HYDRO-ELECTRICITY

Southland Times, Issue 18849, 15 June 1920, Page 3

HYDRO-ELECTRICITY

LAKE COLERIDGE SCHEME. ENGLISH EXPERT IMPRESSED. (Special to the Times.) CHRISTCHURCH, June 12. "Whenever it is commercially' practicaoie there is no question at all that hydro-elec-tric development should be actively pushed. To my view it is the most valuaole asset which this emintry possesses. One thing that impresses me is the development winch lias taken plane here in Christchurch. I read the figures the other day with astonishment. the load factor here, having regard to the characteristics of the place, is one of the highest i know of in any' p-art of the world. That reflects great credit upon those who have been responsible for the development of the undertaking.’ 1 nose are the impressions of Sir Arnold Gridley, K.8.E., a prominent British electrical engineer. who is at present in Christchurch. Sir Arnold, who granted an interview to a Sun representative to-day, was knighted in recognition of his war work under trie British Government. He served under the Ministry of Munitions as controller of electric power supplies, a position which embraced the direction of 600 public supply undertakings and about 50 electrical plant manufacturing firms. 'The visitor was over another period electrical advisor to the Home Secretary and the Ministry' of Transport. He relinquished his Government duties on March 31, 1920, and sailed for New Zealand the same day, partly on holiday and partly to study the probable devciopmem, of hydro-electric production and transmission with an eye to business. Inis is his first visit to the dominion. Yesterday Sir Arnold visited the Lake Unlerldge power house. He was intensely interested in the genera! lay of it and the reasonable cost at which the installation had been made, even at pre-war prices. The scheme must have been launched without any was<e of money. It had been wellplanned and soundly engineered. The only point where one could criticise, and of course it was easy to he wise after the event, was that it would have been better to have adopted a bolder policy at the outset and to have gone for at least donole the p.resent supply. The lesson to be learned from the wonderful success of the scheme was that the future policy of the department should be a little bolder.