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ELECTRICITY UNDERTAKING.

BOROUGH COUNCIL'S OPERATIONS FOR PAST YEAR. In bis report on the New Plymouth Borough Council's electricity undertaking lor the past year, the engineer sayis: The position disclosed by the balancesheet is extremely satisfactory. Tim gross profit amounted to £4)528 Is Ud, compared with £(M<i 12s 7 d for the previous year. The net profit (after allowing for interest and sinking funds, £<)ll2 10s lOd, and depreciation and renewal funds, £4582 9s ludj amounted to faWS Is Id, compared with £241 10s 7d for the previous year. The net proiit would have been increased by £623 5a had it not been for the extra amount having to 'be allowed in the depreciation account for the portion of the old,darn carried away by a flood in the early part of the financial year. The income for the year shows an ini crtase of £2774 Is 4d over tl)at .of. the preceding year, made up/as follows: Private lighting £1482' 3s od, public lighting £7l Bs, power and heating, £472 19s 3d, net sales of electrical appliances and work effected for consumers £■69l Is 7d, rents and licenses £56 (5s Bdj total £277! l la 4d.

The total working expenses (including generation and distribution costs and management) amounted t 0 £4170 17s 3d, as against £4317 03 Id for the previous year. The previous year included an amount of £149 18s 4d, written off stock, shop worn or obsolete, so. that, deducting this amount, the workmg expenses amount to practically the same figure. . Dealing with the accounts as if the. department were a company having a capital as shown on the balance-sheet of £76,596, the--position is as follows! In this case, in the net revenue account; the items sinking funds and interest on capital amount to £3112 10s lOd would be deleted and the net profit increased from £2193 is Id to £5305 Us lid. This represents slightly under. 7 per cent, upon the capital, hut would have enabled a dividend to 5 per cent, to have been declared and the sum of £1476 to be carried to reserve account.-

INCREASED SCALE OiP CHARGES. In March, 1915,1 submitted several recommendations with the object of im- [ proving the financial position of this department, all of which, with the exception of reconsideration of the ccale of charges, had been financially dealt with prior to the commencement of the current year. This matter, however, had not been lost sight of, but had been before the council on many occasions. In April last a very exhaustive report from the electrical engineer was considered, and eventually a new scale was adopted. The council made it clear that their intention was not to unduly increase the revenue, but rather to remove certain anomalies in the charges whioli, in some cases, were operating unfairly. The new charges included a meter rent to which ft certain amount of objection was raised. Upon the council's legal advisers holding that these rents were ultra vires they were discontinued, but the same result \va 3 obtained by a slight Alteration of the schedule of discounts. The present cale of charges is still based upon what is known as the "flat rate" system. This system of charging is entirely out of date, and has been replaced in most of the larger undertakings throughout the world by more equitable methods of charging. It would if; entirely out of the scope of this report to discuss these various methods, but, holding the opinions which I do upon this question, no other course is open but to recommend that the system of charging be again considered, if this be done, the necessary details could then .be placed before the council.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19180709.2.45

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1918, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
613

ELECTRICITY UNDERTAKING. Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1918, Page 7

ELECTRICITY UNDERTAKING. Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1918, Page 7

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