Abstract :
The paper briefly reviews the present position of rural electrification, and deals with some of the general considerations which have emerged during recent years from the experience of those authorities engaged in rural development. A study is made of the available load and the revenue obtainable from the various types of consumers commonly found in rural areas, and is supported by actual figures obtained in practice. A separate examination is made of the development of farm load, with details of the results from a large number of farms. A number of sundry data are presented dealing with cooker maintenance, slot-meter practice, maximum demands, and earthing. Special attention is called to the economies in capital cost obtainable by extensive use of the single-phase system of supply and by the surface-wiring method of distribution. The paper then describes the development and working results in a large rural area, comprising the whole of one geographical county of over 1 000 square miles. Since the area is a self-contained one and the undertaking is entirely new, the results are not masked in any way by other trading operations and they may be of value as a guide in any comprehensive scheme of rural development. Finally, the author concludes that ¿Rural electrification,¿ by which term is meant not only supplies to all rural centres of population but penetration to farms and isolated premises, is now commercially practicable. In any rural area, it appears practicable to give supplies to every town and village without financial loss. The extent of penetration to farms and other isolated premises will depend on the density and the distribution of the population, but, even in areas with an effective density of population as low as 100 persons per square mile, it should be possible for a self-supporting scheme to supply not less than 75 % of the total possible consumers.
