HOROWHENUA ELECTRIC POWER BOARD.

Otaki Mail, 7 August 1922, Page 4

HOROWHENUA ELECTRIC POWER BOARD.

Hr P. W. Goldsmith, secretary, reports: — “As requested by the Board at its last meeting -1 visited Cambridge, Hamilton and T« Awamutn to gather as much information as possible on matters relating to Power Board work -“finance. My visit was a short one and consequently the information I picked up may not be very full in detail, bill its general character may be of some service to the *Board. Cambridge. J ilts is a small district which got in early on the job, anu although include., ia the Hamilton district in the propos als of the Public Works Department was eventually granted a license aim is launched on its oun account. lie loan granted was for £b",""d, the Jirst portion of which was obtained at oil per cent, with one per cent, sinking, l'uiul. The Board stiuck a rate as se curity for its bankers who provide , ‘money fur preliminary work and ex pensus until the loan money was avail able, This did not amount, however, to more than £SUU and the rate titis' never collected, the money so advance'; *by the bauk being repaid out of tie ; loan. The position in the Cambridge dis tl'ict is that the Board hopes to iinisl. the work of reticulation about Hay. All the polling is already completed. At the commencement, the Borough Engineer of Cambridge took on lb work of the Board at ii-tOO per year ami fa special grunt of £2OO. He carried 3 out all the preliminary work, let the | main contract and then resigned to fill 9 a better positiou. The Board entered into an agreemen with Messrs Turnbull ic Junes, Ltd., to carry out the works on a percentage basis, 5 per cent, on goods procured in Xeu Zealand and 10 per cent, on tlios.■ | procur’d abroad. The contractors Imv, I an engineer of their own on the works and the Board, since their own engin eer left, appear to have depended some i wliat on his services. The position. I<> an outsider-, appears somewhat peculiar. | bin as tin- work is nearing completion no change is likely to lake place, and it must imm bo forgotten that the com I trading Jinn is one of considerabl.repute. The Public Works Department also, in till tlie districts where a license is ; grunted, inspect and puss the work toil whole. The clerical work of the Board is .lone by (he Cambridge Borough Conn i-i 1. the town clerk tiding as secretary, i think tlie amount paid by tlie Boar ! do ihc I'lmacil is 333". j The (iovernmeat c.liarge for the cni- : rent from Horn Horn at £lO per horse ' power was adversely commented on it, Cambridge and it was contended that i the local Board would have to sell the power three times to make ends meet. The charge fixed for consumers is I'd per unit for lighting, and ml per unit | for ironing, heating, or ordinary power. , Two very large dairy factories i-< ’the Ctimbridge power district are sue (plied direct by the Government - a state of :i (fairs uot looked upon viT: favour. ( tint told by the Cambrmg.: | Board. I made enquiries as to the cost of installation in several instances. !T!ic Cambridge Independent newspaper Ims two small motors of about onehttlf horse power and a larger one of 31 li.p. These motors, fixing same, and furnishing necessary lights throughout ) the printing rooms and "dices was 31'id. I Tlie running cost at 3d per unit is 37I lid per month. A friend showed me i his monthly (>ills for a liottsc in which ' there were nine fights and a point for I ironing. | The bills showed as follows: — Lights. Iron. Total. November os 3s bd 7s ■ Dec. and Jan. 8s Is bd 13s (id February Ss (hi 3s 'i-i Ss ".! . March (is 3d 3s Od Os 3d I enquired ns to the cost of installation of this house, and found that the nine points were charged for at £3 I '-s I per point and with the ironing point j and a few extras tile priec of the insta]- ; | Intion complete was 33--. Work of this ; kind in Ctimbridge has boon done at j peak values, many house installation* • having cost 33 os per point. Electric t cooking apparatus appears to be \ery ! dear—. 37" for a cooking range is tu any irate ;i respectable figure, and yet on? 'lady in Cambridge considers she will • save the cost in 13 months. In Cambridge as in other places there is a minimum charge to consumers of 5i tier month, and whilst this charge is ' , | not nr all popular, vet the Boards seem

:to adopt it. So far. the Cambridge (Board has not struck a rate but then" : seems to be a probability that a small j rate will have to be collected. The I figures supplied to me as to the present (extent of the Cambridge Board's con--1 sumers are as follows: I County Lighting 09 Town Lighting 2bf* ; County. Milking Motors .... 3S ! General Motors 1! Hamilton. The C'outral Power Board has its offices in Hamilton, although the borough it sell has not joined up with the district. T lie Board was authorised to raise tt , ioan of £915,000, of this sum £60,000 we obtained nr ti; per cent, interest, ar.i j one per cent, sinking fund. £36,000 ’ has recently been raised by the bank at G; per cent, and one per cent, sink--1 ing fund, term 20 years. Most of the Boards Lave had to pay 01 per cent, interest. This Board hn> its own engineer. and the salary paid is £6OO per annum. The Government charge for the supply of electricity from Horn Horn is £1" per horse power for the jirer 200 hi!., and thereafter £3. At present about 100 farms are connected and 250 houses. ?o far no rare has been collected. It depends, the secre- : tary says, whether tile Government will allow them to pay more than the first t roar ‘s interest on the loan out of loan monies. If the permission is withheld

