TALK ABOUT being in an awkward position — Nova Scotia Power Inc. is now in charge of a conservation program aimed at cutting the use of electricity in Nova Scotia.
Considering that the Emera Inc. subsidiary makes its living by selling electricity, and the more the merrier, the idea of selling less of it seems to go against the grain. But last week, Nova Scotia Power indicated it will spend $23 million on energy conservation programs in 2010. I wonder where the money is coming from?
Vice-president Alan Richardson says adding conservation measures to Nova Scotia Power’s plans will save money for both the company and its customers. For example, conservation may help put off the need to build a new $1-billion generating station.
Readers of this column have been writing to ask why Nova Scotia Power isn’t talking to another Emera subsidiary, Emera Energy, which is acting as broker for 130 megawatts of Churchill Falls hydroelectricity that the government of Newfoundland and Labrador is selling. The readers believe the non-polluting hydro power could be acquired at a good rate and provide an added source of secure energy for the future.
Richardson told me in a phone conversation that acquiring non-polluting power from other sources could not replace conservation or "in-province renewables." He said Nova Scotia Power must meet standards insuring that an increasing amount of the energy produced in this province comes from renewable sources. Buying the electricity from somewhere else is not allowed.
"You can imagine though, regardless of who we would be buying it from, the price (the electricity) would be offered would probably be based on who you could sell it to and at what price. If they can get 10 cents (per kilowatt) or 15 cents or whatever cents — 20 cents in New York, I suppose — it’s unlikely we’re going to be able to buy it for a fraction of that. I guess when you add up all those factors, our conclusion, certainly in the short term, is to ramp up in a big way on conservation as well as in-province renewables."
Despite all that, Richardson says Nova Scotia Power is interested in looking at other "large sources of emission-free energy" that it might be able to get over a long-term contract. One such option is the power coming from Newfoundland and Labrador’s proposed Lower Churchill hydro project.
Meanwhile, Premier Robert Ghiz of Prince Edward Island, in addition to expressing interest in Lower Churchill, has reportedly indicated that P.E.I. is prepared to invest in a proposed second nuclear power generator at Point Lepreau, N.B. Securing a stake in that generator would, in theory, provide P.E.I. with a secure source of electricity for the long term.
From Nova Scotia Power’s perspective, Richardson says, "participating in Point Lepreau II is not a solution for the renewable portfolio standard . . . but longer term, certainly we know we’ll have greenhouse gas limits or targets and certainly nuclear power would be one alternative."
Nova Scotia law prevents nuclear power plants from being built in this province, Richardson says.
"And we wouldn’t be interested in building it anyway, because we would have no expertise in nuclear. But I think the idea that at some point we might keep open the option of a contract for emission-free energy, whatever that might be — which could be nuclear — yeah, I think that’s still an opportunity."
Nova Scotia Power is pursuing many options, Richardson says. In the meantime, it continues to generate about 70 per cent of its electricity by burning coal — which, in case you didn’t know, is neither a source of green energy nor secure for the long term.
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