Cheaper Power Coming

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 592, 19 February 1929, Page 8

Cheaper Power Coming

Progress Brings Price Concessions

TWENTY years ago electricity in Auckland was a luxury. To-day it is in common use in 46,000 homes and establishments in and around the city. The loan of 15,000, for ■which the Auckland Electric-Power Board is seeking sanction to-morrow, will, if carried by the ratepayers, widen the scope of electric power in this district and pave the way for great concessions to consumers when the change over to water power is effected at the completion of the Arapuni works.

'T'HE growth- of electricity in Auckland was steady, but not rapid, mainly on account of the existence of an efficient gas undertaking, and for the first few years of its organised operation consumption crept rather than jumped up. In fact Auckland was one of the slowest to leave the mark so far as power was concerned.

These facts, which now are ancient history, emphasise more clearly the remarkable progress which has been recorded during the past decade—a decade which, in this city, might be correctly termed the electrical age. The acquisition by the Auckland

Power Board of the City Council’s electric power plant synchronised with a big change in the people’s outlook toward the motive power, and eleetricty became intensely popular almost In a night. Its cleanliness and convenience impressed home-build-ers favourably, while Improved methods were daily reducing the cost of production and incidentally the cost of current to the user. The Power Board, after nearly seven years in charge of the Auckland supply, is not only able to look back upon a period crowded with singularly successful financial results, but it may justifiably claim to have taken a notable step toward the ultimate provision of cheap power for all classes of the people. The dimensions of the organisation are immense. In seven years its revenue has risen from £139,000 to well over half a million sterling, and work is given to 570 Aucklanders as against 177 in its employ when the council gave up the scheme. The wages bill of the board gives an indication of the double-barrelled benefit which the workers in Auckland derive. In addition to the supply of power aud light at low cost, the institution sends £143,000 into homes in this district in earnings, and

in addition, the prospects of further reductions in the price of power in the near future are quite bright. COAL INDUSTRY BENEFITS

Industry in New Zealand benefits directly and materially from the Auckland electric supply. Over £122,000 is spent annually in the consumption of coal, most of which is brought from the Waikato mines, and all of which is mined within the Dominion. A few years ago only £38,000 worth of coal was being consumed. The march of electricity is reflected In the tremendous rise in the number of units which the board now generates compared with its modest output a few years ago. All over the suburbs the supply is going into houses and factories, and the supply is just reaching the 81,000,000 unit mark. The board has encouraged the demand for this power by abolishing last year the 10 per cent, load charge upon sparsely populated suburbs where installation and supply costs are high. In the city also every effort has been made to give the consumer the benefit of reduced production costs. During last year the commercial lighting rates were brought down by 22J per cent., and a provisional discount of 5 per cent, was allowed upon all accounts. Altogether the concessions granted to. the public in the past 12 months totalled in round figures about £25,000 To-morrow’s loan of £675,000 is by no means the first the board has raised. WherLthe scheme was bought from the council, £822,000 in loan money was taken over, and since then £1,603,500 has been raised, while £IBO,OOO in accumulated reserves is invested. The capital expenditure of the concern is over two and a-half millions.

PROSPECTS FOR CHEAP POWER Future development of the supply will depend largely upon the decision of the ratepayers at to-morrow’s loan poll. In the words of the general manager, Mr. R. F. Bartley, the board has, throughout its whole operations, had to look well ahead in order to meet demands. Never at any time has it had much to spare in plant capacity, and keen foresight has been necessary to provide for many unexpected contingencies. The delay in the completion of Arapuni has hindered the board to some extent, but when power comes from this vast project, at the end of the current year, the benefits of water power supplied on a large scale will be immediately recognisable. With the loan money which it is now proposed to raise, the board claims the ability to do great things. It is working constantly toward a reduction of power costs, and the provision of cheaper current to the business man and the householder.

By increased turnover it is hoped to reach a bedrock figure. The extensions now in prospect will help toward this end, and the Auckland Electric Power Board will be enabled to enhance the reputation it already enjoys of comparing favourably with other parts of New Zealand in powersupply charges.