The Hunter River Agricultural and Horticultural Society spend $120,000 a year on electricity but a large generator will help curtail the showground’s single biggest expense.

“It’s not necessarily a new idea but it’s one way of managing it,” society treasurer David Perrott said.

The show, which starts tomorrow, creates a massive annual peak in the showground’s annual power consumption, which forces the association to pay up to $6500 a month in peak charges.

The 500kva generator will slash that peak and bring down that monthly fee.

The electricity company will reassess use in July and apply a lower peak charge based on the venue’s smaller events such as Groovin the Moo, Maitland Hot Rod and Bike Show, and Maitland Caravan and Camping Show. 

Mr Perrot expected a $30,000 saving after nearly $10,000 in generator hire and fuel costs.

“Our next biggest expense is ground maintenance,” he said.

“[But] being able to get $30,000 in net savings means a lot to our maintenance budget.” 

Aggreko, a world leader in temporary power solutions, has supplied the generator and a back-up.

Similar systems were used at the 2012 London Games and Aggreko will post a technician at the showground for the duration of the show to manage the generator.

“The timeframe was tight so Aggreko has done really well to support us,” he said.

“Next year Aggreko is likely to come on board as a major sponsor.”