Saturday, 6 April 2019

NB Power emerges as climate-change doomsayer after years of costly storm damage

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to and 47 others
Paul Krumm said "A large part of NBPower's fiscal irresponsibility is the grossly over-inflated management structure stuffed with incompetents rewarded for saying 'yessir' to every political dictate" And I agreed


https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/04/nb-power-emerges-as-climate-change.html





https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-climate-change-storm-damage-costs-1.5083870



NB Power emerges as climate-change doomsayer after years of costly storm damage



61 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.




David R. Amos
Methinks before folks offer their opinions about what I have had to say about NB Power they should visit the EUB website and read why they had barred me as an intervener in two rate increase hearings thus far Nesy Pas?














William Reed
Typical Conservative run around. "I hear two differing opinions about it". If one opinion is held by 3 out of 100 people there's just one opinion out there because we happen to know that some voices are speaking out of pure self interest.


David Peters 
Reply to @William Reed:

...but co2 isn't a pollutant, regardless.
William Reed 
Reply to @David Peters:
Oh, it is. Each additional ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere carries with it a greenhouse gas effect component which is not desirable. Things that carry negative effects beyond an acceptable level are pollutants by definition. Anything already in the air can be a pollutant. We classify them by considering their levels beyond which they are problematic.
 
David R. Amos
Reply to @William Reed: Methinks if Mr Higgs would quit allowing the Irving Clan and their cohorts to mow down our forests it would take care of a lot of CO@ for us N'esy Pas?
William Reed
Reply to @David R. Amos:
You may think that, but it's not that simple. In the last century we' ve emitted a large chunk of 350 000 000 years worth of sequestered carbon. it's not correct to think that this is something that can taken up by a current forest in a generation. We' ve managed to almost double the atmospheric CO2 concentration while acidifying the oceans which should strike you as remarkable considering how much water there is in them to absorb atmospheric CO2. The effects and non trivial because we are talking about insanely large numbers of emitted carbon that has not ever been in the atmosphere in the lifespan of the human species.
David R. Amos
Reply to @William Reed: Check the news about half the plankton off of Newfoundland are GONE
Richard Riel
Reply to @David R. Amos: Only because they can't stand the smell of oil and it is getting too warm so they moved up another notch further up north.














SarahRose Werner
The province's largest emitter of greenhouse gases is blowing through their storm damage budget? As they say, what goes around comes around.


Ian Scott 
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Their budget is your budget.Thats the problem.

David R. Amos
Reply to @Ian Scott: YUP













Mark (Junkman) George
It's not about what they paid out, but it is about what they saved in tree trimming costs, and general maintenance costs.
If good old BLANE only does one thing, and one thing only, he will send these fools at NB Hydro down the road kicking stones, and find someone who knows the business, has some common sense, and is a good manager to run the thing



David R. Amos 
Reply to @Mark (Junkman) George: Amen 
 


David Peters

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/local/atlantic/2019/4/3/1_4364016.html

Why haven't NB power focused more on tidal energy?

Monopolies kill innovation.



Rosco holt 
Reply to @David Peters:
Government gave all the prime locations for tidal generation to the Irvings, that's why.
David R. Amos  
Reply to @Rosco holt: Surprise Surprise Surprise 
 



Alex Scott
NB Power will believe whatever it needs to believe justify its never-ending rate increases.


David R. Amos   
Reply to @Alex Scott: YUP










Buddy Best
May sound like a broken record but all roads lead to the Empire and more subsidies for them.


David R. Amos    
Reply to @Buddy Best: YUP 
 



Murray Brown
There was one odd storm over the past decade, Arthur in 2014. That was 5 years ago... Other than that oddity, all the 'storms' we've experienced have been the normal fair that one can reasonably expect living in this climate. NB Power is a money grubbing, money wasting crown corporation that blows tens of millions on nonsensical expenditures and then cries like baby that they need rate increases and additional money... It's time for some belt tightening and it should start at the top.


David R. Amos     
Reply to @Murray Brown: "NB Power is a money grubbing, money wasting crown corporation that blows tens of millions on nonsensical expenditures and then cries like baby that they need rate increases and additional money"

Oh So True














John Montgomery
They don't seem to be doing a proper job of proactively clearing the trees.


David R. Amos  
Reply to @John Montgomery: I agree 
 


Ian Scott
That 16 million may be just about the amount given to the mysterious Florida company whom has never built the perpetual energy machine that it spouts but that NB is invested in. But he is on board of directors.


