HYDRO-ELECTRICITY.

Shannon News, 19 August 1927, Page 3

HYDRO-ELECTRICITY.

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD. AUGUST MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Horowhe,nua Electric Power Board Avas held in the Municipal Chambers, Levin, on Tuesday, there being present: Messrs G. A. Monk (chairman), W. E. Barber, T. G. Vincent, R. Bryant, E. Morse, C. Blenkhorn, A. J. Petherick, A. Seifert, W. H. Gunning, P. W. Goldsmith (secretary), and J. A. Smith (engineer). The Shannon Co-operative Dairy Co. forwarded a letter expressing appreciation of the satisfactory manner in which the Board had met the company in the adjusting of the account for power supply at the factory.—Received. " An analysis of the electrical installations made in various districts of the Dominion up to June 30 was received from the' N.Z. Electrical Federation.— It was decided that copies of the return be typed, and circulated among members of the Board. A copy of the Government's circula* offering to assist local bodies to provide for the relief of unemployment, was received from the Department of Labour. —Received.

M. Armand Nihotte, consul-general for Belgium, forwarded copies of a ciicular advocating the fostering of trade between New Zealand and Belgium. The data supplied included comprehensive tables showing the imports and exports between the two countries; exports from Belgium to Great Britain; and particulars of shipping lines operating from Antwerp. —The copies of the circular were laid on the table. TREASURER'S REPORT.

The report by the Treasurer (Mr Goldsmith) was as under: — -' - Accounts. —The accounts to be confirmed amount to £IOOO 17s M and those for payment to £3564 7s 9d, making a total of £4565 5s 6d. In the accounts for confirmation, the chief items are: Wages, meter-reader's car, railway freight on poles, and an electrical installatiom- The payments for the day include the half-yearJy instalments on two of our loans from the Government Life Insurance. Office, the amount being £2035 4s Bd. Poles account for £444, transformers, meters and insulators about £4OO, installations £2lO, Levin and Shannon Borough Council rates £74, benzine £75, railway sleepers £SO, circuit breakers and motors £52, tyres and spares £56, insurance premiums £2l. There are quite a number of small ac : counts this month.

Receipts for July.—Electricity accounts for the month include the bulk of the large quarterly accounts, hence the amount is considerable —viz., £4967. The total reecipts for this month, also for the four months of the-financial year already gone, are respectively as follows: —

Installations and fittings and service lines, July £992 3s lid, total to July 31 £2955 18s lOd.

Interest on accounts, £94 19s, £229 18s 2d.

Consumers' deposits, £ll, £4O 10s. Electricity and meter rents, £4967 Is lid, £14,855 3s 4d.

Penalties, £22 Is lOd, £65 9s 6d. Rents and miscellaneous, £33 Is lid, £157 4s 7d.

Totals, £6120 8s 7d, £18,304 4s sd. Electricity and meter rents AprilJuly, 1927, £14,855 3s 4d. Do. April-July, 1926, £12,053 Is 7d. Increase, £2802 Is 9d. It will thus be seen that in spit<Tof the depression and general shortage of money the returns for July have been satisfactory. The increase in the receipts for the financial year for electricity and meter rents (four months), as compared with the same period last year, may also.be classed as satisfactory. Outstanding Accounts. —Further attention has been given to matters relating to the various accounts due to the Board. In the majority of cases there has either been a fair response, or the consumers whose instalments are somewhat in arrears are very hopeful of catching up during the next few months.

No Pay, no Light.—The final "cut off" notices have been sent out to about 20 consumers during the month. Six failed to respond in time, and were cut off. Half this number, however, have already found means to meet their just debts, and are no longer in darkness.

The chairman stated tha 1 . the treasurer's report showed a very satisfactory position as far as the sale of electricity was concerned, there being an increase of over £2BOO as compared Avith the same period of last year. It looked as if the Board's estimates of sales would be to some extent exceeded. In the second half of the year, however, there would be no meter rents. On the receipts shown now, moreover, there were two quarterly accounts. A feature that was not very encouraging was that no fewer than 20 final "cut-oft'" notices had to be sent to consumers, and this was a sign of the times. The report was adopted. ENGINEER'S REPORT.

