POWER BOARD LOAN

Putaruru Press, Volume II, Issue 21, 6 March 1924, Page 2

POWER BOARD LOAN

£150,000 WANTED. The Proposal Explained. Pula ru vu Qucs tion .s. In furtherance of their tour of the Thanteo Valley Power Board’s district to explain to the ratepayers the loan proposals for £150.000 on which a poll is being* taken on Wednesday, March 12, Messrs. F. H. Claxton and R. Sprague, respectively chairman and manager for the Board, together with Mr. J. W. - Anderson, the local member of the Board, visited Putaruru on Thursday afternoon last and addressed a public meetingin the Town Hall. The attendance was small, numbering only six local ratepayers. Mr. I-I. J. W. Scott was elected chairman. Mr. Claxton said it was his duty to make the ratepayers acquainted with all the work going- on within the Board’s area, the ratepayers being entitled to every detail of the working. The Power Board’s Act was passed in 1919, and the Thames Valley Power Board had been the first to operate under it. The Board had borrowed £200,000, and later, when the plans were matured, a further loan of £350,000 had been carried to complete necessary work. The present proposals were to do work that had not been contemplated at that time. The more the power was used the more likelihood there would be of obtaining a reduction of charges.

The Thames Valley Board, continued Mr. Claxton, had started without precedent, having no other such body in Nc-w Zealand from which to obtain advice, and any alterations in policy made since its operations commenced had been found necessary as the work progressed. They had had to “ blaze a trail.” The duties of the Board were summarised under three headings. (1) To give efficient service; (2) to give a continuity of supply; and (3) to make the minimum of: charges. It was only patience on the ratepayers’ part and the efficiency and. energy of the Board and the staff which would give the desired result. Besides the reticulation work high tension telephones had been installed to give connection between the Board’s depots in the various centres and troublemen had been stationed throughout the district to attend promptly to any breakdowns. Over the area of 2000 square miles there were nearly 1000 miles of line on 500 miles of poles. The total connected load was 8200 horse power. The revenue for the past year was £29,870 and for the present year, up to March 31, it was estimated that the revenue would be £43,000. Most other power boards had found it necessary to strike rates, but the Thames Valley Board had not done so, and for the next two or three years they should be able to meet any losses in the supply of current by surpluses from the trading department. The sum of £30,000 had been advanced to ratepayers for the installation of power, the advances to be repaid by instalments. There had been a little trouble concerning stoppages, but most of these had been outside the Board’s jurisdiction. There had not been any system of co-operation between the Board and the Public Works Department, but recently fresh arrangements had been made, and in the future interruptions should be less frequent. Regarding* the charges for power, Mr. Claxton said that the Department had raised its charges 25 per cent, and the Board had no alternative blit to pass the. increase on to the consumers. Frequent applications had been made to the Department for a reduction in charges without success. The small farmer had certainly been at a disadvantage and the Board had endeavoured to make an alteration in the minimum charges. At a finance committee meeting* on Monday night it had been recommended that from April 1 the minimum charge for two-horse-power motors be reduced from £2l to £ls and the amount of butter-fat from 70001 b to 50001 b. This would mean a saving of between £3OOO and £4OOO to the small farmers. Working expenses did not warrant that reduc tion, but their effort was to get those small farmers at present not using the power to become consumers. What was termed a non-consumers’ rate would be operating from April, 1924 to April, 1925. To rate over the whole of the area would be unfair. There were some ratepayers about 16 miles from the nearest line, and who were unable to receive the power. It would be unfair to rate these people. The non-consumers’ rate would he levied on all those within ten chains of a line and who do not take the power. It was the Board’s endeavour to increase the consumption by making the consumers’ charges more favourable, and to obtain sufficient consumers to make the sale of power pay for itself and with extended operations to induce more people to be-

