BAY POWER BOARD

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 171, 21 April 1939, Page 4

BAY POWER BOARD

.-•#MONTH)!.Y - aMEETING QUESTION OF SERVICING COSTS POWER FOR WHAKATANE HEAD The monthly meeting of the Bay of Plenty Electric Power Board was held in the board’s room on Tuesday. Mr •Burt presided over a full attendance of Whakatane and Opcfiki members. Messrs.yj. D l . Dicker, en-gineer-manager, and G. ” A... Hathaway, secretary were alscT’iii' attend Mice. From discussions; ari.sing out of the special reports# submitted i'o the board .by the engineer-manager, it is prob able that due tq increased costs the fees s at present charged to consqjuers at a nominal change may have to be increased’. From cotrrgsppndence received from other boards it is evident that the I ipport Restrictions -are .-likely to retard the future development of reticulation in some districts’.' ' The proposed extew'siem to the Whakatane . Heads was further discussed and left in the handfe of the eilginecrmanager to proceed with the work, presided' the Public" Works Department and Whakatane Borough Council ‘consent to the board’s lines passing' through a small 'borough ..area to enable supply to be giveji to a small portion of the board’s area at present land-1 ocked>by the borough. It) is. necessary; that this ar?a be embqdied in the "whole Head§ scheme, otherwise the extension would not be an economic proposition to -the board.

ENGINEER-MANAGER’ S REPORT Mr. J. 1). Dicker, engineer manager, reported, as follows on the board’s operations for the month of March:— Line Erection.—ll 3.42 route chains 11,000 volt lines. 65.85 route chains 400 volt on 11,000 volt lines. 32.81route chains 4.00 volt lines. 1 mile 75 chains 11,000 volt line a<Jong the Edgecumbe-Te Teko Road

changed from No. 8 galv. steel to 7/16 copper. Biy completing a link along the T'e Teko-Rotorua Road this line will serve as an alternative feeder to Te Teko township and Onepu .settlement. One oil circuit breaker and one air break, switch erected in this section. Lines Dismantled. —As required by „thf aerodrome the following lines have been .dismantled. 129.13 route chains 11,000 volt. 107.13 route chains 400 volt onT 1,000 volt. 4 route chains 400 v.olt, Staff and equipment were loaned to -Whakatane Borough Council to assist in deviating the main 22,000 volt line to Whakatane at Ernest’s corner. Consumers’ Service Lines: 21 new service, lines completed! totalling 49.71 chains of line'. 2 services changed from single to 3-phase. 2 services dismantled totalling 4.09' route chains. Line M aintenance: Trees ~ cut on Rhode’s, branch Otakiri. Oft Tanea±ua< feedler one air break, switch repaired, and one replaced. One 11,000' volt fuse insulator replaced. Dismantled and re-erected one 15 k.v.a. transformer and structure. 4 consumers’ service lines overhauled and repaired. One defective HAMA pole replaced. Consumers Connected to 31st. March 1939 (during the past month). —Ranges 5 k.w. and over, 5 new connections, 1 re-connection, 3 disconnections, 592 total to) cliate, 547 corresponding period. Ranges 2 k.w. up to 5 k.w. 1,0, 0, 82, -69. Total ranges, 6,1, 3), 674, 616. Motors (excluding milking and bulk supply) 0,0, 2, 14, 144. Shops and offices,"o, 0,2, 240, 225. Houses 17, 7-, 5, 1765, 1583. Pumps. 7, 1,0, 444, 390. Dairy water heaters 1, ; 0,0, 560 1 , 536. Domestic water heaters 4,3, 3, 669, 609. Total water heaters. 5,3, 3, 1229, 1145. Milking plants 1, T, 1, 660, 628. Separator motors' O', 0,0, : 386., 342. Total consumers 15, 9 , 8, 1884, ISO 9. Total connected load k.w. 8910 k.w., 8239 -k.w. P.W.D. Supply.—Shutdowns for the month total two amounting to 5 Ins. 48 mins. One was by arrangement, the agreed time being 4 hours, but the department exceeded the time by ] ‘hr. 17 mins. 'Proposed Supply to- Whakatane Heads : During the month a complete sin vey lias been made-of the contemplated 11,000 volt and! 400 volt lines to supply the Heads, which indicates a slightly shorter line than previously reported to the board. Unfortunately the latter portion of the line is over exceptionally difficult country and tends to) offset the' reduced cost due to. the shorter line, ..when compared

with the previous estimate. Length pf 11,000 volt line, 1.4 miles. Length of 400 volt line, .125 miles. No of transformers, 1. Estimated cost, £489 10s. To give supply to the Maori Pali would require a further £]so. Negotiations are still entrain for securing further revenue and I hope to be in a position tp. submit, together with other important factors, full information to enable the Board to considier the proposal at. this meeting. . Increased Servicing Costs: Subject of a separate report.