The Function of Power Boards

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 43, 9 May 1930, Page 22

The Function of Power Boards

"AN example of how two "good men and true" can look at the same situation from an entirely different standpoint was evinced at a recent meeting of an up-country Power Board. A member who was professedly anxious to serve the interests of the community and the ratepayers of the district, expressed the view that the Power Board, unlike local bodies, should aim at being a profit-earning concern. With this view the chairman disagreed, contending that any revenue over and above expenditure should be returned to the consumers by reducing charges for electricity. We are entirely in.agreement with the chairman on this point, since any profits accruing to a power board can be derived from only two sources, viz., from the pockets of the consumers or by undue exploitation of emPployees. In connection with the latter source, it should be stated once and for all, that power board employees are entitled to exactly the same remuneration for their services, no more and no less, as such services are worth to any private employer or trading company, and since power boards work on capital advanced by the Government (ultimately payable by the public itself) and upon revenue received from consumers, it is obvious that any excess of revenue over expenditure should be devoted to the same purpose, that is, of enabling as many as possible to enjoy the benefits of electricity as cheaply as possible. The case is not analogous with that of a municipality, providing more than one public service to its ratepayers, when it is sometimes advisable that the profits of one undertaking should wholly, or in part, be devoted to the support or building-up of another, in the interests of the community. os