KCE customers save 30% power

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 446, 28 July 1992, Page 7

KCE customers save 30% power

Power savings by King Country Energy customers - and the early closure of Taumarunui's AFFCO freezing works - have resulted in a 30 percent drop in electricity purchases from ECNZ. General manager Peter Till told the July board

meeting that unit saies in June showed a drop of only five percent, reflecting the value of the board's own generation at Kuratau and Piriaka. The early closure of AFFCO's works had brought about reduced demand from ancillary

services like the Ruapehu District Council water pumping, Mr Till said. The board was told that the AFFCO closure meant a possible 14week shut-down this year compared with the usual six to eight weeks. Director Tony Palmers said the AFFCO closure and the flow-on effects from it on other electricity users high-

lighted for him the 'marginal' position the board finds itself in because of its low margins. "It is not a comfortable position to be in." One of the problems being faced by King Country Energy as a result of the power crisis has been low voltage supply from ECNZ. Chief engineer Colin Martin said the whole of Taumarunui had to be carried recently on the

Tokaanu supply line "and we struggled". He said nobody probably noticed the low voltage but it showed that while a new Taumarunui supply line has been deferred the problem has not gone away. Director Gordon Gower asked how the power crisis had impacted on the board's marketing of energy efficient products and was told the sale of thermal

water-cylinder wraps and night-stores had definitely increased. Mr Till said there had also been considerable interest in three-port mixing valves and wa-ter-conserving showerroses. "We don't actually sell these things ourselves - there are plenty of plumber merchants around who do - but we have noticed an increase in requests for advice about them."