NB Power seeks to impose weather tax

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-storm-damage-costs-customers-1.4583402

Residential, commercial customers could bear the brunt of NB Power's 'weather tax'

NB Power may seek to recover costs specifically from groups served by the damaged equipment

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 20, 2018 6:00 AM AT

131 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.


  
David Amos

Mr. Jones knows I tried to warn the folks but apathy ruled the day as I was illegally barred from the hearing on All Hallows Eve.

"That's potentially bad news for NB Power's commercial and residential customers. They account for just two-thirds of NB Power's in-province sales but as distribution customers could be made to pay almost all storm-recovery expenses."


 
Freddy Rose

This has to be one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard come from the "leaders" of NB Power. It almost sounds like someone made a joke at a meeting and they took it seriously.

"Hey, let's shirk all of our preventative maintenance responsibilities and pass the buck to the end user!", Bob joked during a typical boring meeting.

"Hey, that's a great idea. Let's do it!" replied Dewey Cheatum, the CEO.

David Amos 

@Freddy Rose "This has to be one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard come from the "leaders" of NB Power."

Methinks my friends Roger Richard and Gerald Bourque a lot of other folks would agree with me in that the "Not So Smart Meter Scheme" took the cake in this hearing N'esy Pas???

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/eub-hearings-nb-power-smart-meters-1.4529640

Opting out smart meter program could cost NB Power customers
Power customers in British Columbia, Quebec have faced fees for refusing the installation of smart meters
By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Feb 10, 2018 8:00 AM AT

Smart meter opponent Roger Richard, right, leads a group worried about human health problems caused by long term exposure to the devices. (Robert Jones/CBC NEWS)

Nick Carver

@David Amos I don't support smart meters and the costs associated with them, but the health issue from a wireless signal is ridiculous and only weakens their argument in my opinion. Even if you are a total technophobe, you are getting magnitudes more exposure from your neighbour's wifi, or even the stray magnetics coming from the high voltage lines that feed the transformer to your house.

David Amos

@Nick Carver I do not disagree with you. You can argue my friend Roger and his friends about their health issues. I was done with NB Power after the circus in the 357 Matter. I intervened this time at his request to aid my friend with the process within EUB. Roger is entitled to his opinions and to make them known to the "Power That Be". and the rest f the folks in NB. For that one reason alone I will back up Roger all the way down the line.

As for me the lawyers and accountants all know I follow the money. The Smart Meter issue is merely fruit from a poisoned tree to me because I do not believe KPMG's audit. It is just anther money grab and its our money they are taking and giving to politically connected pals.

Methinks New Brunswick is in dire need of more decent men such as Roger Richard who I am honoured to know quite well. Hell mon ami even does me the service of laughing as my dumb French jokes N'esy Pas you know who?

Roger Richard

@David Amos I want to thank you for being one of my mentors.

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David Amos

@Roger Richard Une main secoue l'autre mon bon ami et nous apprenons les uns des autres. Vivre la différence N'esy Pas?

David Amos

@Roger Richard Methinks its very strange that CBC would block a warm reply written in French between two friends who live in Canada's only bilingual province N'esy Pas Mon Ami?

   

David Amos

A little Deja Vu

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-smart-meters-eub-hearing-1.4546118

'Behavioural science' will shape customer reaction to NB Power's smart meters
Smart meters plan needs buy-in from NB Power customers, according to the utility
By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Feb 22, 2018 6:00 AM AT

141 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.

David Amos

Perhaps folks should do their own research from the Public Record of this hearing in lieu of merely relying on Mr Jones and his spin on the topic?

All documents that NB Power and their pals in the NBEUB are willing to share with its stakeholders (namely us) can be found and read from the Crown's website (Which is financed by us) For my personal benefit I ask that you scroll to the very bottom to at least notice that I was in on this wicked game out of the gate

http://www.nbeub.ca/opt/M/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=560

Then if you are truly curious download the transcript of the pre-hearing conference and read the spit and chew after you have checked out NB Power malicious submission against me with all their edited exhibits of my documents filed in the 357 Matter. Trust that it i a better story than any that Mr Jones has told you thus far.

www.nbeub.ca/opt/M/get_document.php?doc=31428&no=21322

www.nbeub.ca/opt/M/get_transcript.php?id=560&no=182« less

 
James Freney

So the large industrials (refinery,pulp mills,etc.) and municipalities escape paying this power "tax" while the residential and commercial users bear the burden for weather events that affect the whole province! Another example of the "Golden Rule", "he who has the gold makes the rules." These large customers, who already get preferred rates and in some cases sell power back to NB Power at more than they pay for it, will again be subsidized by the rest of the unlucky "distribution" customers, whom already pay more than their fair share of "taxes". Nothing new here!

David Amos 

@James Freney "So the large industrials (refinery,pulp mills,etc.) and municipalities escape paying this power "tax"

Far more than that the large industrials get big fat cheques from us.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-first-full-rate-hearing-gets-questions-about-big-paper-mills-1.3114844

NB Power first full rate hearing gets questions about big paper mills
The utility has applied for a two per cent rate hike beginning on July 1

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Jun 15, 2015 9:43 PM AT

/Multi million dollar subsidies NB Power is forced to provide the province's big paper mills took centre stage at the utility's rate hearing Monday with a retired NB Power engineer criticizing the practice as thinly veiled corporate welfare.

"I'd like to understand the program and I would like all the documentation that's available on the program that will explain it to people," said Gregory Hickey as he questioned a panel of NB Power executives about the practice of buying renewable energy from paper mills and reselling it back to them at a substantial loss.

"I think the people of this province deserve to know,"

 
Fred Brewer

What amount does NB Power carry in its budgets for storm-related costs? If this amount is insufficient, then it should be raised by shifting its internal priorities like not spending $7 million just to study if seawater can be converted to hydrogen economically. Nobody in the world has been able to do this, so to me, this is an utter waste of money. Reallocation of funds, staff reductions, elimination of bonuses should be looked at before even considering a weather tax.

David Amos

@Fred Brewer "Reallocation of funds, staff reductions, elimination of bonuses should be looked at before even considering a weather tax."

Its in their mandate to do so but the bosses just ignore it tis all.

 
Andrew Clarkson

I heard that DTI is looking to add a couple of cents to the gasoline tax? They had to plow and salt the roads a couple of extra times this winter!

David Amos

@Andrew Clarkson Me Too

 
Greg Miller

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT!

There's a storm, my power goes out, I'm sitting in the dark. I'm worried about the food in the freezer, the sump pump not having power, possibly freezing pipes: and, with all this on my mind I'm comforted with the fact that my electric bill (even though I will have consumed far less power) will be much higher this month. So in reality the contingency planning that NB Power is incapable of doing has been shifted to me. Not a happy camper!

David Amos

@Greg Miller Don't worry be happy.

All you got to do is learn to love the Circus that you are paying for.