Referring; particularly to the loan, Mr. Claxton said that of the £150,000 £1 00,000 wo., required for further reticulation and £50,000 was wanted as .capital for the trading department, |\v inch had previously been carried on ] • with funds which were not irmne- 1 diately required for pole erecting'. The loan they proposed to raise would last for some time to come, as consumers would not connect as rapidly as they did when the work first comI menccU. If the Board’s area had J been move compact and the raisin?: of: loans was not so costly he would I not recommend raising' more than £50,000, but the extra £IOO,OOO was required so as to avert the possibility of coming back to the rate!payers every now and again. Discussing some of the anticipated works, Mr. C) ax ton referred to the proposed line from MorrinsviUc to Waitakaruru and similar reticulation in other parts of the district. These lines, said the speaker, being in the nature of loops, were “ safety lines.’ The idea was that if there was a breakdown on any particular part then that part could be cut. off and the other districts fed round the loop. The speaker cordially invited questions. He stated that they were there to give every information desired as to the Board’s operations, and if the ratepayers did not .get any information they wanted it would be the ratepayers’ fault. As the district representative on the Board, Mr. Anderson also endorsed this invitation. SECURITY FOR THE LOAN. Has it been worked out what a id rate on the consumers'would work out at? asked Mr. E. Nicklin. Mr. Claxton: No. Wc have not yet compiled a roll of the non-con-sumers. The chairman: I think you misunderstoood the question. Mr. Nicklin: Yes. I was referring to the id rate which was mentioned tn the advertisement in connection with the proposed £150,000 loan. Mr. Claxton: Oh; it is necessary to pledge that rate over the whole of the Board’s district as security for repayment of the interest and sinkingfund on the loan. It may never be levied, but the ratepayers would have to pledge this in order to get the loan money so that if ever the Board became bankrupt the lenders of the money would have this security to fall back cn. NON-CONSUMERS’ RATE. lyir. Nickllij.: Would the non-con-sumers’ rate apply to all sections against the line whether they have a building or not? The chairman: Yes, all sections within ten chains of the line can be rated. The highest amount any one section can be rated is £3O per annum and the lowest £1 per annum. Mr. J. C. Tomalin (as an Overdale settler): I do not’know whether there is any general demand for power for Overdale now, but would it not help towards getting a line there in that such a line would form a loop “ feeder ” to Pularuru ? Some time back practically everyone on Overdalc would have taken the power, but as it was not available, a number have had to put :in oil engines. Mr. Claxton: Wherever we are wc have the same difficulty. It is impossible to put a line everywhere at the phsycological moment to suit everybody. REVENUE PER MILE REQUIRED. Mr. A. T. Morris: What is the revenue mile required to warrant a line being erected ?' Mr. Claxton: We have been asking about £BS per mile as the revenue to make a line payable and therefore warrant it being put j n . That is reckoned about four farms or about 250 cows to the mile. Mr. Nicklin: Arc there many erected lines that arc not bringing in that? ~v. Mr. Claxton: Oh, no. Some are bringing In two or three times that. Mr. Nicklin then inquirer! as to whether the line down the Waotu road, Putaruru, -was paying, stating that only two houses were lighted and one motor was run off this.. Mr. Sprague explained that this line represented provision for a 1.1,000 volt line to Putaruru. IF THE LOAN WERE DEFEATED. Another question was: Will further reticulation be stopped if the loan is not carried ? , Mr. Claxton: Well, we have one card up cur sleeve. You will probably know, of course, that we can borrow an extra ten per cent on the loans already authorised. That would allow us to go farther, but I have a horror of using this provision without the ratepayers’ consent. If another £50,000 is required, 1 would rather ask the ratepayers to sanction the raising of it than obtain it as the ten per cent additional on the other loans. In reply to further questions, Messrs. Claxton and ►Sprague stated that in cases where an applicant for pewer wished to do part of the work himself, for instance, such as carting (Continued in Next Column.)

the poles and digging the holes, the Beard was always willing to give him a due allowance for such work on the installation costs charged to him. In cases where the required revenue would not be forthcoming under the Beard’s scale of charges but the ratepayers were prepared to guarantee extra to bring the revenue up to the amount required a line would be erected. THE PUKETURUA CANVASS. Asked -what were the prospects for the reticulation of the Puketurua district, Mi-. Sprague read a statement to the effect that to make reticulation there payable a revenue of £B5l per annum would be necessary. But the last canvass showed only £(599 offering, leaving a deficit of £152. The district concerned extended to the Salvation Army Training Farm and Mr. P. J. Nathan’s Waipa estate, and the Training Farm authorities had offered to guarantee the payment of half the deficit and Mr. Nathan was being asked if he would guarantee the other half. If Mr. Nathan consented the reticulation could be put in hand.