ELECTRIC POWER.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5248, 7 March 1928, Page 3

ELECTRIC POWER.

THAMES VALLEY BOARD. MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of. the Thames VaWey Pawer was held at Te Arolia yesterday, the chairman (Mr F. ML Strange) presiding over Messrs F. E. Flatt, W. E. G. Willy, G. fowie, J. Pohlen, J. W. McCormick, ’Price, J. B. Thomas, C. A. Arthur, R. Sprague (manager), and N. G. McLeod (engineer). POWER CABLES AT KOPU. - The resident engineer, Public Works Department, Paeroa, writing Jn connection with, the power cables /under the new Waihou River bridge ’ at Kopu, advised, that the matter was receiving the attention of the Wellington. office. On the motion of Mr Flatt it was "decided, to forward a letter through the Paeroa office to Wellington requesting that a definite decision be given. ‘. * The chairmn wondered if it was wise to delay the matter further. Al the same, it was only right to put the request through the Paeroa office. Mr Price thought, that theengineer Should wait bn the Public Wrt-ks engineer kt Paeroa, and if a satisfactory reply was not received, then the matter be taken direct to Wellington. It was not a matter for delay. Finally it . was agreed, to follow .the suggestion put forward by Mr Price. f CHARGES FOR POWER. ■ Referring to .a previous letter on the subject of the basis of charges, the Public Works Department wrote stating that it was not clear in aU cases whether it was the practice to ■credit the consumer with the units consumed up to the amount of the minimum charge. Assuming the minimum charge was 'ss .a month the unit charge was 6d, and the consumer’s meter Showed ten unite consumed for the month, tie department desired to khow if the 5s minimum charge was collected in addition to t,he ss. for the ten units at 6d. , ■'Xf lt was contended by Mr Flatt tha the use of more ranges should be encouraged. The board’s charges were , about 100 per cent, more than, those of other boards. ‘ The manager pointed out that the load for making motors had. increased out of all proportion. The board now controlled one-third' of the milking motors in the Dominion. The letter was received.

STOPPAGE (OF POWER. The Putaruru branch, of, the Farm' crs’ Union complained about the S|top pages of current to milking-sheds, etc. and. also the dosing down of the Horaihia station on Sundays, and suggested that if the station whs to' be closed down it should be done be- > tween the Jiours of 7.30 p.m. and 4 A a.m. : Mr Flatt contended that the positi<Aaffected all sides, and he. moved that’the position be placed before the Public Works Department and an opinion sought. The chairman agreed, and thought that a copy of the letter should be forwarded to the department. Mr Arthur supported, saying that it \ v as time the board had something definite to put before the consumers. POWER FOR COROMANDEL.' A letter was received from the Coromandel County Council requesting the board! to favourably consider the matter of conveying electric power to Conotaiairdel and district, and to state the terms on which it 'Vouid supply it. There were many Settlers along the line of reticulation . who would be glad to take power. The matter was referred to the en- • gineer for a report to the April meeting. . A REDUCTION SOUGHT. ■A Waitakaruru settler wrote stating that in his opinion the charges for electricity Fr milking motors was too high in comparison with oil engines. Whilst appreciating the cleanliness and comfort of electricity, he •would be forced to revert to his old engine unless the charges could be reduced. . . It was) decided to reply i that th matter hinged on the charges by the Government, and so far as the board was concerned it saw no immediate prospect of reduction in charges. J SECTION AT TURUA.

A letter was received! from Mr C. L. 'Williams stating that the price he ws asking for his section at Turu.a was £llOO. In the event of the board purchasing the section he would 'like to 1 rent the house until the board required it. In reply to Mr Flatt Mr Willy said . that the house contained five rooms. Mr Flatt: Thei* do we want the house ? ' The engineer said that the cottage ' was not required at the present time. It was decided to reply that the board was not a. purchaser at the present time. REDUCTION OF TAX. V A letter was received from the A-M.P. Society suggesting that at the conference of power hoards it would be a good thing if the notice of the .Government was drawn to the neces;sity of a reduction! in the rate of in* come tax on new public body debentures from 4s 6d in tihe £ to 2s 6d in the £, which was the rate obtaining before 1923; The tax was at a flat rate, and bn debentures issued prior to Afigust 28, 1923, the rate was 2s 6d! iifflie £. A reduction such as was indicated in the rate of tax on new -debenture investments would ease for the borrower the rate of interest by about one-quarter percent. It was decided to take no action, it considered! that the writers, in Conjunction with other financial organisations, were strong enough to .•act for themselves. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to £14,373 9s 5 -8d on the power fund and £5249 13s ■3d on the loan fund were passed for '