Methinks that perhaps one day the ringmasters will finally present the high diving act that we paid our two bits to see. N'esy Pas?

 
John Jude

1 - Get government job
2 - Buy a bunch of batteries
3 - Retrofit house to run off batteries
4 - Cut the NB power cord to your house
5 - Sneak batteries in to work everyday and plug them in under your desk to recharge them
6 - Reduce your consumption through necessity
7 - NB power gets the shaft and the government pays for your power
8 - Get caught and lose job
9 - Nobody will hire you because you did something "bad"
10 - Stuck with house that runs on batteries and no way to charge them
11 - Can't afford to hook NB power back up due to unemployment
12- Become another backwoods NBer on EI/welfare with a busted up trampoline in the backyard and a broken down school bus in the driveway because NB Power is greedy and mismanaged (and you would rather stick it to the man than shell out bee-ess "tax")
13 - Be...in this place

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David Amos

@John Jude Hey Jude is that dude you?

David Amos

@John Jude Too Too Funny Indeed

 
Shawn McShane

Residential and commercial customers of NB Power are mostly served by the smaller wooden TOOTHPICKS with 1-2 heavy Distribution transformers...the sticks are already bendy before the wind or snow even hits!

David Amos 

@Shawn McShane Methinks we now buy those "Toothpicks" from elsewhere N'esy Pas? Gee I wonder why?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-contract-power-poles-1.4116354

NB Power sends $2.5M annual contract out of province without usual tendering process
By Shane Fowler, CBC News Posted: May 15, 2017 7:49 PM AT

"NB Power's decision to end a 40-year, multimillion-dollar partnership with a New Brunswick company to purchase its power poles was exempt from the usual tendering process and did not necessarily choose the lowest bidder."

 
Daniel White

What a smart way to upgrade an infrastructure. Neglect the hell out of it and wait for an event to renew that portion. Now ,are we going to need a board to decide what event is to be charged? Or do we leave it to the fox,(Mr Thomas) to count the chickens. What a clever way to manage, mismanagement. wow, ingenious!!!

David Amos

@Daniel White "wow, ingenious!!!"

Methinks like me thou doth jest but not too much. Perhaps just like the highly overpaid fox you mentioned we are being rather disingenuous with what we know about the evil scheme practiced against our fellow citizens with the sincere hope they will laugh and finally sit up and pay attention N'esy Pas?

 
Paul Bourgoin

I wonder if New Brunswick still has special reduced electricity rates for industry, or purchase electricity produced by Private Interest at a more expensive value than it costs the province to produce! This could be a cost management profit increase start. Political influence from for-sale politicians should be kept outside the planning management doors, no sweetheart deals especially to those carrot dangling that promise JOBS JOBS that never materialize. Make NB-POWER management bonuses public. to who, how much and why!

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin "I wonder if New Brunswick still has special reduced electricity rates for industry, or purchase electricity produced by Private Interest at a more expensive value than it costs the province to produce!"

YES

 
Aaron Allison

We need the Auditor General of New Brunswick, to Conduct a Forensic Audit into NB POWER.

Murray Brown

@Aaron Allison ... Auditor General? Why not a criminal auditor? An auditor that can determine where the missing money is and who stole it.

David Amos

@Aaron Allison Trust that NB Power's lawyers and the Auditor Generals of New Brunswick AND Canada know all about my concerns with the severe lack of ethics of NB Power's auditor KPMG and will do nothing.

 
Roland Godin

And meanwhile we insist proudly, for generations, in electing at all levels the most likely to mismanage public policies, administration, resources and finances. Could this be a reason we prefer hiding in a booth when choosing our preferred doodling by colour political graffiti’s?...et voilà.

David Amos

@Roland Godin Methinks the next time some folks are as you say "doodling by colour political graffiti" they will pick a different coloured crayon if they happen to see me on their ballot. Its because as an Independent I don't wear any of the other colours nor do I follow any fairy tale type Pied Piper either. N'esy Pas?

 
Murray Brown

Residential and commercial... So isn't that everybody? Or does that leave the Irving's out of it? I know that we can never expect them to pay any tax on anything, whether it's additional or not.

David Amos

@Murray Brown YUP

 
John Valcourt

According to NBPower we already have a $20 surcharge on our bills each month. When I called them to find out what it was they they told me it was to help pay for when we have these outages. So my question is why would they be allowed to add a second one when we are already paying it.

David Amos

@John Valcourt Very Good Point Sir

 
Paul Bourgoin

New Brunswick lacks political accountability vis-a-vis finance management. To name a few our natural resources, tax breaks, electricity sweet heart deals, our crown forest, our fish and wildlife management, habitat Forest management, our areal spray programs with toxic identified chemicals, deterioration our sources of drinking water because of for-sale elected politicians!

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin I agree and have pointed it out within 5 elections thus far and nobody cared.

 
Brian Robertson

Any other business insures against damage to their infrastructure.
If a storm damages a factory, they don't have the luxury of raising prices in a competitive market.

But, if you enjoy a monopoly such as NB Power, you can extort from your customer base whatever the PUB allows you to get away with.

Maybe power needs to be deregulated just like the telecoms were decades ago. That competition brought prices down substantially, to the benefit of all New Brunswickers; except for the bloated bureaucrats.

David Amos 

@Brian Robertson "But, if you enjoy a monopoly such as NB Power, you can extort from your customer base whatever the PUB allows you to get away with."

FYI NB Power does no have a monopoly in NB. There are 3 other players that go along with its schemes when it behooves them to do so. Bernie Lord fired the old PUB before the election in 2006 and gave its old boss a golden handshake and was told to go away and hush up.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-has-too-much-freedom-pub-boss-1.572378

NB Power has too much freedom: PUB boss
CBC News Posted: Feb 15, 2006 9:30 AM AT

"The man in charge of the Public Utilities Board says huge financial losses at NB Power are a direct result of too much freedom and he wants the company to open its books to public scrutiny more often.

The utility wants to raise rates by an average of 11.6 per cent for residential and industrial users on April 1 to make up for projected losses next year."

After the 2006 election Jacky Boy Keir picked his favourite people for the new EUB and the circus began again. However 5 years later when the Conservatives had won back the mandate CBC informed us of a rather wicked little circus I truly enjoyed reading about. Methinks a folks my enjoy reading it too N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/former-utilities-board-chairman-cut-off-at-hearing-1.1072403

Former utilities board chairman cut off at hearing
CBC News Posted: Feb 17, 2011 9:40 PM

"A former chairman of the public utilities board was cut off as he made a presentation at the provincial energy hearings in Saint John The hearings being held by the New Brunswick Energy Commission are to lead to a 10-year energy plan for the province, including balancing energy prices, job creation and environmental protection"

Brian Robertson

@David Amos
The only poles running down my street are owned and operated by NBEPC.
If I call up Saint John Energy, they will say they can't help me.
That sir, in my book, is a monopoly.

