§ 56. Brigadier-General Clifton Brownasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in order to assist the electrification of farms and the rural areas he will arrange with the Central Electricity Board to erect transformers from their grid itself instead of solely supplying municipal and local undertakers in the towns often many miles away.
Mr. HudsonThe Central Electricity Board are not empowered to supply electricity direct to consumers in the areas of other electricity undertakers. I am advised however that it would be uneconomic to break down the voltage of the extra high tension grid lines to that suitable for distribution in rural areas and also that there are technical objections to tapping the grid lines for this purpose.
§ 57. Brigadier-General Clifton Brownasked the Minister of Agriculture, whether he is aware that electrification of farms and rural areas is being held up by the refusal of urban and other electricity undertakers to arrange a contract price except on the terms of cost plus 15 per cent., and, in view of the absence of any guaranteed agricultural policy to enable farmers and landowners to estimate the worth of electrification, he will arrange with the Commissioners to give a fixed price in their contracts and encourage productivity on the farms.
Mr. HudsonElectricity undertakers are under no statutory obligation with regard to the terms on which they afford supplies to individual premises situated more than 50 yards from a distributing line.
Brigadier-General BrownDoes not the Minister think that if he gave the farmers a square deal on the same lines of cost plus 15 per cent. it would obviate their present dissatisfaction?
Mr. HudsonThat is one of the points I have very much in mind in my discussions on post-war agricultural policy.