Government pressured to reduce costly mercury emission targets
A cross-section of business and community organizations made it clear Tuesday that the province has to deal with the impact of potential rate increases Nova Scotia Power says are needed to meet mercury emission targets.
The utility will go before provincial regulators in the fall to seek an increase as high as 12 per cent for residential users and 18 per cent for businesses to help it deal with the costs of burning cleaner coal at its power generating plants.
Nova Scotia Power officials have said the predicted rates are based on actual costs the utility is incurring to upgrade its environmental performance.
The groups met Tuesday with Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks, who emerged to say the province needs to proceed in a way that balances bottom-line concerns with the clear need to meet environmental goals.
But when asked by reporters, Estabrooks wouldn’t say whether the growing pressure would force the government to back away from its emissions targets.
"Government is all about balance," he said. "Government is all about making sure that we put things in perspective and that’s what I’m going bring to my colleagues attention the next time I sit at that (cabinet) table.
"This (the increase) is a huge concern . . . and is something that we are going to have to look at very clearly."
Estabrooks said the province will take a position on the increase and make a submission to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, although he wouldn’t tip his hand.
Nova Scotia Power will also submit its evidence for an increase to the board during an Oct. 18 hearing. If approved, a rate hike would take effect Jan. 1.
The board approved a fuel adjustment mechanism for the utility in 2008. It limits the company to average increases of 9.3 per cent, while allowing it to extend added or reduced fuel costs to customers.
Nova Scotia Power spokesman David Rodenhiser said there was still time for "some change" in the predicted increase ahead of the fall hearing, but said a cost is inevitable.
"I think people can expect that moving towards more renewable lower-emission generation comes with a price," said Rodenhiser .
But it’s a price many groups say they just can’t stomach.
Robert Patzelt of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Nova Scotia division said the increase would simply add to overall costs for big companies that are the largest users of the provincial power grid.
Although he said adjusting emissions targets is "not the way to go," Patzelt advocates other measures, including partial deregulation of the energy sector to reduce costs through incentives and limited competition.
"We live in a carbon-constrained world and what we want to do is work with everyone to reduce our dependence on external sources and on getting control of our own energy future," said Patzelt.
No comments:
Post a Comment