David Amos

@Brian Robertson Folks don't have to agree with whatever book you write. People in Saint John pay lower rates than you because the power industry in New Brunswick is not a monopoly. Hence by definition that is the way things truly are in "The Place to Be"

 
Ross Piercey

In the real world outside of NB when big corps fail they replace the CEOs along with all their cronies, what are the politicians waiting for I wonder? more debt and disgruntled citizens, well if that the case it’s perfect timing with the election coming.
NB Power is a failing corporation that’s in need of a new beginning or a quick death, their incompetency shouldn’t be forgiven at the expense of the NB citizens.

David Amos 

@Ross Piercey "In the real world outside of NB when big corps fail they replace the CEOs along with all their cronies, what are the politicians waiting for I wonder?"

Methinks In New Brunswick the politicians pay off their opposition with secret golden handshakes However here is one that hit the news years later after CBC did some serious digging to see hw much gold was spent on hushup and go away issues with their former CEO whom everybody knows crossed paths with bigtime in 2006. It was not rocket science to understand why that less than 2 weeks late rNB Power's chief legal officer Wanda Harrison was successful at having me barred as an Intervenor within the current NBEUB hearing N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-severance-david-hay-1.4357625

$1.7M in severance paid to former NB Power CEO David Hay
Hay did not file objection to having amount released
By Robert Jones, Posted: Oct 17, 2017 6:00 AM AT

"NB Power's chief legal officer Wanda Harrison wrote in a letter to CBC News last month following a right to information request made about Hay's settlement package in July."

"NB Power has kept amounts it paid to Hay secret since abruptly parting ways with the former president during the controversial attempt to sell the utility to Hydro Quebec by the former government of Shawn Graham.

Hay was the only member of NB Power's board of directors not to endorse the sale in a vote in January 2010. He abstained and then quit.

He had led NB Power for six years and was ten months into a new three-year employment contract when he left on one day's notice."

 
Lorne Amos

Will we ever elect a Government that will rein-in these money grubbers?

David Amos

@Lorne Amos Methinks we both know the answer to your question N'esy Pas?

So if EVERYBODY who loses electricity suffers whether they are a shack in the woods or a restaurant or an entire pulp and paper mill, let's hear exactly why industries are exempt from this consideration of recovering costs.

What makes THEM so special that everyone who loses electricity would have to pay a portion of the rebuilding costs, but the people with the MOST money and usually the MOST to lose by a power interruption have apparently suffered enough? The industries can literally afford to buy "power insurance" if required...the rest of us just have to fork it over or freeze.

All or nothing. We all use electricity, we all lose out when it goes, so we ALL have to chip in to rebuild, or we ALL refuse and the power commission adjusts it's budget accordingly. But this "industries are special snowflakes" attitude has to go.

David Amos

@Rene Cusson "What makes THEM so special that everyone who loses electricity would have to pay a portion of the rebuilding costs, but the people with the MOST money and usually the MOST to lose by a power interruption have apparently suffered enough?"

Methinks I can explain it rather easily with a well known expression in New Brunswick "Everything is political and its always about the money" N'esy Pas?

 

Douglas James

I live in a municipality with its own utility. I still vehemently oppose NB Power's proposal. As others have said, end the bonuses for executives and put that money toward storm damage.

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David Amos

@Douglas James Trust that you would have enjoyed my reply to you yesterday but when CBC blocked it I quit for the day

David Amos

@Douglas James WOW

 

Ross Piercey

One has to wonder if the government of the day that created the dams to generate power for the people and businesses of NB would have gotten approval if they said (when there are damages caused by weather events the end users will pay the bill to rebuild the dams) I’m thinking they would have been laughed out of the province with their tails tucked in behind them.

David Amos 

@Ross Piercey I still don't understand why NB Power has not refurbished its original dam in Musquash. Nobody can deny it has served us well and it has withstood a hundred years of storms

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/musquash-dam-evacuation-1.4488832

'We're not overly concerned': Musquash residents shrug off dam scare
Heavy rains and elevated water levels led to an evacuation order affecting dozens of residents
By Rachel Cave, CBC News Posted: Jan 15, 2018 9:23 PM AT

"According to NB Power, the Musquash dam and generating station were built on the Musquash River in 1922. The station was decommissioned in 2009 after the last generator broke down."

 

Jeffrey Parker

NB Power customers are responsible the weather now eh and their poor line management. Happy spring greetings from our utility. I would think that there is amount already figured in for this as a startup cost to run this type business plan. Dah! Good try for such a bunch of over stocked and overpaid, incompetent miss manager's . Another point here is we pay 13.5 cent per KW/hr not 10.8 as some might like us to believe. Add the service charge , hot water heater charge and taxes than do the math. We have a lot of cheap hydro production so no need for high prices other than poor management!

David Amos

@Jeffrey Parker I concur

 

Roger Williams

What we need in New Brunswick is an incentive for NB Power to harden the distribution network. I think the opposite of this plan would do the trick. I think NB Power should compensate users that lose power for more than 10 hours. Even a dollar an hour would be a huge incentive for NB Power to improve the system.

David Amos

@Roger Williams Methinks that after the election the NB Premier should pick up the phone and call Quebec in order to offer them a better deal to buy NB Power as long as we get the same rates the folks in Quebec do in perpetuity N'esy Pas?

 

Robert Cunningham

This is a win win for NB Power. Either this is allowed to pass and they win. Or they use this as a strategy to say well smart meters and a rate hike don't seem so unreasonable now do they?

I have an Idea, stop giving bonuses to employees of a crown corporation who are not meeting targets. This would never fly in the private sector, heads would roll.

David Amos

@Robert Cunningham "This is a win win for NB Power."

I disagree

Methinks NB Power getting some very bad press just before April Fools Day which is a very important day for their beancounters within KPMG N'esy Pas?

 

Michael Hunt

Lets hope the Election in September comes before any approvals on this happens , We need common sense people to look at this . Not people making $100000+and getting huge bonuses every year .

David Amos

@Michael Hunt I am hedging my bet on that ever happening and filing a lawsuit because of what happened on during the NBEUB hearing on Halloween and also considering running for public office again.

Kim McLaggan

So NB Powers mismanagement over the years is starting to catch up with them so they are coming up with all kinds of ways to add more costs onto the consumer,correct me if I am wrong but when you pay for hydro its not just to cover the cost of maintenance for sunny days only,in that cost it covers all sorts of weather related happenings,so where is the Gallant on this and for that matter Higgs not a word and that word should be NO WAY in you know what, NB Power is totally out of control and so is this public intervener she should be shown the door also,no wonder NB is on the verge of bankruptcy

David Amos 

@Kim McLaggan "NB Power is totally out of control and so is this public intervener she should be shown the door also,no wonder NB is on the verge of bankruptcy"

Methinks NB Power and our public intervenor does not like what I said and did within two NBEUB hearings since last June. However the Public Records of the 357 and 375 Matters cannot be denied by any lawyer or judge. Even though I strongly disagree with certain portions of the transcripts that attempt to make me seem crazy there were always witnesses present who heard what I really said and did N'esy Pas?

