ELECTRICITY CHARGES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 199, 15 April 1932, Page 4

ELECTRICITY CHARGES

A correspondent draws attention in a letter published in our columns this morning to the efforts made last year by Mr. C. H. Clinkard, member for the- district, to ohtain a rednction oi the cost of electric light and power in Rotorua. Complaint is J made that although the then Minister in charge of the Tounst Department, which controls the electric supply system in Rotorua, stated that the question of reducing the charges was , being investigated, nothing f urther has been ^ done. Ini the circumstances, the complaint is thoroughly justified. The matter was kept before the responsible Minister by Mr. Clinkard for more than six months and all that came of his effort was a series of non-committal replies to the effect that the matter was "being inquirecl into" or was "under consideration." With the coming of summer and daylight saving the burden of the present charges became less oilerous and public ^rotests ceased for the time being, the authorities apparently accepting the respite with a sigh of relief. If this is in fact the p-osition, it is uncommonly like wilful trifling with the public. Either the charges are unreasonably high or they are not. If they are not the department should say so explicitly. If they are, they should have been reduced long ago. In Rotorua the electric supply^ system is in every sense of the term a public utility. It is publiely owhed and operated from generator to consumer's switch-board.^ The public is therefore entitled to expect and demand the highest efficiency at the lowest cost. Instead of this, however,^ there^ is some justification for those who hold that, by comparison with the service given by local bodies, the people of Rotorua get the lowest efficiency at the highest cost. Taken literally, this would be an exaggerated view of the position. It cannot be said, however, that the service given is as good as it should be. The quality of the supply frequently falls below the standard miniitium, reducing the heating and lighting efficiency of the current, but not reducing the meter registration against the unfortunate consumer. While the Arapuni plant was closed down there may have been an unavoidable technical reason for this, b'ut now that ihe big station is again in operation there should be no further excuse and the consumer is entitled to an assurance on the point. As regards cost, while the charges levied in Rotorua may not actually be the highest in the Dominion, they are c-ertanly among the hghest. During the boom period of lnflated costs they may have been justifiable, but they are certainly not justifiable to-day. Wages and salaries have been reduced 10 per cent and apparently are about to be further reduced and other costs also have probably fallen. Power boards thr'oughout the province have met the position by reducing their net charges, but the G'overnment has done nothing. It is time they completed their "inquiries" and "consideration" and adjusted 'the sc'ale to present-day conditions. And while they ara about it, they should put an end to the unnecessary and quite unfair method of calculating discounts, under which the allowance for prompt payment is frequently almost as:much as the legitimate charge for the current consumed. '