WAITEMATA LOOKS AHEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 678, 1 June 1929, Page 16 (Supplement)

WAITEMATA LOOKS AHEAD

The benefits of the power from Arapuni will be shared —though in : less degree than in some instances —by the Waitemata Electric Power Board, for it will banish ! all doubt about the continuity and i the volume of the supply. This board, incidentally, has recorded gratifying progress in the few t years of its operations. 1 1 A CTI'ALLY the distribution system Jax 0 f t h.e Waitemata board will not

be materially affected, because this district has all along been receiving alternating current from the hydro plant at Horahora, but spasmodic breakdowns there have at times raised doubts in the public mind as to the continuity of the supply—doubts wljich ultimately proved to be unfounded, for the board has always managed to keep its faith with its consumers. Arapuni comes into the electric supply field providing a plentiful and continuous service and places the Waitemato, district upon a particularly favourable basis. Progress with installations and the expansion of the reticulation which has been recorded in the few years of the board’s existence will possibly be enhanced when the consumers have this assurance. Steady advancement in meeting the increased demand for electric power in the home, in the industrial sphere and among farmers, has been made, and the activities of the board now represent a large sum of money in assets as well as a well organised system of supply. In the Waitemata board’s district there are udw 700 stoves and 950 water heaters connected. By fostering the off-plate load it is anticipated that by the end of the current financial year 100 stoves will be Installed. This board is one of very few in the Dominion to adopt the two-part tariff, a system of charges which has assumed particular popularity in the United Kingdom. The main advantages of this system are that it encourages the increased use of electricity over a longer period of the day, provides the supply authority with an improved load factor, and enables consumers to obtain universal

benefits from their installations at a much lower average price by the unit. Auckland lias shared the limits of electrical progress with the other dijt tricts in the Dominion, and the 'Waitenvata board has received its quota ot the districts' supply. This 1-oard is in effect, the evolution ot the Kaipara Electric Power Board, which was constituted late in 1923. comprising the Helensville Town District, portion of

I the county as an inner area, and other defined portions ol the county, as an ; outer area, The revenue of the undertaking is one of the most illustrative tests of the board’s progress, and marks the success of the policy of advancement which has been operating since the ! first loan was raised. In the year ending March 31, 1926, the revenue collected totalled a modest £616. Then it rose progressively to £18,653 In 1927, £54,592 in 1928, £68,287 in '929, and for the current year to end March 31 next year it is estimated to be £73,000. Two years ago the board had 4,070 consumers and 132 miles ol transmission and distribution lines. Today the consumers total 6.61 S and the transmission and distribution lines span 357 miles. LOOKING AHEAD The sentiments of the hoard are conveyed in the words of the chair- | man, Mr. J. IV. Hayden, who says: — "The anxiety that was felt in the earlier phases of the board's history can now be forgotten. With the advent of Arapuni commencing its supply this month, we can now safely rely on a constant and plentiful supply, and we should congratulate the Public Works Department on overcoming the difficulties they have met with, during the past three years. "With a now assured uninterrupted : and inestimable future supply, public fears will now be allayed for all time, and this assurance will no doubt reflect itself in many new consumers and new industries being connected to the board’s mains."