Shawn McShane

Report of the Auditor General - 2005
6.92 However, we noted during our audit that the board does not generate or maintain a comprehensive listing of the principal risks to NB Power.
Board appointment process... “Governance experts agree that a critical element of achieving sound governance is choosing qualified directors to sit on Boards…” disappointed that there was no completed document showing how the appointed directors fulfilled the core competency and experience requirements considered a prerequisite for appointment...

David Amos @Shawn McShane Oh My Its always nice to see such things writing. However I know for a fact that I made certain that I can prove that Canada's current Auditor General knew the score about bankster and beancounters and I long before he left New Brunswick after Harper appointed him to a fancy new post.

Methinks everybody knows that all such appointees federally and provincially are politically vetted and that competence has nothing to do with doing their job for the "Powers That Be".

In the "Place To Be" all government employees right down to the poor people who are ordered to spray evil Monsanto products for NB Power know they have to mind their politics or they are out of work in a heartbeat N'esy Pas?

  

Evan Day

This is a terrible idea. What possible incentive would there be for NB Power to maintain its infrastructure if it knows that every time it gets hit by a storm, it can just jack rates? We've already seen that, left to their own devices, they'll neglect things like tree trimming. If they have a "get out of jail free" card in the form of a storm surcharge, why would they ever bother to do preventative work? They'll just siphon that tree trimming money into more bonuses, knowing that they dumb rate-payers are going to pick up the tab in the end.

stephen blunston

@Evan Day agreed that hitting nail square on the head

David Amos

@stephen blunston Yes sir I believe he did

 

Dave Peters

This on top of a 122M$ ask for smart meters. Why do we even have a EUB " Energy & Utilities Board " if they allow a crown corporation to pick our pockets while assuming near zero accountability on rates that were supposed to be tied to 2% per annum for 5 years. What happened to this? Time to dump the EUB

David Amos 

@Dave Peters "Why do we even have a EUB " Energy & Utilities Board "

Good question particularly when they have no real power and the cabinet can ignore anything they advise and do whatever they wish concerning the Crown Corp known as NB Power with a mere stroke of the pen. Remember Bernie Lord went against PUB's advice and refurbished Point LePreau anyway?

Methinks this little NBEUB circus is simply just another smoke and mirror show in order to make folks think their rights and interests are protected. In fact I said such things and a great deal more during the Public Session right after the first day of this hearing.

However in my humble opinion we should thank another Crown Corp for at least publishing some of this nonsense particularly before the writ is dropped on the next election in NB. N'esy Pas?  

nena foster

Am I wrong to think NB Power's Insurance should be covering weather damage? do they want to double dip? We need more options for hydro in NB, I don't have the details, but from what I have heard most provinces have more than 1 company to choose from. Monopoly rules in NB, this is another reason we are the poorest in Canada.....this could also be a decoy to distract us from a more devious plan.

David Amos

@nena foster "this could also be a decoy to distract us from a more devious plan"

Methinks the far more devious plan involves politicking. For instance if the current liberal cabinet were to put a stop to NB Power's wicked plans for this year they would become everybody's hero in short order N'esy Pas?

 
Colin Seeley

Why don’t they say “ ALL-CUSTOMERS”

William Reed

@Colin Seeley

Because all customers are not created equal, just like all men are not created equal in their way of seeing the world. How dare you impose a cost to the elite that offers us wage slavery as a much better alternative than outright slavery. as long as we keep working for them they have a winning argument every singe time they come to the table.

David Amos

@William Reed "Because all customers are not created equal"

Sad but oh so true. Methinks the Irving Empire proves that to be a fact on a daily basis N'esy Pas?

Colin Seeley

@David Amos

The biggest empire is Govt.

David Amos

@Colin Seeley Why else did I sue the Queen in 2015 if that were not true?

  

stephen blunston

wow , maybe NB power should not have been skimping for so long on maintenance and the stuff in place wouldn't be so bad , THIS IS A SCAM PURE AND SIMPLE , if ceo and presidents all get big crazy salaries and bonuses for not running this company right ,maybe if they had the infistucture wouldn't be so bad , they would have made a better contract for ther ormusion fiasco and the bad deal they made for lepreau refurbishment that still isn't work as good and producing like they predicted , maybe they too should be made to make honest predictions about how much they thought they could make , but then I guess they couldn't keep coming back stating they need to raise rates all because they predictions are to high and not realistic .gotta stop using NB power as a place for buddies to make crazy money and actually high a person to run it that knows the business

David Amos 

@stephen blunston "gotta stop using NB power as a place for buddies to make crazy money and actually high a person to run it that knows the business"

YUP I ran a business that was successful way back when it was Hard Times in the Maritimes in the late 70s and early 80s I would glady do the NB Power's CEO job for 1/5 of his salary. However if I turned the sinking ship around I would expect a HUGE bonus.

FYI the first thing I would do is FIRE KPMG, NB Power's lawyers and a lot of other political parasites called employees who do nothing whatsoever. The I would pay the NB Auditor General to audit the Crown Corp just like the Quebeckers do with Hydro Quebec. I would lay odds folks would see a LOT more equity reported in NB Power's books and I could retire in style with a big bonus I truly earned.

 

Dan Murphy

Instad of a bs tax, why not stop the discounts to the large commercail users, Irving, McCains, ect! why do we give them a 30% discount!

William Reed 

@Dan Murphy

It's not a tax, it's a legitimate cost to repair the system. You'd see it as that if was not being repaired and you needed the energy. Stop repeating the nonsense that comes out of the political right regarding this as taxes. Someone will have to pay for the hit to the infrastructure in case of storms. They are trying to say the utility has a two tiers, one that would be free of any new charges because it is being well served by the subsidized energy rates and service we already give to them. They are saying: we should not have to pay because we already have more reliable service at a better rate. That's what passes as common sense to capitalists and industrialists. Climate variability is not something large corporate entities feel they ought to have to contend with either. That's the consumers fault in their way of thinking. Keep consuming their products and see what that will do for you in the way of social justice.

 

David Amos

@William Reed "It's not a tax, it's a legitimate cost to repair the system."

Why does CBC call it a tax then? Methinks when a Crown Corp takes money from me on top of the fee for the service I am buying it is a tax no matter what name they wish to give to it. N'esy Pas?

 
Linda C Perreault

Why didn't they put this in their budget that came out last month? So what's the point on making a budget plan is it to laugh at us ... to make us see NB Power can write up a budget plan. This is pure hateful gestures towards New Brunswicker's . PM wants to keep New Brunswicker's here in NB well someone will have to pay after we leave this Irving managed province.

William Reed

@Linda C Perreault

Put what? This is being asked for now. The method suggested would be to make sure Irving doesn't have to pay for repairs to a system it and the utility would rather see as tiered. It's an obscene suggestion if ever there was one, but it is entirely what one should expect from a capitalist system.

