POWER SUPPLY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 May 1941, Page 6

POWER SUPPLY

PROSPECTS OF LIMITATION AVERAGE CHARGES. BOARD CHAIRMAN REVIEWS POSITION. "Taking into consideration the increasing difficulty which Great Britain is experiencing in getting supplies of raw materials, the enormous demands which exist for such materials for war purposes and reconstruction work, the damage which is being caused to the industrial districts, together with the shipping difficulties, we must and should willingly be prepared to limit our operations and do without many of the things which in normal times we look upon as necessary,” said Mr A. Campbell Pearce, chairman of the Wairarapa Electric Power Board at today’s meeting of the board. “We are holding fair stocks of materials, especially those used on line work. It will be necessary to conserve these jealously so that our system and our plant can be maintained in a proper condition to supply the very large district and the very large number of people who are dependent on us for power to meet their requirements for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes.”

The past year, the chairman stated, had been a successful one, and quite satisfactory. After providing for loan repayments and depreciation, the net profit for the year amounted to £4,733 Is 5d and was arrived at as follows: —

“Of this profit, an amount of £2263 13s 8d has already been appropriated for capital expenditure. "During the year, the Kopuaranga extension was completed at a total cost of £2,984. The full amount was provided from revenue. Another very important work completed was a new mam feeder for Masterton. A substantial proportion of the cost of this work was provided from revenue also. “At the present time the Public Works Department is just completing the erection of the new sub-station at Moroa. This will improve the supply to the southern end of our district and at the same time provide additional transformer capacity in our district. A certain amount of the additional £9OO per annum which has to be paid to the Government for this sub-station will be regained by a saving in line losses. PROGRESS IN 21 YEARS. “It is just 21 years since the board was first constituted and the secretarymanager has in his report, detailed briefly, the very substantial progress which has been made in that period. The information supplied is very interesting and instructive. What will interest the consumers in particular, is the fact that the average charges for. domestic, commercial and power supply (excluding water heating, bulk supply and street lighting) has reduced from 4.65 pence per unit in 1926, to 1.84 pence per unit in 1941. The price today is just two-fifths of what it was. On present-day unit consumption, this represents a saving to the consumers of £86,545 per annum. At the same time, it should be mentioned that except for the substantial reduction in prices, the present unit consumption would not have been possible. “During the year, we have been operating more or less under the control of the Electricity Controller, Mr Kissel. I wish to pay tribute to the reasonable and practical manner in which he has exercised- his very wide powers pnd for the way in which he has co-operated with and studied the interests of the supply authorities.

UNUSUAL PROBLEMS. “The unusual and changing conditions which exist today add to the burden of responsibility which has to. be carried by the secretary-manager and other executive officers, and in such circumstances, their knowledge and ability are of special value. I wish on behalf of the board, to express appreciation to them and every member of the staff for their loyal support and co-operation during a difficult period when extra demands have had to be made as a result of shortage of staff.” The chairman cordially thanked other members of the board for their support and co-operation. Owing to the war, import restrictions, and power shortage, he said, the present year was likely to be difficult. The financial position was sound, and although costs were rising and increases in revenue were likely to be very much less than usual, they should be able to get through the war period without it being necessary to add any appreciable Durden on the consumers. In any case, policy and operations generally would have to be subordinated to the national cause and war effort."

£ s d Sales electricity 77,442 7 8 Sundry 560 14 9 Net profit trading .... 1,149 16 3 Interest ..... 777 8 3 £79.930 g n Cost power 25,290 7 0 Generation and distribution 11.238 15 7 Interest 15,231 5 11 Repayment Ioans 8,565 15 5 Depreciation & replacements 4.85G 0 0 General 10,015 1 7 75.197 5 6 £4,733 1 5