David R. Amos   
Reply to @Ian Scott: Are you surprised? 
Paul Krumm
A large part of NBPower's fiscal irresponsibility is the grossly over-inflated management structure stuffed with incompetents rewarded for saying 'yessir' to every political dictate. 
David R. Amos
Reply to @Paul Krumm: YUP 
 
Richard Dunn
NB Power took thier foot off the gas on mainatenance a few years ago and we are now paying the price. Trimming was not kept up, pole replacement was forgotten about and they were complety reactive, in an effort to save money.

We have too many above ground lines, new developments should all be below ground.
Why does the City of Moncton plant trees on front lawns of new houses.....directly under power lines? Do they realize these trees are going to grow right into the power lines? Plant them away from power lines.

Many of NB Power's issues can be fixed, but I, personally, have zero confidence in the current CEO.
David R. Amos
Reply to @Richard Dunn: "Many of NB Power's issues can be fixed, but I, personally, have zero confidence in the current CEO."

Trust that you are not alone
Layton Bennett
Carr doesn't want to give a definitive answer until he gets his instructions from Kenneth and Arthur. 
David R. Amos
Reply to @Layton Bennett: YUP
Buford Wilson
Gaëtan is doing his best.
But we should have sold off Energie-NB-Power to Quebec Hydro. When we had the chance.

David R. Amos 
Reply to @Buford Wilson: "we should have sold off Energie-NB-Power to Quebec Hydro. When we had the chance.:

Methinks the Quebeckers did their due diligence and decided they didn't want it N'esy Pas?
 
 

NB Power emerges as climate-change doomsayer after years of costly storm damage

NB Power paid out nearly $100 million to repair storm damage in past 6 years


Workers assess damage to power lines in Fredericton after post-tropical storm Arthur caused a significant blackout in Fredericton in 2014. Severe storms, like Arthur, have cost NB Power almost $100 million in repairs in the past six years. (Catherine Harrop/CBC)


NB Power is New Brunswick's largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has been for decades, but, as part of its current rate application in front of the Energy and Utilities Board, the utility is also beginning to emerge as one of the province's leading promoters of the perils of global warming.

"A changing climate, and increased storm intensity present new risks for NB Power to manage," the utility wrote earlier this year in its current application for a rate increase to the EUB.

NB Power has a hearing next month in front of the EUB. It's seeking an average 2.5 per cent increase in its rates, one third of which it wants to funnel into a larger budget to deal with damage caused by severe weather.


This week, to help make that case, the utility filed a catalogue of storm data from its internal records with the EUB to show how storms have been getting larger and more destructive to its electrical grid.
According to that material, NB Power has paid out nearly $100 million to repair damage from 64 storms over the last six years. That's five times more damage than it repaired in the six years prior to that, even though there were 76 storms.

This past year, the utility budgeted $2.7 million for storm repairs — an amount based on historical averages — but spent nearly six times that amount.


A fallen tree became tangled with power lines in Dieppe last November. (Radio-Canada)
One wind storm alone in early November knocked out power to more than 104,000 customers at its peak and took 300 power line crews six days to fully resolve. That storm cost the utility $7.8 million.

It was the fourth storm in six years to cost NB Power more than $5 million to deal with, including post-tropical storm Arthur that caused $23 million in damage in 2014 and the 2017 ice storm on the Acadian Peninsula that cost $30 million in repairs.  

Storm frequency


It is all a sign of the effect of climate change in the province, according to the utility.

"The frequency and intensity of storms have been increasing in recent years, as evidenced by the fact that NB Power has experienced major weather events in four of the last six years," the utility's application said.

NB Power claims weather patterns have changed so significantly it can no longer rely on 30-year historical storm damage averages to set its budget and has asked the EUB for permission to use a shorter five-year average.

If approved, that will increase NB Power's storm damage budget to $16.8 million — six times larger than last year's budget.


NB Power President Gaëtan Thomas has been citing climate change as a problem for the utility for several years. (CBC)
NB Power President Gaëtan Thomas has been citing climate change as a problem for the utility for several years, especially after post-tropical storm Arthur hit the province in July of 2014, knocking out power to nearly 200,000 customers.

"We are convinced now that climate change has had some impact," Thomas told CBC News in 2015.

Environment minister not convinced


However, not everyone is as convinced of the link NB Power is making between climate change and more punishing storms in the province, including New Brunswick Environment and Local Government Minister Jeff Carr.

"It could be partly," Carr said Wednesday when asked if increased severe weather in the province is connected to climate change as NB Power is suggesting in front of the EUB.

"I don't know if they're exactly completely the total result of why we're having a lot of floods. There's a lot of issues in New Brunswick more than just climate change that contribute to this so I wouldn't want to give a definitive yes or no because there are lots of reports out there and it just depends on which ones you read."

About the Author


Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the adoption of price regulation in 2006. 


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