David Amos

@William Reed "It's an obscene suggestion if ever there was one, but it is entirely what one should expect from a capitalist system"

Methinks history has proven that the communist system was much worse N'esy Pas?

 
Daniel Roberts

just when you think you can't be gouged anymore by this disgusting monopoly, they find a way.

David Amos

@Daniel Roberts Oui C'est Vrai

 
William Reed
In reading the comments here I have realized that energy rates should probably be tied to one's level of education. The willfully ignorant could pay through the nose so they would export themselves to where it is no better and learn a needed lesson. The notion that we should never be asked to pay more because we can't afford it is foolish in our economic system's workings. The way we have fought tooth and nail to have it in this Western world is to point out that you have a free market choice to pay or go without as much. If you think otherwise you are not a proponent of capitalism and you are voting for political parties that are all proponents of it, and that are supported by entities that do believe very much in that pressure. I can support anyone who wants better social outcomes, but I will not support anyone who supports our current economic affairs by supporting the parties that do. If you want cheap power you will have to take a stake in it by reclaiming your political sphere. Energy could be free if you worked tirelessly to give it to your fellow man, but would you? Most wouldn't, and many couldn't. There are costs and they are going one way--up, in the direction of greater profitability for a private sector that skims the public sector. Your salaries are not. You have to reconcile that with the economic system that is in place.

David Amos

@William Reed "In reading the comments here I have realized that energy rates should probably be tied to one's level of education."

Methinks you need to continue your education on New Brunswick in particular. I suspect that a of folks would give you free lessons on how to win friends and influence Maritmers N'esy Pas?

 
Brian Robertson

If NB Power is being forced to save money, they can start by firing the blockheads who sit around thinking up stuff like 'storm damage surcharges' and ' smart meters' to bill us more when demand is high.

I have worked directly with NB Power and know how they operate.
No other company in my experience has less regard for wasting money as they do.

That is the product of a monopoly without the constraint of oversight.

David Amos

@Brian Robertson "I have worked directly with NB Power and know how they operate. No other company in my experience has less regard for wasting money as they do"

Hence you have made a buck off the rest of us too Correct?

Brian Robertson

@David Amos
Hardly.
I wasn't a subcontractor, but an employee of a company partnered with NB Power on a joint project.
And they were terrible to work with.
All they wanted to do was throw money and resources at work that wasn't a priority.
They had no grasp of running an efficient operation.
Fortunately, my employer did not weaken, and get sucked into their drama.

David Amos

@Brian Robertson Good for your boss and you. New Brunswick needs a lot more decent folks who will stand their ground no matter how big the bully is.

 
Fred Brewer

What astounds me is that the people on this site who complain constantly about NB Power's bonuses, exorbitant salaries, poor service, mega-mistakes, project over-runs and late delivery on projects are the same people who argue against privatization of NB Power. A private company would turn NB Power into a profit centre in a matter of a year or two. They would have massive senior and middle management firings. Bonuses would only get paid if performance targets are met. Staff who make huge mistakes would get fired, not promoted. Political patronage appointments to cushy jobs would be a thing of the past. The list goes on and one, but I think I have made my point.

David Amos

@Fred Brewer Methinks you need to talk to folks in Nova Scotia about their power rates before and after the Yankee company Emera bought their power company N'esy Pas?

 

Bernard Cormier

It's Canada... it's winter... and we lose power from time to time and you know it does. Just get ready for it.

David Amos

@Bernard Cormier Spoken like a true Boy Scout

My hat is off to you Sir

 
Shawn McShane

How much money does the Lib/Con governments siphon from NB Power? As I recall from the "NB Power Not For Sale" literature it was in the Hundreds of Millions.

The BC Liberals were notorious for pillaging ICBC ($612 million in 2016-17) and B.C. Hydro for “dividends” that went into the province’s general revenues while the corporations’ debt ballooned, they also hid expert advice...

David Amos

@Shawn McShane I read that too

 

Jamie Hall

Isn't this why we are now overcharged for power...to cover costs such as this? Cut back on the hundreds of thousand dollar salaries of the top officials. They don't appear to be worth the $$.

David Amos

@Jamie Hall I truly believe that every soul who took the time to comment on this subject today agrees with you

 

Penny Murphy

The question that begs an answer is if NB power starts charging customers for repairs due to storms, are they also going to better prepare their own equipment (lines, older poles and close trees to the lines) to ensure that power outages don't happen or will all that be left for us to pay for as well? I would hope that if the burden does land on the customer, we should at least start with well kept equipment .

David Amos

@Penny Murphy Methinks they will rely on outside help and as usual and we will have to pay their fees as well N'esy Pas?

 
Samuel Porter

I am tired of being held hostage by NB power, which is where we have been at since the mega-ice storm of 1998. Have had at least four 5day + power outages here in Charlotte county since that time and the only excuse they can come up with is the weather. Now it has been 20 years, and nothing has changed, matter of fact ,service is worse. Time to sell.

David Amos

@Samuel Porter If I were you I would consider off grid options like I am.

 

 Rosco holt

NB power wouldn't be in this mess and pain in the ass, if politicians/ government didn't interfere continually.

NB power had a rainy day fund, but government took it.

The province finances(including crown corporations) needs to be audited to find where all the money is going.

David Amos

@Rosco holt "The province finances(including crown corporations) needs to be audited"

I agree however we really need to pick the auditors very carefully. They call themselves the "gatekeepers" and they are not joking. Guess who the beancounters consider to be the barbarians?

Jim Joe Jackson

It still amazes me that stories like this don't convince people that climate change is real.

David Amos

@Jim Joe Jackson Methinks that most of my political foes know by now that I have never denied that there is a change in the weather. However I disagree with Al Gore et al as to the cause of it as they dream up a new way to tax us some more.

Carbon Tax? Yea Right.

Though I have no respect for the likes of Trump or Ford I do agree with their standing on that issue. As the old folks used to say even a busted clock is correct twice a day N'esy Pas?

  

 

Rosco holt

Residential customers need to be represented separate from commercial and industrial users need to pay the real cost of the electricity they use and end the sweet deals they enjoy now.

David Amos 

@Rosco holt "Residential customers need to be represented separate from commercial and industrial users"

Yesterday CBC informed us that this is a plan that our Public Intervener came up with on her own byway of her Yankee consultants. Go Figure whose side she is on?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-weather-tax-damage-eub-1.4580239

NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage
Utility will ask Energy and Utilities Board for permission to levy temporary surcharge after unexpected events
By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 19, 2018 5:00 AM AT

"NB Power did not originate the idea for an "extraordinary events" surcharge but has come to embrace it. The concept was originally put forward by an expert hired by public intervener Heather Black, who was alarmed by NB Power's struggle to pay down its debt load. The Energy and Utilities Board was intrigued by the idea and asked NB Power to develop a proposal for consideration."

