Nova Scotia Power Monopoly - Question Period

CLAUDIA CHENDER: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier.

This government ran on a ticket to break up the Nova Scotia Power monopoly. Doing this could mean a greener grid and lower rates for consumers. One of the flagship programs meant to accomplish this was called Renewable to Retail. When questioned at Budget Estimates last year, the Minister of Energy and Mines admitted that there had not been a single entity under the program. No uptake at all, ever. The reason is the barrier of high tariffs that Nova Scotia Power demanded and that this government legislated. Can the Premier agree that his government has, in fact, not made an ounce of progress in breaking up the Nova Scotia Power monopoly?

THE PREMIER: I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done with renewable energy in the province. We’re going to continue to ensure that we have more wind coming online. We’re second only to P.E.I. for percentage of wind in the country, and we’re bringing on more solar, the most ambitious solar program in the country.

There’s more work to do, for sure. That’s why the Department of Energy and Mines hired an administrator to go out to a competitive tender so that others - Nova Scotia Power included - can bid on one of the most aggressive plans, most aggressive tenders, for renewable energy in our province’s history. I look forward to that competitive tender.

CLAUDIA CHENDER: Mr. Speaker, let’s talk about Nova Scotia Power. Earlier this year, we learned that despite climbing power rates, there were unplanned power outages somewhere in this province every single day last year. If you ask my constituents, they would say they all happened in Dartmouth. (Laughter)

Part of the problem could be that penalties charged the utilities for repeated outages are not high enough, or that the power company still collects the very same base rate from customers whether or not they have power.

Can the Premier agree that it defies logic to have Nova Scotians paying for power they can’t use?

THE PREMIER: Over the last few years, power rates have been stabilized. Under past governments, with the NDP and the Progressive Conservative Party, they rose a combined 70 per cent. We’re going to continue to ensure that we bring on affordable, renewable energy through competitive tenders. We’re going to continue to support efficiency programs so that we actually bring power bills down, especially for lower income Nova Scotians, like the announcement that I did on day one in this office.

This is a very important file - to keep reliability of the network of our power system, ensuring affordability and ensuring that we’re reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, as we have been over the last seven years.