POWER RATIONING MAY RETURN

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5320, 5 February 1947, Page 5

POWER RATIONING MAY RETURN

Rotorua Consumption Is Abnormally Heavy The power cuts which were experienced from 11.30 a.rn. to 11.50 a.m. and 4.50 p.m. to 5.10 p.m. yesterday, are the forerunners of further cuts imposed hy the main supply authorities if the consumption of power in the Rotorua-Bay of Plenty and part of the Thames Valley supply districts is'not reduced to a great extent. The District Electrical Supervisor, Mr. H. R. Beale, stated yesterday that the cuts were imposed as a means of load control by the supply authorities at Arapuni. The consumption at the moment, said Mr. Beale, was abnormal, and was imposing a demand on the system that it was impossible to carry. "Unless residents take steps to conserve electricity, >t appears that a system of rationing on a par with that institutecL last year will have to come into fqrce — and a good deal earlier than last year, owing to the present reduced levels of Taupo and Waikaremoana." Mr. Beale also stressed the need for conserving water in the Rotorua district. Every pint of water that came into the town, he said, was pumped with electrically-generated pumps, so that water, in this respect, was' electricity. He urged liouseholders to make sure that they possessed no leaky taps, and to ensure that there was no wastev 10