Furthermore the last statement Mr Jones reported today still has me rather dumbfounded in that NB Power expects the EUB to approve a plan they have yet to dream up?

Do tell is this nuts or am I just dumb?

"This application is speaking to the implementation of [the mechanism]," said Crawford. "Further downstream there are a series of different decision gates around how we handle the rate adjustment mechanism and that has yet to be determined."

David Amos

Methinks we should thank Mr Jones for informing us this morning that the plot has thickened in a rather interesting fashion N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-residential-rate-high-eub-1.4585044

NB Power's proposed residential rate hike may be too high, hearing told
Regulator's lawyer questions whether utility gives homeowners full credit for what they already pay
By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 20, 2018 8:05 PM AT

NB Power's proposed residential rate hike may be too high, hearing told

Regulator's lawyer questions whether utility gives homeowners full credit for what they already pay

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 20, 2018 8:05 PM AT

EUB lawyer Ellen Desmond argued residential customers are already paying nearly 95 per cent of the costs incurred by NB Power to serve them, which is within the required range. (CBC) 

The lawyer for New Brunswick's Energy and Utilities Board is pushing back against NB Power's proposal to charge residential customers a higher rate increase than other groups beginning next month and questioning whether the utility gives homeowners full credit for what they pay already.

The EUB has a rule that each customer group should pay rates for power in a "range of reasonableness" between 95 per cent and 105 per cent of the costs incurred by NB Power to serve the group and because the utility says residential customers are the only ones below that range, their rates should go up the most — 2.33 per cent.

But during a hearing in Saint John on Tuesday, EUB lawyer Ellen Desmond suggested residential rates, at 94.97 per cent of their costs, are already so close to the required range there is no need to charge the group extra.

"If we were to apply a principle of rounding, wouldn't you agree residential would have been 95 [already]?" asked Desmond.

• Residential, commercial customers could bear the brunt of NB Power's 'weather tax'
• NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage
• Smart meters already in use in New Brunswick

NB Power rate design specialist Kevin Gibson acknowledged that point but said there was uncertainty inside the utility whether mathematical rounding is allowed by the EUB. It was decided to charge residential customers extra to be safe, he said.

"In the absence of having any clear idea about which of those two choices we should make, we just made one," said Gibson.

A two per cent increase in residential rates would add an estimated $13.3 million to NB Power residential bills next year. The 2.33 per cent increase adds $15.5 million instead.

New Brunswick's municipal utilities tend to mimic NB Power's increases and are likely to add extra to residential bills as well.

No rule on rounding

John Todd, an expert in regulation who helped NB Power develop its rate structure, said there is nothing wrong with rounding numbers off to decide if customer groups are inside the range of reasonableness and paying enough.

But he said there was no way to know if the EUB's predecessor — the Public Utilities Board — meant 95 per cent to be an absolute minimum number or not when it picked the figure 25 years ago.

"It's not specified, it's never been addressed historically and, at least as I look at it, I'd say there are two interpretations of 95 and it's valid to take either interpretation," Todd said.

"The company [NB Power] has defined it as 95.00."

Charges 122.5% of cost for water heaters

 

Public intervener Heather Black noted NB Power keeps net revenues for water heaters separate from its residential class of customers. (CBC)

But Desmond and public intervener Heather Black both suggested residential customers overpay NB Power for water heater rentals and if that was factored into its calculations the group would be comfortably inside the 95 per cent number without rounding.

Evidence at the hearing shows NB Power rents more than 244,000 water heaters provincewide. It charges $21.5 million per year, which is 122.5 per cent of its costs to supply the service.

Most of the water heaters, 87 per cent, are rented to residential customers and both Black and Desmond suggested what they overpay for that service could reasonably be counted against what they underpay for electricity.

"You don't allocate those net revenues for water heaters down through the residential class, you keep them separate as a water heater class," said Black.

"That's correct," said Brad Crawford, NB Power's manager of regulatory affairs.

Desmond said this suggested to her that residential customers may pay enough already to be given an average rate hike next year, not one that's higher than other groups.

"If we were to look at the allocation with respect to water heaters, we could see the revenue-to-cost ratio for residential is actually better [than 95 per cent]," she said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-weather-tax-damage-eub-1.4580239

NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage

Utility will ask Energy and Utilities Board for permission to levy temporary surcharge after unexpected events

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 19, 2018 5:00 AM AT

  
166 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.


 
Douglas James

Absolute madness! This is the poorest province in Canada. People struggle as it is to keep the power turned on when faced with heating bills that range from $200 to $700 a month in the winter. Where does NB Power think people are going to get the money to pay for yet another tax? And we want more people to move to New Brunswick? A surcharge like this will only drive more people away.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Douglas James "A surcharge like this will only drive more people away."

Methinks there is nowhere to run. Its the same all over if not worse N'esy Pas? Judging from the reaction to my other comments on this topic, I would have to say that apathy rules the day. Hence we get the governments we deserve. No doubt your former CBC associates agree

 
Onyango Okello

How about completely eliminating CEO bonuses first? That might help cover some "weather damage".

David Amos

@Onyango Okello Methinks about now some folks are sorry they allowed the NBEUB to bar me as an Intervenor in this Matter N'esy Pas?

 

Fred Brewer

Absolutely not. This would remove all incentive for NB Power to spend on the maintenance required for reliable power lines.

David Amos

@Fred Brewer Perhaps folks should check out the records of this NBEUB Matter and look for my name in order to read things CBC won't tell you

 
Jacques poirier

I like the "temporarily increase prices to customers" comment.
Temporarily permanent is more like it.

A public utility supposedly owned by the tax payer should not be paying out bonuses ,let alone half million dollar salaries.

Michael G. L. Geraldson

It will be about as temporary as income tax was suppose to be. A century later and we're still paying what was originally meant to help pay for WW1.

David Amos

@Michael G. L. Geraldson I agree

 
James Freney

NB Power needs a complete forensic audit. It has become bloated with analysts,bean counters,and managers with nothing to manage,all adding nothing to the bottom line and costing millions of dollars in obscene salaries. More money needs to be spent on front line workers and maintenance. Incompetence in upper management has reached an all time high,time for some house cleaning there as well. The whole company has become a nest of
friends of the government and managers of the day.

David Amos

@James Freney "NB Power needs a complete forensic audit"

Perhaps you should check my work within this NBEUB hearing (375 Matter) and the 357 Matter too?

 
Murray Brown

Is there no end to the money grabbing from this government 'corporation'? Pretty soon they'll start charging you a carbon tax for the CO2 your breath out of your nostrils.

David Amos

@Murray Brown Methinks CO2 will be harder to be rid of once they have cut down all our trees N'esy Pas?

 
Sean Onuaillain

This reads like a piece from The Onion. NB Power's very well compensated executives have done a bad job of preparing the power grid for the severe weather that is only going to get worse, and now when that happens they want to charge the people who suffered from that weather a tax. Absurd.

