pumice. Within four years the council had expanded its reticulation to supply rural areas as far as Gate Pa, Otumoetai, Papamoa and Oropi. By 1923 the department had 845 customers generating a revenue of £10,470. In 1921 Lloyd Mandeno undertook some investigations and proposed that the borough consider building a new power station using the head generated by fall on the Wairoa River. With demand increasing the borough council agreed to build what became the McLaren Falls power station. This began generating on 25 June 1925. The falls and the power station were to named after a couple who operated a cookhouse during construction and whose son had been killed in World War I. In addition to his duties as an employee of the Tauranga electricity department, Mandeno was also a consultant to Te Puke Town Board and the newly constituted Tauranga Power Board. In 1925 Mandeno resigned after being accused of a conflict of interest by Tauranga's Mayor, Bradshaw Dive. He was replaced by Claude W. Boak as electrical and general engineer. By 1928 the department had installed 232 water heaters and 120 electric stoves and was supplying 848 customers with a revenue of £22,116. With demand still continuing to increased through the 1930 the combined output of Omanawa Falls and McLaren Falls was proving insufficient. As a result, the electricity department was forced to arrange with the SHD to take supply from its Aongatete and Te Puke. In 1962 the department began using underground cabling systems in new subdivisions. In the same decade the department decided to proceed with construction of two new power stations that utilized the waters of the Mangapapa and Wairoa Rivers, which had been designed by consultants Mandeno Chitty & Bell in whom Lloyd Mandeno was a principal. Approval to proceed was granted by the New Zealand government in 1963 continual upon the station's output being equally shared with the Tauranga Electric Power Board. As a result, the Tauranga Joint Generation Committee was established in 1965 to develop, control and sell electricity generation. As a result of this initiative the original two planned stations, the Lloyd Mandeno Power Station was commissioned in 1972, and the Ruahihi Power Station in 1981. In between these two dates an additional station, the Lower Mangapapa Power Station had been commissioned in April 1979. All three stations were operated as part of the Kaimai hydro power scheme. By 1981