The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY' 31, 1922. ELECTRIC POWER DISTRIBUTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY' 31, 1922. ELECTRIC POWER DISTRIBUTION.

In the Public Works Statement submitted to the House last, week, the Minister devoted considerable space to the subject of the distribution of electric power to the consumers. His main object was to demonstrate that power boards were far superior to local bodies —particularly municipalities—as distributing authorities, from a consumer’s point of view. He is, of course, entitled to express his own opinion on this matter, as well as the views of the officers of the department he controls, and had he confined his remarks to advocating the formation of power boards, presumably on a large scale, no objection could have been raised to his attitude. He thought fit, however, to formulate what, amounts to a charge against “some local authorities, particularly certain municipalities,” of ■xploiting the public in order to lake as much profit as possible out. of the sale of power and thereby not only help them to develop their hydro-electric enterprises, but also to reduce the cost to the ratepayers “of other works and services which should be financed on their own ways and means.” The result of this exploitation, the Minister claims, is that “the consumer is paying more than he should.” Apparently the Minister does not know, or finds it convenient to igore the fact, that the price of electric current sold by a municipality under a license to supply any outside district or districts is fixed by Government officials, so that if there is any exploitation—which is most improbable—the blame must rest on the Government officials responsible for the charges authorised, an'd not on the supplying authority. Not content with this grave and baseless indictment against those public spirited municipalities which have embarked on hydro-electric enterprises for the benefit of the public while the Government scheme has been practically kept in a dormant stage and been more the subject of reports and statements than active development, the Minister further charges these active municipalities with “showing a tendency to stand out of power board schemes” for the selfish purpose of profit-making. It is difficult to comprehend why the Minister thus decries the work of municipalities which are catering for the public because the Government has not done so and is not likely to have eJ-ctrie current for sale under its seneme for some years to come, except in a very restricted area. Under the circumstances the Government might well have commended those municipalities who have been sufficiently enterprising to go ahead with beneficial schemes for supplying urgently needed electric current. The propriety of the policy of establishing power boards is not open to 'ques. tion, and it is satisfactory to know that nine of th/we which have already been constituted have laid out reticulation systems, while the loans authorised amount to nearly three millions. There is, however, no reason why a municipality which possesses or is carrying out a comprehensive electric current system shopld come in to a power board scheme, yet the latter may find it advisable to purchase and distribute current obtained from the municipality. The real benefit of power boards will be demonstrated when the national supply scheme is at work. It is worthy of' note that the Minister now threatens that the Government will insist on the formation of electric power boards “in con forjnity with the scheme prepared by the department, and not those" dictated by immediate local interests, vitiated to a considerable extent by existing licenses.” Exactly what is meant by this threat is not quite clear, and the Minister is careful to lay the onus of his proposed action On the shoulders of his expert officers. At the same time, it may be taken for granted that any attempt by the department to inflict an' injustice on municipalities now supplying current for distribution will be resented and possibly be contested in the highest Court of the Empire. There was not the slightest need for the Minister to depict in glowing terms the single interest attaching to .a power board, as the result of which the consumers would get, electric current at the cheapest possible rate, in contra distinction to the inferred greed of municipalities as distributing authorities. There is room, as well as need for both, and it may be found that boards, in spite of

their singleness of purpose, may not be as successful in. cheapening electric current as the well equipped municipalities. The Minister admits that in large electric power works, of the total cost of the current as delivered to the consumers from seventy to eighty per eent. is due to capital charges, interest, depreciation and sinking funds. For financial reasons the Government sehoine is still mostly in embryo, and yet the Minister proposes to nullify the activities of those public bodies which, in consequence of the Government’s tardiness, are doing their best to supply a commodity which is urgently needed. Whatever profit is made by these bodies is for the benefit of the public. If the arguments adduced by the Minister are carried to their logical conclusion the profits made by each department of the State should be devoted to lessening the charges made by that department and not brought into the Consolidated Fund.