentleman with an intimate knowledge of wholesale.', a,nd retail electrical business) throughout the Dominion- He states that our business is sound, and that bur system of establishing depots is the only method of giving reasonable service at the present rates; and adds' that the private traders could not undertake, similar service and generar repairs at double, pur prices ; ap.d business is profitable, after allowing .for all charges. “The other report bears on <)ur methods of buying and the condition of our stocks. The writer is the manager of one of .the largest firms: dealing in electrical supplies in the province. He states that our stocks are well bought and well kept; .that we. have no bad stock, tha.t all our stock is taken into bur balance-sheet at pre-, sent-day prices, arid tha.t a large proportion of it could be sold to the Wholesale trade and show .the board a profit" * “These two reports should convince our competitors that our opposition is. not conducted on unfair linee; and should Satisfy our consumers snd ratepayers that the board is conducting its ■ business: with business methods,

Afcter giving detail of. the yearly s,ales in the trading department, with a total surplus of £30,855, Mr Claxton stated that of this amount £15,000 had been used to'-make up the .der flciencies in the. sale of electricity. “Without this - -assistance the board would have been compelled to increase its charges for current or. collect a rate. The ‘balance been set aside as a reserve flor any contingency that may arise. Outside any profit that has been made, .the creation ■of bur, own trading department and the maintenance, of our own wiring staff have enabled us to keep a check on the price ot electrical work generally in curjarea, in which, ow>ing to its scattered nature, it would be extremely difficult to secure efficient service from private traders at reasonable prices l .

■ “Now, to turn for a few moments to our lean proposal. You naturally inquire what, is the money required’ for ? On my last visit on a, similar mission I was asked if T was likely to want any more money than suggested in: our la’st losin authorisation. I replied that I believed ,th'e.' district .would develop and the demand for electricty would! continue,- and that the. board would from time to time seek .the -'consent ofc its ratepayers to borrow further money for extensions. At the last board meeting three extensions were authorised, namely, Hirst Road, Te Poi; Mackaytown, andi Thau-Cambridge. These, must stand till more fund/s; are available.

“From time to time requests come forward for extensions to our system, and your authority must be obtained to borrow the necessary money. It costs from £4OO to £6OO to take a poll, so it is not economical to approach you as each new proposal is advanced. A number of suggested additions may eventuate at any time, and you will agree, I think, that the board should be in a position to handle them. . '

“Should you give your sanction on May 12, the bqard proposes to issue portions olf the loan only as occasion demands. requests; are received, canvass is made of non-reticulated areas;, If the demand shows .a return of 12% per cent, on the capital required to be expended plus the Government charges for current that will be usecl, the extensions are authorised and carried out. It will thus be seen that any further expenditure of loan moneys will be self-support-ing, and will not incur ,a,ny liability by way rate.

...“Referring to my severance frfom the board in May, some kindly critic has suggested that I am leaving because the board’s -prospects are not too bright. I am resigning after 19 years of continuous public service, the last six years of which have been devoted exclusively to the Thames Valley Power Boa.rd- I leave with the; utmost confidence in .the future of the board, Ite initial difficulties are over. It has an inconje sufficient to

meet all its. liabilities. It operates over an area in which town and country -loads are available, ensuring an extremely satisfactory diversity fa£- . tor—an area which is highly fertile and is rapidly developing. “In conclusion, may I urge your assistance at the poll on May 12. Help yourself by helping others in .the nonreticulated area to secure the bene<fits you now enjoy' in the general usje of electric energy.”’

During April 42 cows, 25 steers and hailfers., 114 sheep, 1 lamb, 1 calf, and 8 pigs were slaughtered at the local abattoirs. The total fees, for the month amounted to £4O 16s Id. . The “N.Z. Sporting and Dramatic Review” this, week is replete with bright and' attractive pictures: from cover to cover. The ppening of the Rugby season, in Auckland is depicted. The centre pages' contain snappy items from overseas, including .the Chelsea* Arts Ball, ,the Prince of Wales negotiating a,' jump, beauty choruses, etc., ;A spectacular, page is that showing the burning of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. A page of the latest fashions and another of fashionable weddings will ba of great appeal to ladies. Oh, lieketty split, went the old grey mare, / Oh, lieketty split, went she ; She knew’ that old dad was a ( t hmoe in his chair, A-isniffing iriost dolefully. ’’ And never a whip on her flapk dropped John, But sat in the. gig most dour ; Oh, it’s lieketty split.on the township ■ track ■ , For Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure.