FAIR DEAL SOUGHT ON POWER CUTS

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 50, 25 June 1974, Page 1

FAIR DEAL SOUGHT ON POWER CUTS

The Taupo Borough Council wants a fair deal on power cuts. Jt is to tell the NZED of its concern in making total cuts or imposing sustained water heating restrictions until all other areas make a comparable effort. The council last night modified an electricity committee recommendation that the council refuse to impose total power cuts and long-spell water heating restrictions until other power supply authorities make a comparable saving.

The borough electrical engineer, Mr K. G. Stewart, has been authorised to write to the NZED suggesting that all supply authorities be required to exercise a „ uniform rate of water and space heating restric-

tions as a basic saving during the power crisis. He is also to "protest violently" that current power allocations are not a true reflection of the growth of special industrial usage.

In his report to the council meeting last night, Mr Stewart said that during May Taupo was able to keep within its electricity supply ration three weeks out of four with moderate imposed restraints.

"There is no doubt that a specially increased allocation for the holiday period and voluntary savings by consumers helped but the main reason we were able to meet targets was the exceptionally mild weather conditions which prevailed," he said. "Examination of the weekly allocations now given Taupo for June-July leads me to the conclusion that we have not a hope of meeting reduced target consumption in this area if temperatures fall to average or lower than normal. "Any cold snap fnust immediately cause us to apply enforced restraints." It was a matter for concern that people in the Taupo area have been and will be asked to make greater sacrifices than those in other areas. "While we have been imposing total power cuts and long water heating restrictions on our consumers, other areas have not been called upon to accept any enforced rationing," Mr Stewart told the council. Larger temperature fluctuatiops experienced by inland areas was the cause of the anomaly and it resulted in larger fluctuations in power usage. "At a time when people require space heating and hot water must we deprive them of these facilities? This would no doubt be more palatable if other areas were making comparable sacrifices at the same time," he said. It seemed entirely unreasonable for Taupo people to be in a black-out condition when people in Auckland or Dunedin had only a short duration water heating cut.