Let's start cleaning up the mess by firing everyone who came up with this plan. Then hire some folks who know that it is more important to "harden" the power grid (reinforce wooden poles with braces and add metal poles for instance) then it is to spend $100 M on new meters.

I love NB but nearly every day the people in leadership positions in this province make it difficult to continue to stay here. PEI and NS have problems too but do not seem to be plagued with the same leadership vacuum that we have here. And nutty ideas.

David Amos

@Sean Onuaillain The actions of NB Power against me during two NBEUB hearings has inspired a lawsuit and even made me consider running for public office again while I argue it in court.

  
Michael G. L. Geraldson

It's not our fault that NB Power didn't make as much as they think they should have, neither did most of us. Nor is it our fault that emergency repairs weren't properly budgeted for. We get nailed with bad weather events every year, in case they haven't noticed. So be thankful you made money and keep your hands out of my wallet, I spend enough already for crappy undependable service.

David Amos

@Michael G. L. Geraldson Methinks NB Power makes a lot more than you think I blamed their auditor KPMG for hiding the truth from us Small wonder why I was barrred from the NBEUB hearing as an Intervenor N'esy Pas?

 

Paul Bourgoin

As a lifetime citizen of New Brunswick I would suggest that the Province cut the subsidies to those who don't pay taxes, re-evaluate industry undervalued properties for tax purposes, fire the for sale elected Politicians and penalize those who bank their profits in off-shore banks to avoid taxes also stop giving away our natural resources as a start!!

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin ME TOO

 

Samuel Porter

How bout we put that surcharge on NB power bonuses, and wages over 100k. We could start retroactive for the last 20 years. Problem solved.

David Amos

@Samuel Porter Speak up Methinks NOW is the time There is an election coming N'esy Pas?

 

Saucy Kodz

@David Amos elections dont change anything...angry people do

David Amos

@Saucy Kodz And I am not angry?

 

Kim McLaggan

This is where our elected official's have to all stand together and say NO to this idea,the management of NBPower have not been worthy of there job and should have been fired a long time ago,but like all Crown Corp. they all seem to have incompetent upper management but then that's what happens when friends get hired who would fail high school courses on management lol,only in this place NB

David Amos

@Kim McLaggan "This is where our elected official's have to all stand together and say NO to this idea"

FYI they all agree with it

 

Alex Caissie

Take away all the bonuses since they need that money so badly somewhere else instead of calling us selfish for expecting our utilities to maintain the equipment we pay for.

Ross Piercey

@Alex Caissie,,,,,,,, exactly! Only when they turn a profit should they get bonuses, not before, any private business that is running in the red knows that.

David Amos

@Ross Piercey YUP

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-weather-tax-damage-eub-1.4580239

NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage

Utility will ask Energy and Utilities Board for permission to levy temporary surcharge after unexpected events

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 19, 2018 5:00 AM AT

NB Power has said the cost of restorations following the January 2017 ice storm was an estimated $30 million, making it the largest and most expensive in the corporation's history. (Jerome Luc Paulin/Twitter) 

With NB Power's $100 million smart meter plan still waiting for a decision from the Energy and Utilities Board, the curtain is set to rise on what could be an equally controversial part two of the company's annual appearance in front of  its regulator in Saint John this morning.

In addition to a two per cent average rate increase, the utility is seeking permission to levy surcharges on customers following major storm damage and other expensive unexpected events.

"NB Power proposes that the board approve a process by which NB Power can apply to the board to recover costs associated with uncontrollable and distinct incidents or circumstances," the utility states in evidence submitted in support of its application.

"Hurricanes and ice storms are the most commonly used examples of such distinct events, but are not the only circumstances in which this adjustment mechanism may apply."

• Smart meters already in use in New Brunswick
• Pull the plug on smart meters, public intervener tells EUB
• NB Power fights back against smart-meter critics

NB Power has struggled to meet profit targets over the last six years and blames bad weather for some of that.

Since its Point Lepreau nuclear plant came back online in 2012, NB Power's earnings have fallen a combined $183 million short of the utility's projections, including an expected $23.5 million shortfall this year.

Those poor financial results have hampered NB Power's debt reduction plans and it says about one third of the trouble is the fault of punishing storms that have been blowing through New Brunswick with alarming frequency.

Public intervener Heather Black expects there will be 'a healthy discussion' about the proposed rate rider. (CBC)

The utility says it was forced to spend $63.8 million to deal with major damage and extended outages following massive ice storms in December 2013 and January 2017 and a mid-summer tropical windstorm — Arthur — in 2014.

Rather than continue absorbing the cost of similar large unbudgeted damage and outage repairs in the future, the utility is proposing to develop a mechanism where it can temporarily increase prices to customers instead.

"Recovery will be through a rate rider [surcharge]," it states in its proposal.

• Power utilities forced to adapt as climate change brings wilder weather
• How ready is the Acadian Peninsula for the next big storm?
• Ice storm cleanup bill biggest in NB Power history at $30M

NB Power did not originate the idea for an "extraordinary events" surcharge but has come to embrace it.

The concept was originally put forward by an expert hired by public intervener Heather Black, who was alarmed by NB Power's struggle to pay down its debt load.

The Energy and Utilities Board was intrigued by the idea and asked NB Power to develop a proposal for consideration.


But critics are already expressing doubts.

'With increased likelihood that NB Power will be able to recover all costs associated with extraordinary events, there is less pressure on the company to control those costs.' - U.S. consultant

U.S. energy consultant, Synapse Energy, was hired by the EUB to review NB Power's plans and warned that allowing the utility to establish a disaster surcharge could change the way NB Power deals with severe weather damage and ultimately make it more expensive.

"With increased likelihood that NB Power will be able to recover all costs associated with extraordinary events, there is less pressure on the company to control those costs," Synapse Energy wrote in its evaluation of the idea.

In the legislature in February, Opposition Progressive Conservative MLA Jake Stewart ridiculed the proposal as a "weather tax" and at hearings last year J.D. Irving Ltd. lawyer Christopher Stewart claimed the utility has a record of wrongly blaming issues "outside management's control" for its financial problems.

The public intervener has said she expects an extensive debate on the issue.

"It will be a focus of the hearing, certainly," Black said last month of the rate adjustment mechanism idea. "I think we'll have a healthy discussion about that."

As part of the hearing NB Power is also seeking permission to raise its rates an average of two per cent on April 1, including a slightly higher increase for residential customers of 2.33 per cent.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-storm-damage-costs-customers-1.4583402

Residential, commercial customers could bear the brunt of NB Power's 'weather tax'

NB Power may seek to recover costs specifically from groups served by the damaged equipment

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 20, 2018 6:00 AM AT

Scott Stoll questioned how the proposed rate adjustment would be applied. (CBC)

The lawyer for New Brunswick's municipal utilities suggested Monday that if NB Power wins the right to charge customers extra for storm damage, the bills may fall mostly on residential and commercial customers, as infrastructure serving those groups tends to suffer the most in weather events.

