ELECTRICITY FOR FARMERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1921, Page 5

ELECTRICITY FOR FARMERS.

PROGRESSIVE MOVE AT KAPOXGA

A DAIRY COMPANY SCHEME. Wlile other parts of Taranaki have been discussing the formation of hydroelectric power boards and the scope, etc., of the respective districts, the progressivp farmers of the Kaponga district have been moving to such purpose that by January 1 of next year the whole of the district within a radius of about five miles of the township will havt electric power. The matter was considerably advanced yesterday at the annual meeting of the Kaponga Dairy Company, when the chairman, in a lengthy report, said that following on the special meeting of shareholders in December last after negotiations with the Kaponga Town Board, the following arrangement was come to: The company would insUl the plant at a cost of’ £flooo, and then lease it to the Town Board for the term of the board’s license from the Government, approximately 35 years, the board paying the company an annual rental, equal to 7 per cent, on the outlay of £6OOO, plus a sinking fund, the board to bear the whole cost of running and maintaining the plant, and to hand it back to the company at the end of the lease, in good order and condition, lose fair wear and tear; the company, on the other hand, to pay the board for i the. power consumed by them at a rale !of 5 per cent, below that at which hereafter they might bo able to get a supply elsewhere. This arrangement would Inot take effect until June 30, 1922. In the meantime the. company would got [ such power ns was available for nothI irig, and in return would have to bear : the. interest charges on the outlay till ! that date In addition to the above, •the company agreed to take up suflici- ; ent debentures of the Town Board 1 electricity loan to take the tninsmiisIsion lines to Riverlea and Rowan. THE FINANCES.

Under their .'•rrangement with the company the Town Board would be faced from the outset with an increased annual charge of at least £lOOO, and it was manifest chat they must be left free io do the best they l coukl for themselves in the way of securing > revenue to meet this. It would cost ap- [ proximately 5*6000 to provide the iVeces , sary transmission lines to serve the district jin. which the company operated. Under I present-day conditions the money could not ! he obtained outside the district from lendj ing institutions, and consequently if the : shareholders wanted the electricity they must be prepared to put up the money themselves. The whole sum was too great an amount for the company to advance, but the directors were prepared for the company to find at least half th? sum, if the individual suppliers between them would advance the remainder. This would I mean roughly one debenture of £5O per leach supplier. Further, in regard to this I sum of £5O, the company was prepared, if [it would assist the individual, to purchase the debenture in the first instance from l • the board, the supplier to re-purchase itfrom the company, by paying for same in instalments of, say, £5 per month off each milk cheque—that is, to spread the payment over a year. If a sufficient number of debentures were l not taken up by the suppliers on any give i : length of road a supply of electricity could i not be taken along that road, and any sup- [ pliers who had agreed to take up a d?b*m- [ sure would be, of course, released from his undertaking. If a majority of the nup- ■ I pliers would support this proposition then - in approximately six month'! from now, and iin every case in ample time for next milk- ; [ ing season, a supply of electricity would [ be available to each supplier, and the 1 directors unanimously recommended the proposals. The secretary stated that the term of the debentures was 10 years, and the interest 54 per cent. DISTRICT COVERED.

Mr. Moss, electrical engineer to the Kaponga Town Board, who was present, said that it would take £lO,OOO to reticulate | the area covered by the board’s license, but £6OOO was the estimate to cover the area under consideration. He believed they would be able to develop more power than originally anticipated, and in the meantime there would be plenty to cover the district in which suppliers to the Kaponga Company were concerned. The district they were prepared to cover was along the Eltham Road, as far as the toll-gate, the portion of Upper and Lower Mangawhero Road within the Eltham County, the Opunake Road from the Rowan corner to one mile past the factory, the Manaia Road as far as the Eltham County, the Palmer Road up and down as far as the Neil Road. The board’s license went as far as the Skeec Road, and it was proposed later on to go down to the Skeet Road. It was now for the suppliers of the company to put up the money to secure a supply of current in their own territory. If later on the board found they had power to spare they might approach suppliers in the Waimate County. The Town Board’s license extended over an area from the Kapuni Stream at the mountain down to the Duthie Road corner, on both sides of the Duthie Road down to the Skeet Road, and along that road to the Palmer Road, up the Palmer Road to Neil Road, and then along the railway reserve to the Auroa Road. The average cost of installation to a fiveroomed house would be £l2 10s, and to a cowshed, including countershaft, motor, and controlling machine, about £BO. The price, to be charged at first would be Is per unit for lighting and 6d per unit for power. On this basis it would cost £r2 per month to run a 2 h.p. motor during the flush of the season, say, basing it at eight months, about £l6 per annum, or at most not more than £2O, and he pointed out that there was practically no cost for oil.

Mr. Hill said the position in a nutshell was that the Town Board had power to spare, and wished to give the Kaponga. dairy suppliers the first refusal. If they did not wish to take it, the Town Board would look elsewhere.

The chairman explained that they only wanted to borrow the £5O debentures for ten years, and would pay 5J per cent, interest on them. If half the suppliers took up the debentures be thought that every supplier would be able to obtain electricity.

After a little further discussion it was resolved, on the motion of Messrs. IX s ?? an <l Rowe, that the company adopt the scheme.

Quite a number of debentures were taken up in the room, shareholders being keen to take advantage of the electric power.