Transmission Section: Chairman´s address

The address deals with the many problems facing the distribution engineer. To indicate the scope of the work of the Transmission Section, the author draws attention to the enormous possibilities of developing the consumption of electricity both in urban and in rural areas. Reference is made to the all-electric home of the future with a consumption of not less than 24 000 units per annum; and the possibilities of rural development with its present power consumption of the equivalent of 2 147 million units. It is shown that rural electrification, when considered on the basis of consumption per mile of conductor, offers a load of over 18 500 units per mile per annum¿a figure which compares favourably with that of suburban districts. The immediate work awaiting the attention of the Section is briefly surveyed and particulars are given of a specification prepared by the Overhead Lines Association for standard outdoor transformers suitable for suburban and rural development. The radical changes taking place in agricultural practice are shown to offer unlimited opportunities to the electricity supply undertakings. As an example of what can be done to reduce the cost of overhead lines, particulars are given of an ¿X¿-pole line, costing about £70 per mile, which the author is employing on his estate. Thermal-storage cookers and water heaters, specially suitable for use in rural areas, are described, and the applications of an automatic change-circuit system in conjunction with such apparatus is discussed.