VPRS 7143 Coal Control Cards

This series consists of cards which document the allocation of coal to the following types of businesses - cafes, guest houses, hotels and companies. It is unclear whether this is the totality of the series or just the only surviving portion. There are no details on the cards themselves which indicates the basis for the creation of the series such as a reference to an Act of Parliament or government regulations. The records began in 1947 which coincided with the introduction of winter power rationing in Victoria. The State Electricity  Commission struggled to keep up with the increasing demand for electricity generation and as the coal reserves in the LaTrobe Valley had yet to be fully developed, black coal was imported from New South Wales to assist. By 1951 a shortage of coal from that state resulted in the imports from England, South Africa and India. [J.A Vines A History of the Loy Lang Mines p. 25]  These cards were almost certainly created by the State Coal Committee which was responsible for the distribution of this limited supply of black coal. Information was recorded on both sides of each card. The front of each card recorded the name of the entity authorised to receive coal, its address, contact detail, purpose for which coal is used and details impacting on the the decision to allocate coal and the quantity to be provided.  The rear of the card provide details of coal provided including, the date, name of supplier, type of coal and the tonnage of coal allotted and received. This series appears to have ended in 1957 when the Committee was abolished. This series was originally attributed to the Mines Department by service providers. An evaluation of the supplied documentation in 2025 amended this to the State Coal Committee and the generation of this series description.