POWER BOARD CHAIRMAN

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 28, 4 May 1938, Page 2

POWER BOARD CHAIRMAN

DECISION TO RETIRE ACTIVITIES IN 1113 TERM The forthcoming local body elections mark the termination of a long and distinguished period of public service in the Bay of Plenty on the part of Mr J. B. Grow. Mr Gow is the present chairman iof the Bay of Plenty Power Board. He has been a member of this body since its ' inception some ten. years ago, and has occupied the chair since the decease of Mr H. It. Hogg in IS'32, and this time is not seeking re-election. The- retirement of Mr Gow calls to mind that in the comparatively short time since electricpower wa.s made available to the community something in-the nature oi a revolution has come about in the domestic and industrial life of the district. Electricity now provides one and all with light, power, heat, sound transmission, and „tlie hundred’ other amenities of life which Dow from these, thus in one great stride bringing to rural homes facilities which hitherto were available only to towns and urban areas.

4 Power Bought and Sold. The Power Board does not generate its own electricity. It lias to purchase it from the national supply —in this instance from Ara-puni—and thereafter the success or failure of the Board depends upon its management of the supply of this commodity to the consumer. The service offered by the Board was eagerly accepted by the community and to-day statistics reveal the remarkable position that over 95 per cent, of possible consumers are using electric power, a fact which has enabled the hoard, in spite of the scattered nature of the district, to gradually reduce charges to a rate to the consumer below the Dominion average of all electric power hoards. It would seem to he obvious that future reductions will go hand in band witn still further increase in consumption. More electricity is sold every year and developments and extensions are catered for by- the board where found economically possible.

In the Home. The use of electricity in ohe domestic sphere has become so universal in it's application that it is only when the service is accidentally cut off —when the light fails, the kettle goes off the boil, and the wireless stops, —that the extent to which we have come to depend upon it is fully realised. In addition to the many uses with which the average householder is familiar some consumers arc using electricity for operating the sewing machine, the cake-mixer, the bed warmer and the mantel clock. So wide and diverse are the uses of electricity In the home that hoards everywhere now realise that the* domestic consumer is the stable revenue producer and service to him is constantly being developed and extended. The Primary Producer. In the height ef the dairying season in our board’s area some 60,000 cows are milked twice a day by the use of electric power. Furthermore the cream supply from very slied is handled through the butter manufacturing processes in the factories mainly by the use of electricity. But back on. tlie farm the farmer is by no means finished with electric power. The skim milk is.pumped: to the pigs, water is reticulated to- the troughs in the paddocks, and in some cases farms are actually drained by electrically driven pumps. While sheep farming is not carried on exclusively to any great extent in the Bay of Plenty Board’s area numbers ef shearing plants are now operated by electric; power. In the towns in the Bay where the farmer does his business the board finds a ready sale of its power for commercial uses, and motors run day and night in garages, restaurant kitchens, and joinery factories, whikj/r-dvertising and commercial lightiife "tirt/ia Iso a source of revenue. ■m, Service to tha‘<gor s sjj;mSr. The development ' .a^fkiiitenanee of these widespread */ services has., through the years saddlej%iti««fesive boards and the perinanonjy-s'ta|F ■,Wtt1 1 hea-vv responsibilities. Nol body has such multifarious'''gctiptfeH' as a power board, and in conjunction with the Electric Supply A uthbritjs// Association the Bay of Plen#ftpysm|f;l:" carries on constant inyestigatioi^gjE^

research with the object of improving the service to the consumer. In reference to the matter of services to the consumer it may he stat-* ed that the local board carries out practically all the installation work for its area, and has also pioneered a number of special features. For instance it commenced the system of giving free service for all electrical ranges purchased through the board, and it maintains a 24-hour emergency service with no differentiation of charge between day and night. Any profits arising from the trading department assist the board to render these, and other services, at a nominal charge.

Illuminating Figures. Some indication of the increased business of the Board over the last five years is given in the following comparative figures:— 1933 1938' Units sold to consumers 8,016,6061 10.C96.344 Average units per consumer per year 5759 55SL Cost of power purchased from Government £12033 £143-56 Milking plants equipped with motors 556 628 Kitchen ranges used:— . 500 616 Pumps ejectlically operated 20.8 390 Revenue per unit sold : 1.1 pence 1.05 pence Total revenue sale electricity:— £36820 £44570 In spite of the’ fact that increased costs have very materially affected the Board’s operations in nearly every direction the board succeeded in reducing lighting charges by an aggregate of £BOO in the past year.

The Power Board. The board at presei/’* with the conduct of affairs j_ u /;d wl/Gc term expires on the eve ofOithe election on May lltli. is as foilow/A—Messrs J. 1L Gow (chairman), j. W. Sumner. F. W. Burt, J. A. Mitchell, F. Savage, S. Maxwell, and W. Barrett. Of these all but Mr Gow have been nominated

for re-election, and the following • v gentlemen have also been nominated pseud offer their services :—Messrs S-. & : s®*Pcnce, W. J. Gault and J. T. Tabb.