D.—l

104

stations does not yet include the units at Arapuni, nor the second unit at Waikaremoana or the ninth unit at Lake Coleridge, and by the 31st March, 1930, the installed-generating-capacity figures will be increased by approximately 75,000 kilowatts.

ELECTRIC SUPPLY IN NEW ZEALAND. STATISTICAL GROWTH OF LOAD. 1919 to 1929.

Returns have again been obtained of electric ranges and water-heaters in use throughout the Dominion, and the figures obtained continue to show satisfactory increases over those of the previous twelve months, and the statistics obtained for the year ending 31st March, 1929, have been scheduled in Table XXXV. Of the ninety-six electric-supply authorities engaged in retail distribution of electrical energy, eighty-six have an aggregate total of 20,254 electric ranges connected to their systems, and the number now installed represents an increase of 284 per cent, for the year. The return shows the percentage of consumers using electric cooking to the total number of consumers being supplied in each area respectively, and an examination of this column shows where the field for electric cooking still remains to be developed. The number of consumers using electric water-heaters has increased from 21,513 to 29,257, an increase of 36 per cent. When electric-supply authorities actively canvass their areas for the above class of load the response is generally favourable, and it is only reasonable to anticipate that in the near future the demand on the available stations will be such as to warrant further extensions to keep up with the requirements. This development of load is particularly noticeable in rural and country areas, where fuel is scarce and where the facilities for more congenial living-conditions are being brought into line with those already existing in the metropolitan areas.