LIGHTING AND HEATING RESTRICTIONS.
BOAKD MAKES ALLOWANCES
TO CONSUMERS.
LOSS ON STREET LIGHTING £lO5
The Horowhcnua Power Board’s engineer (Mr. J. A. Smith) reported to the Board on Tuesday that on February 28th, the tsrect lighting was resumed between sunset and 11 p.m., and on March 7th it was restored to the usual times —sunset to sunrise. On March 7th all restrictions were lifted, and the flaxmills have returned to normal running times. Tlie general aspect of the position, brought about by the recent water shortage was dealt with by the Secretary (Mr. P. W. Goldsmith), in his report, which contained the following references to the matter: — RESTRICTIONS REMOVED.
It will be remembered that at the last Board meeting in accordance with the directions of the Public Works Department, our load had been very considerably reduced, because the industrial load had become a night load and not a day-load as formerly, the street lights were cut out, and consumers had been asked to cut off water-heaters during the day and to economise in the use of power generally. On February 2Sth the Resident Electrical Engineer wired to say that the most irksome restrictions could be removed, but there was still great need for economy by consumers as a whole. Consequently the street lighting was resumed from dusk until 11 p.m. On March 7th the District Engineer wired: —“Restrictions on load may be removed. ’ ’ Communication of the good news was quickly made to the industrial concerns and the press. The streets lights were again put on-for all-night service. REVENUE AFFECTED BY THE RESTRICTIONS. 1. Street Lighting.—Enquiries' were received from some of the local bodies as to how they would fare when the bill came in for street lighting. What has been dene in the,.matter is that in the quarterly accounts rendered for street lighting, one month’s rebate has. been deducted from the account, which represents the tme when the street lighting service was. not given at. all. There were minor restrictions, involving shorter hours of service of which no account has been taken, but the main restriction of one clear month’s lighting has been taken into account, and no charge has been made for a service which was not and could not have been rendered. This should be .-.at sfacto.y to.the local bodies. For ihe Boaicl The loss in revenue from the pow e r w hie h vv c•e ou: d no t sup; >; y fo r .•acet. lighting amounts to £lO5 12s.
2. Ranges. —Consumers were requested to economise in the use of couriers; ,at lice for one month the minimum rate has not been enforced, but only the units Used, have been paid for. This will outaif some lu*s: —not a serious one perhaps, but still a loss. Until the meters in both the .northern and southern'areas are read, it is not very' easy to arrive qt the approx.matc amount with any certainty.
3. Domestic Wafer-heaters. —It will be remembered that coiuumeis were asked in the restricted pcuod 1o cut off these wa ter-heateis dux mg the day. The meters.-have been lead'throughout the nofthe: n district and wbeie ihe' ecu sum ci claims to have complied with .lie Board’s request in this lespeet, au allowance of half the charge for a period of one month has been made to the consume:, in ihe touthe-ii aiea, when the meters are lead the same ecum* will be pursued. Exact figures ate not yet available, but (lououess the loss in revenue to the Board will probably be in the neighbourhood of £SO.
4. Flaxmill Load. —There will doubtless be considerable loss to the Board through d'spensing with the day load timing some week Cot' D'e busiest tnni of vhc year. The night- rates are much lower, and the dilxeionce between tilttwo will mean a" loss in revenue to the Board. This, however, cannot be ascertained until the end of the qua;-, r er —that is, the end the pieseiu month. LOCAL BODIES’ LETTERS. At the same meet ng of the Board, communications on the subject .-of tinlighting restrictions were received from ihe Otaki Borough Council and the Hutt County Council. The Town Clerk of Otaki stated that, at its last monthly meeting, the Council resolved that application be made to the Board for some reduction of the street: lighting charges dm ng the period that the power was not available, lo this the seere 1 ary of the Power Boat'd replied staling that the Couneiy would see by the street lighting account that a fair ,!:ing had been done as between the Council and the Board. The Hutt County Council wrote expressing thanks to the Board and appreciation of the way in which it had .met the Council. ADJUSTING THE' ACCOUNTS. The Chairman (Mr. G. A. Monk) said lie had a feeling that the other local bodies might have assisted the Board out of this little trouble by saying that they would not be too hard on the Board. In the Hutt county there had been a demand for some concession owing to the light not being available for the streets for a certain time. The matter was placed before him by the secretary, and they felt that there was. only one thing that, could be done in the circumstances—namely to inform the Council that it would not be charged for the month’s street lighting that it did not have. What they had done for one local body they would have to do for all, and the cost to the Board was £lO5 12s. With regard to the other restrictions imposed, the Chairman added, it would not be quite so easy to find out the loss. It was for the meter reader to inquire of users of water heaters whether they had carried out the requests of the Board. He supposed that in most cases people would reply in the affirmative. Where the Board’s request in this connection had been ear-
ried into effect and a reduction was requested, it would be made in accordance with the suggestion contained in the Secretary’s report. The use of ranges could be more easily ed. Where the amount of current fell below the minimum usually chargeable, the users would only be charged fo< the units consumed. There would be some loss of revenue. The biggest losf •.could be through the changing of the heavy industrial load from a day to i: night rate. , Although it. had cost "the Department a considerable amount oi money to run auxiliary plants during the water shortage, it was in duty bound to meet the- Board in some respect in regard to the latter’s loss of revenue. As far as he could see, the other local bodies could. have helped the Board a-little; but if one of them made an insistent demaffd /then the Board would have to make the concession to all of them. If -the mouey went out iu that way, however, it had to come back in some other way.' He moved the adoption of the secretary’s report. The motion wgs seconded, by Mi;. W. E. Barber, who said he felt the same way as the Chairman in regard to some of "the local bodies; they should have met the position as sports. He thought that the Chairman had handled the position very well. It was now a question, he supposed', of “passing it on. ’ ’ The motion i>*as carried.. - ?• -
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Shannon News, 23 March 1928, Page 3
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1,233LIGHTING AND HEATING RESTRICTIONS. Shannon News, 23 March 1928, Page 3
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