D—4
1936—before the Government acquired the Southland Electric-power Board's undertaking—with the corresponding figures for the year ended 31st March, 1947, are quoted, giving also the percentage increases where possible :
Notes. —(a) No land rates have been levied by the Government since it acquired the undertaking. (6) Meterrents were abolished immediately the Government assumed control. (c) The maximum demand has completely outstripped the capacity of the Monowai Generating-station, thus the value of the step taken by the Government tointerconnect the Monowai plant with the Waitaki and Coleridge Generating-stations is clearly demonstrated; in the year ended 31st March, 1947, the Waitaki Station was called upon to supply 28,500,000 units to Southland. (d) Bulk consumers (distributing authorities) comprise the Invercargill City Council, Otago Electric-power Board, and the Bluff Borough Council; supply from Southland to the Otago Electric-power Board commenced in March, 1947. The capital expended in extending the Southland undertaking amounted, in the ten years of Government ownership, to £306,000, of which £114,000 was devoted to the erection of additional electric distribution-lines to reach rural retail consumers. In the same period a sum of £148,000 was expended on renewals and replacements to improve the supply to consumers. In addition to the saving to the residents of Southland by the action of the Government in abolishing Power Board land rates and meter-rents, there has been considerablebenefit to consumers through the State's introduction of reduced prices for electricity and, in some cases, through reduced minimum annual guarantees. For example, consumers who were required to pay £7 lis. plus land rates and meter-rents to the Power Board, to-day obtain the same service under State enterprise for £6 12s. with no land rates and no meter-rent. Small industries which previously paid £5l 15s. a year for power now obtain the same quantity of energy for £43. During this financial year arrangements were made to give future bulk supply to the Bluff Borough Council on a maximum-demand tariff in lieu of the unit-charge basis which had been in force for many years. This changeover should prove to be of material benefit to consumers in Bluff. Applications to the Rural Electrical Reticulation Council for subsidies to assist in the problem of making a supply of electricity to settlers in the sparsely populated areas of Slope Point, Happy Valley (Tuatapere), and Tussock Creek - Forest Hill have been granted, and shortly it should be possible to proceed with the erection of the necessary additional distribution-lines to the districts named. 4. Communications There is room for considerable improvement as to quality, and to this end-transmission-loss tests were carried out by the Communications Engineer on the Addington - West Coast, Addington-Dunedin, and Addington-Waipara trunk circuits. Line and installation details were comprehensively reviewed, and alterations desirable to improve quality of speech transmission are in hand.
27
Item. Year ended 31st March, 1936 (before the State acquired the Undertaking). Year ended 31st March, 1947. Percentage Increase^ Land rates levied and collected £32,232 (a) Meter-rents collected £3,500 (b) Price charged per unit, retail (average) 1•966d. 1-667d. 15-2 (decrease). Units sold per retail consumer 1,322 2,171 64-2 Units sold in bulk (in millions) 6-627 19-158 189-1 Units sold, retail (in millions) 13-487 29-173 116-3 Total units sold (in millions) 20-114 48-332 140-3 System's maximum demand, including bulk 6,600 14,822 124-6 supply (in kilowatts) (c) Maximum demand of bulk consumers (d) 2,181 6,457 196-1 Number of consumers 10,198 13,441 31-8 Number of water-beaters 380 1,726 354-2 Number of electric ranges 1,360 2,631 93-5 Number of electric motors, retail 3,735 9,793 162-2 Miles of transmission-lines 145 176 21-4 Route miles of distribution-lines 2,263 2,562 13-2
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