D.—l

76

Ki,u<trio-power Districts. The organization of electric-power districts under the Electric Power Boards Act of 1918 has proceeded vigorously during the year, although the number of power districts actually constituted has only increased from the ten previously recorded to fourteen, as set out herewith, Westland, Reefton, Dannevirke, and Opunake Power Districts having been formed. The total area covered by these fourteen districts is 18,869 square miles, being 18-1 per cent, of the total area of the Dominion, and the total population included is 158,157, being 12-95 per cent, of the population of the Dominion. Nine of the Boards have laid out their reticulation systems and submitted the necessary loans to the ratepayers for approval. Of these, one (Southland) includes a generating-station at Lake Monowai, and the other eight provide for taking power in bulk from the Public Works Department. The total amount of the loans authorized by the latcpayers of these nine districts amounts to £2,950,000. This is £21-6 per head of population concerned, and 6"7 per cent, of the unimproved rateable value (£39,116,812).

In addition to the Power Boards that have already been constituted, petitions are in course of circulation in the following districts : — Population. Area in Square Miles. Horowhenua.. .. .. .. .. .. 11,795 630 Tararua .. .. .. .. .. .. 9,258 1,254 Waipawa .. .. .. .. .. .. 8,534 1,235 Tauranga .. .. .. .. .. ..6.197 651 Buller .. .. .. .. .. .. 10,057 1,818 Marlborough .. .. .. .. .. ..16,967 437 Ashburton .. .. .. ... .. ..16,691 2,542 South Canterbury .. .. .. .. ..40,657 5,100 Rangitikei-Wanganui .. .. .. .. .. 41,564 2,614 Manawatu-Oroua .. .. .. .. ..38,330 1,301 Nelson .. .. .. .. .. .. 24,426 2,835 Hobson .. .. .. .. .. .. 6,831 773 In addition, committees have been formed and petitions are in course of preparation for the following districts : Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Hutt Valley, Greymouth, Otago, and Wait aid. The provisions of the Electric Power Boards Act are thus being widely adopted throughout the Dominion. The boundaries of the proposed districts generally follow fairly close on those suggested in the last annual statement, but in several cases, particularly Auckland, Rangitikei-Wanganui, Taranaki, and Bay of Plenty, larger districts have proved advisable. Some of the districts already constituted are proving too small for the greatest economy in construction and operation, and combinations of these districts are desirable. In order to enable each Power Board to deal effectively with its back-country reticulation it has been found essential that it should have greater financial strength than the smaller Boards can command, and should be so large that it is unlikely to be swayed by local or parochial influences, though in a few cases of entire isolation, such as Queenstown, Taupo, Murchison, and Reefton, local Power Boards may be advisable. The principles on which the boundaries of the electric-power districts should be determined are not set out in the Act, but under section 3 the responsibility of deciding whether the boundaries proposed by the Local Committee are advisable or otherwise is cast on the Government, and this responsibility has been accepted in several cases by proposing amendment to the draft petitions before they are issued for signature. It is essential that such draft petitions should be submitted for approval in each case, as great difficulty has arisen in some cases owing to petitions being signed

Name of Electric-power District. Proclamation constituting District gazetted. «4-l p o o if! Approximate PopulaArea of tion. District. Value of Rateable Amount of Property Loan. (unimproved). Voting for Loan Poll. For Against Southland Thames Valley Te Awamutu Dam bridge Banks Peninsula Wairarapa Central Wairoa 3prings-Elle8mere IVvio'i: Westland .. Reefton Dannevirke Opunake 19/11/19 8/1/20 8/1/20 8/1/20 8/1/20 25/3/20 8/7/20 29/7/20 8/7/20 22/7/20 28/10/20 30/6/21 11/8/21 . 18/8/21 12 12 10 8 7 9 7 10 7 7 9 5 10 7 Sq. miles. 9,986 2,304 309 104 372 2,073 300 1,369 242 120 750 24 676 240 65,450 16,000 6,000 5,000 3,500 21,800 9,110 3,900 5,400 1.800 3,272 1,850 11,848 3,227 £ 13,600,471 6,814,993 1,759,558 1,683,632 3,430,817 3,114,718 3,667,904 2,417.251 2,627,468 169,137 196,268 59,316 3,555,382 536,153 £ 1,500,000 550,000 120,000 60,000 100,000 260,000 200,000 100,000 60,000 Foil not yet 6,516 415 1.503 28 359 198 3 331 23 1,704 225 515 19 501 31 302 16 taken. j? >t i) >> >i j» >> ?j Totals 18,869 158,157 143,633,068 2,950,000 |11,932 760