LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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Water Accounts and Customer Relations
The number of consumer accounts kept rising at a rate of about 2 per cent per annum and the consumer account base expanded to approximately 2.33 million accounts at the end of 1999. The department continued to act as an agent to collect general sewage charges on behalf of the Drainage Services Department.
To provide the public with a one-stop and 24-hour enquiry service on technical fault reports and account-related matters, a new Customer Telephone Enquiry Centre began operation in August.
Efforts to promote the autopay service continued, and the number of consumer accounts using autopay for payment of water charges reached 338 000, or about 15 per cent of all consumers. The Payment-by-Phone service was also well received and about 17 per cent of the total payments received used this service at the end of 1999.
The department announced in July its achievements against performance pledges for the past year which showed improvement over those of the previous year in some areas. Most achievement rates were close to, or reached, 100 per cent. New enhanced performance pledges were also publicised. The department won the gold award in the 'Award for Performance Pledges 1999' organised by the Government's Efficiency Unit for publishing the most informative performance pledge.
Electricity
The Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC) supplies Hong Kong Island and the neighbouring islands of Ap Lei Chau and Lamma; CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP Power) supplies Kowloon and the New Territories, including Lantau and several outlying islands. The supply to consumers is at 50Hz alternating current while the voltage is 220 volts single-phase and 380 volts three-phase.
The two supply companies are investor-owned. The Government monitors their performance through mutually-agreed Scheme of Control Agreements. Current agreements with CLP Power and HEC came into effect on October 1, 1993 and January 1, 1994, respectively. Both will last for 15 years and the first interim review has been completed in early 1999 and the next review will be carried out in 2003. The agreements require each company to seek the approval of the Government for certain aspects of their financing plans, including projected tariff levels. The agreements do not grant the companies any exclusive rights.
Electricity for HEC's supply areas is supplied from the Lamma Power Station. At the end of 1999, total installed capacity at the Lamma Power Station was 3 305MW. HEC's transmission system operates at 275kV, 132kV and 66kV and distribution is effected mainly at 11kV and 380 volts.
The Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO), which is 60 per cent owned by Exxon Energy Limited and 40 per cent by CLP Power, supplies electricity to CLP Power from its Black Point (1 875MW), Castle Peak (4 168MW) and Penny's Bay (300MW) power stations, with the total installed capacity being 6 343MW. The Government has approved CLP Power's installation of two more 312.5MW generators at Black Point power station, Tuen Mun. They will be commissioned during the period of 2005–2006.