THE PRICE OF GAS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1061, 25 June 1912, Page 2

THE PRICE OF GAS.

Amongst other very interesting information contained iu the Municipal Handbook issued recently, particulars are given ol the various cities aud boroughs iu the Dominion which use coal gas illumiuant. Kxcluding suburban districts, served by city gasworks, there were forty-one municipalties using ccal gas, and six ot these have also an auxiliary electric lighting service. Twentytwo out ol the forty-one gas using corporations have assumed control of the supply, aud iu live towns supplied with gas by companies a municipal electric light service has been instituted. Eleven corporations in all hnve established their own electric lighting plants, aud three towns are lighted by electricity Torn company-owned installations. One town, Timaru, is supplied with gas by a company, and with electric light by contract. It is difficult to make an instructive comparison between the rates charged tor gas to householders in various centres, owing to variations in cost ol production caused by' purely local conditions. It may be said, however, that the variation in charges appears extremely large. The honour of giving the cheapest supply belongs to Westport, where the municipality charges 4s 2d per 1000 feet. The Auckland Gas Company comes next with a rate of 4s 3d, and the Dunedin and Wanganui municipalities charge ss. Lyttelton’s comparatively small municipal gasworks supply gas at 5s rod per 1000 feel, a rate which compares more than favourably with the Christchurch Gas Company’s charge of 5s yd with ten times the output. The Greymouth aud Invercargill corporations supply gas at the same rate as Lyttelton. The Petoue Borough Council, while charging 7s 6d per 1000 leet for lighting, makes a reduction to 6s 8d to consumers who use gas lor both lighting aud cooking, a concession which might with advantage be made by some of the private companies. The rates in the smaller towns range from as low as 7s 6d in Waihi to rys in Temuka, while iu fair-sized towns such .as Blenheim, with municipal gasworks, and Hokitika, supplied by a private company, the ios rale, as in Foxton, is charged.