Nova Scotia Power takes another credit rating hit, board mulls rate application
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In its final submission to the board filed in mid-December, the NDP said the nature of NSP’s application was “radically changed” by the passage of Bill 212 by the Houston government.
“The bill did not cap rates to cover fuel costs or energy efficiency programs,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender and Susan Leblanc, the party’s NRR spokesperson and Dartmouth North MLA, said in a written submission to the board.
“It did not change the UARB’s ability to count fuel as a pass through cost, thereby reducing the incentive for Nova Scotia Power to reduce those costs as much as possible and make them transparent in future applications,” Chender and Leblanc’s submission said. “ It also did not limit cost deferrals, charged to ratepayers at a later date with interest, or limit an increase in the customer charge as we see reflected in the settlement before the board.”
What Bill 212 did was “directly and politically interfere with a complex and independent regulatory process,” which will likely result in increased future costs for ratepayers and put legislated climate targets out of reach, the NDP said.
The NDP submission said government interference will increase NSP’s borrowing costs, prompting the company to say that in turn it will be forced to cease planning for the Atlantic loop and for upgrades to an already vulnerable power grid.
“The Houston government will continue to insist that it is protecting ratepayers with its actions, but those left with climbing power bills and more vulnerability to storm damage and power failures will have a different impression,” Chender and Leblanc said.
“We respect the UARB’s jurisdiction over the matter and its expertise in determining whether the settlement reached by customer representatives and Nova Scotia Power is in the best interests of ratepayers — while also pointing out that the rate hike contained therewith is unsustainable for many, many people in our province,” the NDP caucus said in its submission.
“This is why we are committed to continuing to press for substantive changes to our regulatory system that would retain the independence of the UARB while giving it the tools to better help consumers, particularly those most vulnerable to these rate increases, and more clearly address the demands of the climate crisis.””