BOROUGH ELECTRICAL SUPPLY.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1918, Page 7

BOROUGH ELECTRICAL SUPPLY.

SA2IY. APPROVED BY-CQIMCIL.-A.few -weeks-ago, the.electrical--<!ngi-neer to the New Plymouth Borougk Council submitted a comprehensive report emibnuringra scheme for the extension of the council's electric supply plant to "three times its. present capacity, Xho position has become so acute that it is now almost impossible to accept any more light consumers, as the plant is already overtaxed. When the report (which was published in these columns) was presented to the council, it was referred'to the Electric Light Committee for consideration and a report to the council. Yesterday afternoon a special meeting of the council -was-held for the purpose of receiving the recommendations of the committee. It had been the intention of the committee to take the whole- council out to the-power station and waterworks yesterday, in order to discuss th© proposals on the ground where the extension -work will be carried out, hut on account of the heavy rain which continued: incessantly all day, the outdoor- meeting was abandoned, and the council met and discussed the scheme at, the Council Chambers. His Worship the Mayor presided, and there were also present: Crs. ,T, Clarke, W. F. Short, E. Griffiths, W. A. Collis, E. J. Deare, and G, W, Browne. Cr. Clarke (chairman of the Electric Light Committee) said he preferred that councillors" should have gone over the actual ground where the work was ito be carried out, as they would then lwve a much better idea of the whole scheme. His chief concern, however, was to get the council's approval of the proposals so that steps could he taken immediately to get the necessary loan under way and a commencement made with the work it the earliest possiblo moment. He thought it would lie a-' mitted by councillors that it was essential that something should he done at once, 33 the plant was now overtaxed, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to m«et <;li9 demands wliiefi Wero constantly being put upon the department. He pointed out that the whole scheme proposed bv the engineer involved the expenditure of £30,000. That amount had been divided into two sections. For the sum of £17,000 they would he able to erect a reservoir and purchase tho necessary machinery and extras which would give an output of current one-third more than the present capacity of the plant, or which, on the present rate of increase, would yield a revenue one-third larger than the present, income from the plant. The amount of plant and work necessary to make such an increase would not suffice for many year?. Indeed, he considered that hv the time the work was completed there would probably be customers for the whole of the increased output;' and so he urged that the full scheme, which would give three times the present capacity,' should he approved. The present cost of development was about £4f! per h.p. The expenditure of the first part of the pronosed loan would reduce the cost to £4l, while the completion of the whole would reduce the cost of development hy £0 per horfe-power. He felt confident, therefore, that, in view of these considerations, the scheme, would commend itself to the council and to the ratepavers as a sound, busi-ness-like proposition. He moved—"That the council adopt the scheme pronosed 'bv the engineer, and that immediate steps be taken to get the necessary approval of the Government for th» raising of the loan." Cr. «hort seconded the metion. In replv to a question by the Mayor, the engineer stated that new machinery was necessary at once at the power-house The -present machine was old and consumed three times as much wat-r ns a new machine would utilise Cr. Griffiths raised the question as to whether the Government scheme of electric development would interfere with the council's plant if the former should he brought to New Plymouth. The engineer pointed out ' that the Government scheme would not necessitate the "scrapping" of the council's plant in any way. The Government would he in tho position of a wholesale supplier. If the'council found that it could not meet all the demands made upon it, then it would, as the supplying agent for the Government, transmit the Government power to consumers. Continuing, Mr Bartley said his scheme could be carried out on the site of tile council's present works, and the running cost would not he increased, although there would be a greatly increased output of power. Cr. Griffiths said that the great feature of the position, as he saw it, was that the Electric Light Committee had been "right up against it" for soma time. The plant would have to be extended; how far, it was impossible to tell. The town was developing rapidly, and the increased demands upon the electrical department even for the past year were an indication of what might be expected in the future. He favored the proposals. Cr. Collis said he intended to support tho adoption of the complete schem». He said the Electric Light Committee had heen up against the demand for power ever since the scheme had been installed. They had never dreamed the rate of development would be so rapid. Ho pointed out also that the scheme had not yet cost the ratepayers anything, because the whole of the supply developed had been taken up. He thought that by the time tho work contemplated by the expenditure of the £17,000 was completed there would ho a demand for the full supply available. So far as he understood it, the lesser scheme provided only for tho accumulation of water supplv in slack hours against the demand that would be made on the plant in the busiest times. He, therefore, urged that the whole scheme should be completed so as to make the council independent of such slack times, and tn put them in a position of being able to supply a full load at any time. The Mayor pointed out that the thing ; appealed to him from an economic viewpoint, inasmuch as the council was going to increase its capacity three times without increasing the cost of production. He also stated that as the supplying authority they had a duty to perform to those who wanted power, whether for litrhting or anv other purpose, and if the present plant was not capable of meeting the demand, then thev must extend its power. The engineer stated that if something was not done at once he would be compelled to tell the council that within 12 months it would be impossible to 'take on another light consumer. Cr. Short, In supporting the pro-

-posals, referred to the. development' that hod takenuplaeeiin Cftristclmrcb, a* the result of the electrical supply brought into that city- He ventured" the belief that if the-whole scheme out--'by the-engineer was carried out, it ; Would not 'be the end of electrical development in New' Plymouth. Cr. Browne, while supporting the full"' scheme, raised the point of the discrepancies between the estimates of Mr. hartley and Mr. Climie as to the minimum amount of water that would ho likely to ho available in the WaiwaIcaiho. The difference was so great as to create some doubt in his mind as to the accuracy of the estimate. Cr. Clarke said that Mr. Climie's estimate of the minimum supply was 58 cubic feet per second. (Both the council's engineers had been watching the river closely all last summer, and that had been one of the driest summers ever known, and they agreed that the minimum was never below 150 ft. He pointed ovit that even if the supply was loss than that, it was impossible for any system to be called upon to use its full capacity for the whole 24 hours in the Aay. Mr. Cooke, who spoke at the request of Mr. (Hartley, said, from Bis close observations and examinations of the amount of water in the river, he was convinced that 4 he estimate of a minimum of CO cubic feet was l a serious error. He and Mr. Sartley were quite satisfied that their estimate was a safe one to work on. He pointed out that when it was made there was less snow on Mount Egmont than was usual. Cr. Collis said he had never known a season before in which there had been so little snow on Egmont. The Mayor pointed out, further, that if the council decided to go in for any other plan it would mean new plant, new station, and bister staff. The point that appealed to him was that the gain was going to be effected without increased running cost. The engineer stated that if the present tunnel became blocked there was no store etc and nower would be cut off at once. XTnder the new ischeme thev would have a storage of wrier sufficient to keep a supply of full power going for about five hours or a half-supply for double that time. He stated he had inspected all the rivers in the district, and had come to the conclusion that the present site where the work was proposed to be done could not be improved on. Messrs Sladdcn and Palmer had bten consulted with regard to th? civil "nginecrinsr part of the work, and thp.v had agreed that the site was the best possible. He pointed out, however, that for the site of the weir to be constructed, lie would require the decision of a civil engineer. On the motion being put, it was earned unanimously.