Nova Scotians currently pay the highest energy rates in Canada. Rates have risen 30% over the last four years, causing severe damage to our economy, unemployment rates, and ability to deliver social programs. Emera and the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia have proposed a deal to purchase electricity from Newfoundland for 35 years at rates that are 200-300% higher than what other locations are buying electricity for.” These high rates will continue to erode Nova Scotia’s ability to compete for and retain jobs in our province, already suffering from unemployment rates among the highest in Canada. In the decision released today by the UARB, the application for the Maritime Link has clearly been rejected under the terms proposed by Emera and the Provincial Government. While the early headlines are stating that the “deal has been approved with conditions,” it is clear in the decision that Emera must make substantial changes to the manner in which this deal was initially proposed. Hence, the current deal is rejected. The Board states of the current deal proposed by Emera and the Provincial Government, “That NSPML/Emera have accepted no risk as a result of that contractual uncertainty (for additional energy). As they have structured the deal, that risk falls entirely to Nova Scotia ratepayers.” The Board completely rejects the premise that Emera should be allowed to transfer this risk to ratepayers and that without the transfer this project “does not represent the lowest long-term cost alternative for electricity for ratepayers in Nova Scotia.” This affirms the position of the LPRA during the hearings that Nova Scotia ratepayers should not shoulder the risk while Emera is entitled to over $1 billion in guaranteed profit. Emera and the Provincial Government must now decide if they are willing and able to eliminate the “substantial” risk that they advocated be borne by the ratepayers of NS. Until the terms and conditions of any subsequent deal to eliminate this risk are known, it is not possible to know the full impact on the ratepayers of Nova Scotia. The Lower Power Rates Alliance of NS welcomes the decision by the Board to reject the Maritime Link project as it was proposed and refuse to place substantial risks onto the ratepayers of NS. The Lower Power Rates Alliance of NS remains disappointed that the process to purchase this energy was flawed, rushed, biased, and in favour of Emera, who project they will earn $1.1 billion in profit. Said spokesperson Todd McDonald, “We would have preferred to see a competitive process to ensure at the very least that Emera had to compete for their profit. In addition, a competitive process would have provided options for the province to choose from, ultimately lowering the rates paid by Nova Scotians. Given the enormous impact this will have on our province, we cannot understand why the current Provincial Government chose to act on behalf of Emera, and not the ratepayers of Nova Scotia.”
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 18:38:53 +0000
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