POWER SUPPLY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 139, 13 May 1940, Page 6

POWER SUPPLY

STAND-BY PLANT USED. CONTINUOUS SERVICE. ■;' ■ For almost a week the electric power reouirements of Palmerston North have been met by the City Council s Diesel stand-by; plant at lerrace E d, as a result of a request from the 1 uh lie Works Department that the .plant be operated on a "continuous basis-24 hours a day, including Sundays. The city; electrical engineer v Mr .”- "i Muir), in reply to an inquiry, informed the “Manawatu Standard to-da> that since last Tuesday the; powei station had been operating on this schedule, including the week-end, and that this practice would continue, till further notice. ’ , , This morning, shortly after 9 o cloak, the power supply in some parts of the city was interrupted lor a short penou while a potential transformer was installed in the switch equipment to facilitate control. The break m the supply was not intended to operate over so wide an area as it did, tins being caused by the opening of a switch. It was learned from other sources to-day that Palmerston North is * not the onlv centre, where stand-by plants arc iii operation. It is gathered that at Napier, Hastings, Gisborne, .-.Wanganui and certain Taranaki centres similar instructions to those received locally have been put into effect. This is -understood to be due to a shortage of coal for supplying the boilers at the chief power-developing units at Auckland and Wellington, where coal fuel is utilised; and also to ease the load on the hydro-electric supply. As ail indirect result of this shortage there is involved the additional expense of using a more expensive and imported fuel (Diesel oil) while coal is available'in the mines hut is not obtainable in sufficient quantities to serve this public utility.