The report of the engineer for the period since the last meeting was as follows: — No. 1 Gang have fitted and erected 50 poles, run 577 chains of wire and 8 service lines; have built one substation and erected 7 earth guards: loaded and distributed poles on Otaihanga Road; have moved one E.H.T. pole on Paraparaumu Valley Eoad, which was in danger of a slip, also cut back trees on thi3.road; altered a service Paraparaumu Beach Eoad, and erected a wire fence on the Board's section, Mako Mako Road. N 0.2 Gang have erected 20 poles, run 10 service lines and 403 chains of wire; installed 125 K.V.A. transformer with the necessary switch gear and wiring at Main Sub, Foxton, to supply Petersen's and King's Flaxmills; made alteration to street lighting transformers and circuits'in this substation; have been engaged in general overhaul in Te Horo and Hautere districts; havestrengthened earths on Levin-Foxton circuit; and re-strained L.T. and services round Levin; unloaded and stacked poles, Levin. No. 3 Gang have run 5 service lines and erected 6 poles; installed 10 K.V.A. transformer at Williams Road, Toko-

mam; have strengthened earths on Shannon-Foxton line, and re-strained service lines in Shannon; attended to maintenance calls to Board's Hues and transformers, also consumers' installa-! tions; renewed street lamps, and attended to main sub-station. Electrical fitters have run 6 service lines, reconditioned 11 transformers, and changed 8 others; dried out and filtered oil 250 K.V.A. Ross' Mill sub., 125 K.V.A. Poplar sub., and 100 K.V. A. Spiers' Mill sub., Koputaroa; have strengthened earths, Levin-Foxton Line, and assisted earth testing; cut back trees Foxton; assisted unloading and stacking poles, and attended maintenance calls, and renewed street lamps. Installations.—During the period 24 applications from new consumers and 34 applications for extensions to existing installations have been received, comprising 7 ranges, 14 waterheaters, and 6 milking motors. 19 new consumers and 32 extensions have been connected up during the period, which include 2 ranges, 8 waterheaters, 2 milking motors, and 7 industrial motors. Test Eoom. —133 single phase meters have been tested. Workshop.—No 4 truck propeller shaft, bearings, crown wheel and pinion have been renewed; new brake shoes fitted and transmission bands relined. A car engine and gear overhauled and the car varnished. One 11.000 volt line switch and one switch panel have been completed, and a quantity of line material made up. General. —The Otauhanga Road line will be completed and I.vened up in the earlv part of next week and consumers connected as their installations are ready. A 125 K.V.A. transformer, has been installed in the' F-oxton main, sub, to serve King's and Petersen's Mills. Arrangements have been made for the supply of electricity to the Rahui Factory, also for a temporary motor to drive a freezer while the boiler is under repair. This motor is to be run only at times off our neak load period. Owing to the growth of the load in the Boroughs, it will soon be necessary to increase the capacity of some of the L.T. lines, and I would ask authority to purchase about 4 miles J9/.064 triple braided aerial cable at an approximate cost of £298. ANALYSIS OF CONNECTED LOAD. The following table shows the particulars of the connected load to August 10th:—

The Chairman said that members would notice that the connected load was still rising. The usual maintenance and repair work had been carried out. The big transformers had been oil-drained and filtered, and they should be good to carry on until next season. Mr. Barber asked the engineer how far ahead he could see work to keep three gangs going. Mr. Smith stated that No. 3 gang had dwindled down to two men —the permanent man at Shannon and his assistant. One gang was engaged chiefly on maintenance and sub-stat-ions, and the other on construction. Mr. Barber also asked how the new installation at Whitanui mill was working-

Mr. Smith replied that it was working very well up to the present, and those concerned were very pleased with it. Mr. Petherick asked if there was any danger from earth-wires on poles when they did not have wooden covers. The engineer replied that there was no danger of shock from such wires. A batten was placed over theni to protect them from damage. Occasionally this was knocked off, as by a lorry humping it. The purpose of the wire was to earth the ironwork of the transformer so that it could not become alive.

The report was adopted. PICTURE PROJECTION

The following report was submitted by the secretary on rates charged for current consumed by rectifiers used for picture projection: — Some time ago the question of these rates was referred by the Board to the Chairman and Engineer for investigation. Hitherto the power used for theatre rectifiers in the Board's district has been looked upon as if supplied for a lighting device, and consequently lighting rates have been charged. Information.has now been obtained from about 15 Boards and supply authorities, and it has been found that although the rates vary very considerably, in the majority of cases power rates arc charged. It is now recommended for the consideration of the Board that after the 30th September next (the end of the financial halfyear) the Board's charges for the current consumed by rectifiers be at power rates.

Mr. Morse said it had come as a shock to picture showmen, after installing rectifiers, to find that they were going to be charged at lighting rates. He did not think that the proposed alteration in the system of charging would have any consideraable effect as far as the Board's receipts were concerned. He believed there were nine or ten picture theatres in this district, some of which were only running one night a week, and on an average they consumer three units through the rectifier.

The Chairman remarked that it was j never too late to mend, and he did not think that the picture proprietors had been put to any great expense in the matter. The report was adopted. COLLECTION OF CHARGES Mr. Petherick asked if the Board would consider the question of having a local collecter of accounts at Paraparaumu . The Chairman said that the Board could not expect anybody to collect accounts, without being paid for doing so, and the idea had been to accustom people to paying the meter-reader. He had an idea that the Paraparaumu portion of f the district was pretty costly to the Board, and he thought they f

would probably have to go into the position again. They had a man looking after that portion of the district. The Chairman added that he did not know what the revenue was exactly, but as compared with other portions of the district, he thought that the southern end was cost the Board rather more, from a maintenance point of view, than any other part was costiug. He proposed, at a later date, to review the whole position in reference to Paraparaumu. Mr. Petherick's suggestion could then be taken into consideration. REVIEW OF POWER BOARD'S CONFERENCE.

