Power rates rising: UARB approves average 5.6 per cent hike
Posted Nov 29, 2011 09:12:58 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Utility and Review Board has approved a general power rate increase that will boost power bills by an average of 5.6 per cent next year.
Residential customers will pay 6.1 per cent more as of January 1.
The rate increase does not include an additional two per cent for efficiency and conservation programs.
The Board also denied an application by NewPage Port Hawkesbury Corp. and Bowater Mersey Paper Co. for a five-year reduction in power rates, but agreed to a three-year break instead.
“What the board has said is that they are prepared to look at a rate that would reduce some of the energy costs but would require both mills, if they were to go on the rate, to at least share some of their responsibilities so that the whole load isn’t shifted to the rest of us,” said consumer advocate John Merrick, speaking on News 95.7’s Maritime Morning with Jordi Morgan.
Nova Scotia Power had warned that the reduced rate for the paper mills could mean increased rates for its other customers.
The general rate application includes a reduction in the company’s return on investment to 9.2 per cent. It had also agreed to remove the cost of executive bonuses from its 2012 revenue requirement.
