HOROWHENUA ELECTRIC POWER BOARD.

Shannon News, 19 February 1926, Page 4

HOROWHENUA ELECTRIC POWER BOARD.

FEBRUARY MEETING. :)iv. G. A. Monk was in tlic chair at yesterday's meeting of the Horowkenua Power Board. There was a full attendance of members, including Mr. A. Seifert, lately returned from the cast, after seven-months absence, the consulting engineer (Mr. T. Overton), the engineer (Mr. J. A. Smith) and the secretary (Mr. P. W. Goldsmith). Before proceeding with the general business, the chairman took the opportunity of extending to Mr. A. Seifert, a very hearty welcome and expressed the hope that his trip had considerably benefited him. Mr. Seifert was widely travelled, and his being a member of 1 the Power Board was a matter on which the Board wore to be congratulated. TREASURER'S REPORT. The treasurer,, in his report, stated: The amount paid out since last meeting of the Board amounts to £1252. Towards this sum wages account for £732, salaries for £254, contractors for wiling groups £l6O, the balance being made up of freights and sundry accounts. The accounts to be passed amount to £3575. The chief item is the second yearly instalment on debenture on our first £40,i 000 loan, from the Government Life Insurance Department, the amount oi the debenture is £1356 16s sd. Transformers, insulators and cable come to £865. Poles and iron rails and tallowwood come to £505, electrical contractors for groups' £274. These comprise the principal items. Receipts. —Tn'e receipts since last' meeting of the Board were: —Electricity and meter .rents, £3652 3s.Bd; sale of motors, ranges and heaters, £304 Bd, installations, £916 19s 3d; service' lines, £246 8s sd; total £5119 18s. Loan Expenditure.—The loan monies raised by the Board will soon be expended. To provide for engagements entered into for poles and wire to the extent of nearly £2,000 and to carry on the construction works in hand until about the end of the current financial year will about exhaust the fuds. There 'will, of course, be .some repayment;; coming in which will provide for small extensions whenever the Board decides to make them. But "generally it may be taken that from the Ist of April next, the Board must live on its revenue and all expenditures will have to be paid therefrom. The coming year or per- , haps the next two years will doubtless 1 prove to be the testing and critical years, of the Board's existence. —The report was adopted.

The chairman said that so far as income was concerned, the revenue was quite up to expectations. Regarding the expenditure of loan money, it was questionable whether the amount of capital money collected would be sufficient to carry on ' extensions. The latter are going to be small ones, but apparently there was a likelihood of there being a fair number of these applications. ' Thes'e small extensions would have to be made, not from revenue, but out of the capital money collected. The load in Levin was moving along very nicely, with very few comprint.*.

Mr. Matheson asked whether there : was any data as to the possible number of prospective consumers withiii the; •next two years. Mr. Overton stated'it was quite likely the Board would get over 500 consumers, including about 10.0 milkingmachines, a number of which would come on during the coming season. As to cooking and water heating, these services depended largely upon the Board itself, as this part of the business was capable of great development. The capital outlay on these 000 consumers would approximate £SOOO, in respect of additions to present reticulation. Some of the Power Boards have not been so rapidly developed as the Horowhenua Power Board, but their revenue had increased by 47 per cent, during the past four years. The speaker did not expect the Horowhenua Power Board would dn that, a« the first year's development was unusually rapid. In replying to a question of Mr.'Barber, the chairman stated that the matter of assisting the people on out-back sites- to get the power, was being kept steadily in mind. In fact that was where most of the extensions would be made.' Mr. Overton said it had been understood from the first that, as soon as the Board's operations showed it as a (playable piropositiofnf, tjhe (bfack-blioe'kis portions of the Board's area would bo reticulated, even, if the installation meant a slight loss.

The chairman remarked that' as soon as the Board paid, it would undertake further capital expenditure, and, perhaps, instal the service where the revenue did not quite cover the cost. Is would be wrong, at the present juncture, for the Board to jump into that expenditure. In the past what had struck him was the extraordinary development in places where, maybe. power for lighting only was used an I where, subsequently ranges and wnferheaters, etc., were installed. One man had' told him that he • kn'ew of a di> trict where, with canvassing and demonstrations, 50 ranges more could bo added to the Board's load consumption ! —a big thing to the Board! ENGINEERS REPORT. i 'The engineer's report disclosed ih> following information:— Line Construction. —The pole gam:? have erected 49 poles at Raumatj and Hume's Road, Tokomaru. also a number of service poles. They have been assisting number throe wire gang runningwire and cutting trees at Rikiorangi; also off loaded poles, two trucks, at Tokomaru. They are now engeged erecting poles for the lin'e to Aker's estate. No. 1 Wire Gang.—Ran 150 chains of wire; erected one line switch' on Hume's Road, built sub-station for Hume's mill, erected one service pole and-ran two services, also working on maintenance. No. 2 Wire Gang.—Ran 150 chains of wire, erected 3S service poles and rati .15 services in Levin. "Poxton and Pnekakariki; also effected repairs at Pao- j kakariki and Te fforo. No. 3 Wire Gang.—Completed the . E.H.T. to Rikiorangi, ran out, with j help of the pole gang. 1067 chains of 1

'wire at Waikanae beach and Rikiorangi, erected eleven service poles, one line switch and ran eight services. Transformer Fitters. —Have unpacked nine transformers and dried them Dili ready for service. Built a substai.ion at Waikanae- beach road. nm\ one at Rikiorangi; changed transformers hi i'lAouKiru and Shannon East Road. Installations.—o. P. Gilmour is making good progress w'rh the Rikiorangi group. a:-, J rluee more consumers have signed up. including two ranges and one wainr heater. ('. H. Marriott has the Waikanae beach, group in hand. The !iioi;e important installations connected u-j-i ''during the period are: —De Luxe Theatre, PsO lights and two rectifiers, I It K.W.: J. \V. Kimmor's -store, 21 K.w! I Test. Room. —Five ranges have been j jested •and dried out and four deliverI ed to consumers. Work-hop.—The .second Morris tontruck had had a body fitted and is now in service, Two .1.1,000 volt switch panel? and' two line switches have;-been made up. Repairs were made to the back axle of the Chevrolet car. and Xo. 4 truck .h.-r- had a, thorough overhaul. Gene nil.—-During the period trouble was experienced on The southern portion of the lines on account; of lightning striking the line ;jtist north of Pae-' kakariki, and fracturing two insulators, and near. To Horo a. strain insulator, which had. been damaged by rifle shots, leaked over and enlarged the hole by burning in the cross ai'rn, allowing the bolt to pull out. These faults, which occurred during the night time, were located as soon us possible and repairs effected. The Public Works .Department are rewiring and making extensions at' the Otnki Sanatorium and hospital, and have asked me to give them an estirnr t ate of the cost or the Board to cany out aTi fho outside wiring, so as to] allow the installations to be fjonn'ect-1 ed up to the Board's sy3tem. . k