N.S. government proposal would limit additional power rate hike this year
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NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the government is offering a fix for a problem it originally created.
“My understanding is that last year because the government decided, instead of changing the legislation, to actually intervene in an independent arm’s-length process, the credit rating of Nova Scotia Power was downgraded,” Chender said.
Chender was referencing Bill 212, which passed through the legislature by the majority Progressive Conservative government in the fall of 2022 and limited the NSUARB from approving any NSP rate increase beyond 1.8 per cent for the next two years, unless that increase is based on fuel or grid-reliability costs.
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Chender said if it is true that everything government does is to protect the ratepayer, “then it’s also true that they are not doing enough.”
She said the province could have a low-income energy rate in the province if the government changed the legislation.
“We could have a system where Nova Scotia Power charges us for the power that we actually use and the reliability and the efficiency of that power is built into the rate structure,” she said.
“We don’t have that. We need the government to do more.”
Chender said that while some measure like the one proposed by government to ensure that rates don’t go even higher is necessary, “it still doesn’t address the core problem,” that many Nova Scotians can’t afford to keep the power and lights on.
“The heating assistance rebate is still being cut, we know from the Efficiency One report . . . that people are still struggling to afford power right across this province.”
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