The Chairman gave a resume of the proceedings of the recent conference of delegates to the Power Boards Association, in Wellington, which lie attended in company with Mr. Gunning, the secretary (Mr. Goldsmith) and the engineer (Mr. Smith). He explained that this was called the fifth gathering, but. it was really the fourth conference of the Association, the first' gathering having been held under the auspices of the Public Works Department, when it was decided to form the association. The membership at that time was small—about 20—but on July 20th this year there was an assembly of repres entatives of about 45 Power Boards and supply authorities. The Conference was opened by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Works. Mr. Coates dealt chiefly with the impressions he had received on his visit to America, and compared the difficulties experienced there in hydro work with those met in New Zealand. One trouble which the Prime Minister noticed in America was one that was not encountered in this contry —namely the stoppage of power supply by ice. Although the Mangahao works had been threatened with a shortage of water in a dry spell of weather, they were not likely to have their supply cut off through the water freezing. The Minister of Public Works dealt with pending legislation affecting power supply authorities. It was found that there were certain anomalies in the Act which would need rectifying. The main order paper of the Conference con. tained some 30 remits, and there were about 16 on the supplementary paper. One of the most important remits related to tree-cutting. An action had been taken against the Banks Peninsula Power Board in regard to their cutting down a plantation of poplars which used to whip and touch the wires, throwing the line out. The trees were cut to within about 12 feet of the ground. The owner took action against the Board and obtained damages because the trees were cut at the wrong time of the year. It appeared that Boards should have some more powers in regard to trees that were growing up to their lines. There would probably be legislation to deal with the matter. It was very necessary when cutting trees to choose the right time of the year. Another question dealt with was that of the disqualification of Board members through the Boards having done business with firms in which such members were interested. It had been suggested by the Wairarapa Board that this difficulty could be got over, and they submitted a remit on the subject in the direction of securing amending legislation to reduce the period of disqualification on the ruling of a magistrate. The question of stamp duty on agreements was considered, agreements with consumers on signing-up being subject to a duty of Is 3d. representing a considerable expense to the Boards. The executive had asked the Minister of Public Works to take the matter up with the Stamp Department. The Arbitration Court was discussed in regard to the question of hours, members being of the opinion that the more use that could be made of the daylight hours in the summer the better it would be for the Boards, provided that the employees were paid at their ordinary rates, and not at overtime rates. The Conference asked that some leniency be afforded them in this respect. The proposal for a general advertising scheme was fully discussed by the executive, which recommended to the Conference that the whole matter be held over for a year. The amount required for the scheme would be about l-10th per cent, of a Board's revenue over a period of two years. The question of tariff was also considered. Electrical goods should be cheapened, if possible; cooking ranges seemed to be very dear. It was felt that electrical equipment' to help the people in the hackblocks should be made as cheap as possible, and whore it could not be manufactured in New Zealand it should be admitted duty free. The Minister of Customs was looking into the matter. A re quest was made to the Minister to send Mr KisseJl, Chief Electrical Engineer, to the world's power conference at Rome. The name of the Association had been changed to "The New Zealand Electric Power Boards and Supply Authorities Association. " Amongst the most important business was a conference between the executive, the Minister and Mr. Kissell, to discuss the various remits passed with a view to having some of them embodied in legislation this session. Probably such legislation as would come down would show the results of a mutual understanding between the Government and the Boards. One important piece of legislation Avould be that which would impose on the Boards the responsibility of establishing a depreciation fund'. The Department would insist that sufficient funds be established to keep the mains and lines in good order. Two useful off-shoots of the association were the secretaries' committee and the engineers' committee, both of which had done very good work. In regard to community lighting, the Chairman read a report of the operations of the Dannevirke Board, which has 158 community lights connected with its system. These are lights suspended under shop verandas, and operated by time switches and maintained in good order by the Board. The Chairman added that a canvass was being made under the auspices of the Horowhenua Board, and he thought they could go into the enterprise with safety. Mr. Gunning stated that he had been impressed by the way in which the business had been tackled at the Conference. He was of the same opinion as • I the Chairman as to the importance of he secretaries' and engineers' com-

mittees. A very fine book had been compiled as the result of their investigations, and it would be of great use to Boards generally. He complimented the Chairman on his report.

k.w. 933 Total No. l..p. 230 2607 354 518 Heating and iron points . . 2475 1771 269 1693 492 315 Consumers connected . 2668 — . 2701 — Total connected k.w — 7123