!i rale must be collected. The engineer

look me to see his work-sheds and j stores. A great deal oT necessary work! is dune by the Liusuu’s own employees,! blacksmith \s work, repairs ui : motors,! etc. The storage of polos is a matter of importance and stacking sites at the railway station at a c.l per week in some instances run., mio nyjuay. Iron* bark poles are most in favour of all ha rd woods. 1 enquired the average cost of poles on the ground and the reply was about CJ —some cost 40s and some 80s. 1 was taken to see a milking shod • iid plant in a farm not very far from town. It comprised an eight-cow milk ing plant li.Ncd up with the necessary helling gear, power tor sepaiator and tor heating water, Jignvs for shed, power supplied by il h.p. ji:otOi>. iho house is also supplied with all necessary! lights, ironing point and small stove. [The cost to the farmer is somewhere I Bit,-tween .3311 and 335 per annum. The' herd would consist of some lib or VO cows. Enquiries its to the cost of installation showed that with alterations to shafting the cost of the outfit was 373 including the house. The engineer put the average farmers installation from 350 to 390 and perhaps £IOO for i an unusual distance from the road, It was stated that oil for engine previous11v installed ou this farm cost the owner 35" per year. Enquiry as to any help given by the .Board for installations where the cost bore hardly on the farmers, disclosed tlie fact that where the cost was over 31ii the Board would allow the. amount to be pa-id in instalments —-titne three vetirs with interest at bank rate. As •m instance of the wav of working in icarrying out the reticulation scheme, the quest ion of the distribution of tho "poles was mentioned, l’oles had to be I carted for various distances up to 15 . miles and the contractors tendered for the work from bs to Us per pole. The engineer, however, induced the Board to purchase its own haulage plant, which was done at the cost of 31(90. The cost of pole delivery now works out from 3s bd to 5s per polo and it is claimed that the cost of tho haulage plant had already been saved, and at the end of the job the. plant will easily prove a saleable asset at two-thirds of the original cost.

Tin- work on (he lines with the 3.000 volt transfotmors and the 11,000 volt trtinsformers. trom the casual obsonrrs’ standpoint appeared to be well earned out. Tc Awamutn. This Board was authorised by poll of l he ratepnyers to raise a loan of 3130,"iin. Some £ij(i,""o uns secured from the Bublie Trust Office at 0 per cent, interest with one per cent, sinking fund, tei in 35 years. It is anticipated dial a not her 330.00(1 will be available j f r ,,ai the A.M.P. Society on similar] terms. Unlike other Boards, this Board lias i already) struck a small rate to meet preliminary awl administrative expenses. There are some 7"U ratepayers and ' last year a J-lbili of a Id rate produc- ] ed 313"". This year they expect to get ] 31.3"" from a l-ith "1 a .1(1 rate. The Board had its own collection, instead of pnc.sing in the levy to the various local bodies. The prices charged to consumers are as follows: — Bower and Hear--3d par unit for Ist SO units. 3d per unit for the next 13" unMs. All over 3"" units per month, 1 jd. Lighting—Residential— Sd per unit. Commercial —7d per unit. The secretary was away at the time of my visit, but I was shown the consumers bill book for the current month and found that the monthly bills for avetage consumers were as follows: Ss Sd. Ids id. 7s. (js id. 10* id. lbs Rd (barber's shop), BJs (bank), lbs Sd (doctor), and £3 is td (gentlemen'* club). A house with electric fittings throughout (including an £BO cooking range) was £3 IDs 3d. Houses with milking plants .3 h.p. motor-) showed as follows: —33 3s Sd. £3 7s Did, 33 Sd. 33 Dis (--I. 33 3- l"d. S 3 11- 3d. £3 13s -Sd. £i 1- lid. £3 13s DM. etc. It is the practice to charge milking plants 3"s per month fur eight months of the voar. and the actual power used for the four winter months. Tf :iu power i- used, ot course, there is nothing to pay. The Board ha- erected good -tore s fur housing plant, and for various branches of work. This building is plain hut substantial. Rented offices are used for The engineer department and administrative stall's —rent 30s per week. The re-idem representative of the firm who has the work for the Board showed me the various maps and plans in connection with tlie work and the method of dealing with the various stores. There arc- some SO men employed or. the works and the system appears to be very thorough. I noticed here s consignment of American transformer*. British goods seem to be used in most instances. “Happened to be the lowest j render’’ was tlie explanation given of j the incident. In this district, as in others, I was informed that since the slump in prices, there wa- a hesitancy I auioiigsr farmers to link up with the j power —they wore either unable tr afraid to incur fresh liabilities. |

The Boards, generally, are now laying rhemsplve® out to help those who cannot afford the whole outlay ot installation in one Transaction, but whs can pay if the cost is spread over two or three years. The Board? are also on the lock-out for those who will start industries in their respective districts., cheap power being the inducement they offer. I noticed that the To Awantutu dairy factory bv the railway was running full time day and night, an occurrence which only could be brought about by the supply of cheap power and light. In conclusion I wish to state that I received every courtesy and consideration from the various officials of both the administrative and engineering branches of Ahe various Boards visited. 7 I had not the time to interview chair-

men and members of the Boards, but no doubt other impressions could have been gathered from these and private members of the community if the opportunity had arisen. If members of the Horowhenua Board ever visit the localities covered by my visit, they will, I am sure, receive a cordial reception. (Signed) P. AV. Goldsmith, Secretary Provisional Committee, Horowhenua Electric-Power District.”