Scott Stoll represents New Brunswick municipal utilities in Saint John, Edmundston and Perth Andover and asked if NB Power plans to charge groups according to who the damaged equipment serves if it wins the right to recover storm expenses.

"NB Power is looking to implement a rate adjustment mechanism," said Brad Crawford, NB Power's manager of regulatory affairs, telling Stoll "cost causation principles" would likely be used to sort out who pays what.

• NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage
• Smart meters already in use in New Brunswick

​Residential and commercial customers of NB Power are mostly served by the smaller wooden poles and wires of the utility's distribution system that often buckle and give way during heavy storms.

That's generally not the case for industrial and municipal customers, who take their electricity from NB Power's larger and more robust transmission system.

"The vast majority of storm-related damage is distribution system, I believe that's over 90 per cent?" asked Stoll.

"In view of the last series of storms we've had that would be roughly accurate," said Crawford.

An NB Power panel, including the utility’s director of regulatory affairs, Brad Crawford (centre), fielded questions Monday about the company’s plan to recover storm damage costs from customers. (Robert Jones/CBC)

That's potentially bad news for NB Power's commercial and residential customers. They account for just two-thirds of NB Power's in-province sales but as distribution customers could be made to pay almost all storm-recovery expenses.

NB Power says three major storms in the last four years drained it of $63.8 million in unbudgeted expenses. In this year's rate application, it has asked for the ability to pass those kind of unexpected costs onto customers in the future, but has provided only broad outlines of how the scheme might work.

"This application is speaking to the implementation of [the mechanism]," said Crawford.

"Further downstream there are a series of different decision gates around how we handle the rate adjustment mechanism and that has yet to be determined."

More detailed review of the idea at the hearing is expected next week.


 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/weather-tax-not-necessary-fair-nb-power-1.4586839

'Weather tax' not necessary but more fair to customers, argues NB Power VP

$3M budgeted each year for storm damage recovery, but has been exceeded 3 times in the last 4 years

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 22, 2018 4:00 AM AT

It cost $30 million to clean up from the 2017 ice storm in northeastern New Brunswick. (CBC)

NB Power says its request to the Energy and Utilities Board for permission to bill customers separately for "extraordinary" storm damage is not a necessity, but argues it would be more fair to ratepayers who are on the hook for those costs already and don't realize it.

"We're just proposing additional transparency," said Darren Murphy, the chief financial officer and senior vice president, corporate services, under questioning about the proposal during the utility's ongoing rate hearing.

"Today customers bear that risk. What we're talking about is how these costs get collected — not if the costs get collected."

The idea of a storm damage surcharge has been ridiculed by Opposition Progressive Conservatives as a "weather tax," although it originates from a directive given to NB Power seven years ago by the former PC government of David Alward to pay down $1 billion in debt.

$3M budgeted annually for storm damage

NB Power budgets about $3 million per year for storm damage repairs but that amount has been overwhelmed three times in the last four years, driving down the utility's profits and hampering its debt retirement.

NB Power says it spent $10.7 million to repair damage from ice storms in southern New Brunswick over Christmas 2013, $23.1 million to clean up from post-tropical storm Arthur in July 2014 and then another $30 million to deal with ice storms in northeastern New Brunswick in January 2017.

• NB Power's proposed residential rate hike may be too high, hearing told
• Residential, commercial customers could bear the brunt of NB Power's 'weather tax'
• NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage

NB Power's Darren Murphy said the utility is trying to propose an additional transparency to ratepayers for charges they are already on the hook for. (Robert Jones/CBC)

In a back and forth exchange for more than an hour late Tuesday afternoon, Murphy told JD Irving Ltd. lawyer Christopher Stewart that big storms are hard to budget for but have to be financed somehow as NB Power is required by the province to generate profits large enough to significantly cut its debt.

"We have not come up with an effective way to estimate them," said Murphy of big weather events. "But the costs are customer costs. The restoration activity, all those things are customer costs."

Direct charge more precise

Murphy claimed charging directly for significant storm damage is a more precise way to cope with a large one-time expense than raising power rates generally, because sagging profits caused by storms might only be a temporary problem.

"There are alternatives to accomplishing the same end," acknowledged Murphy. "In some other utilities they would put a larger (storm damage) estimate in (their budget) and that would be part of the customer's bill.

"We're just proposing something a little bit different. We're talking about letting the cost incur first and then being able to collect."

JD Irving Ltd. lawyer Christopher Stewart was told by Murphy that storm damage costs are the customers' costs. (Robert Jones/CBC)

Stewart pointed out that all other utilities allowed to charge separately for extraordinary storm damage are regulated differently than NB Power, without annual rate hearings.  And he noted NB Power has been able to deal with other more significant unexpected financial problems without controversy —  like poor performance at the Point Lepreau nuclear plant — by making slight adjustments in its long range rate plan.

Increase comes after profit disappointment

This year, NB Power increased its planned rate hike for 2023 from one per cent to two per cent to move its 10-year debt reduction plan back on target after a number of recent profit disappointments.

Murphy conceded that can be done again in the future to deal with major unexpected storm damage if the EUB ultimately rejects the idea of billing customers separately.

"Some of the alternatives we would have looked at is not changing anything, continue doing what we're doing today," said Murphy.

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-residential-rate-high-eub-1.4585044

NB Power's proposed residential rate hike may be too high, hearing told

Regulator's lawyer questions whether utility gives homeowners full credit for what they already pay

By Robert Jones, CBC News Posted: Mar 20, 2018 8:05 PM AT

EUB lawyer Ellen Desmond argued residential customers are already paying nearly 95 per cent of the costs incurred by NB Power to serve them, which is within the required range. (CBC)

The lawyer for New Brunswick's Energy and Utilities Board is pushing back against NB Power's proposal to charge residential customers a higher rate increase than other groups beginning next month and questioning whether the utility gives homeowners full credit for what they pay already.

The EUB has a rule that each customer group should pay rates for power in a "range of reasonableness" between 95 per cent and 105 per cent of the costs incurred by NB Power to serve the group and because the utility says residential customers are the only ones below that range, their rates should go up the most — 2.33 per cent.

But during a hearing in Saint John on Tuesday, EUB lawyer Ellen Desmond suggested residential rates, at 94.97 per cent of their costs, are already so close to the required range there is no need to charge the group extra.

"If we were to apply a principle of rounding, wouldn't you agree residential would have been 95 [already]?" asked Desmond.

• Residential, commercial customers could bear the brunt of NB Power's 'weather tax'
• NB Power seeks to impose 'weather tax' to help pay for storm damage
• Smart meters already in use in New Brunswick

NB Power rate design specialist Kevin Gibson acknowledged that point but said there was uncertainty inside the utility whether mathematical rounding is allowed by the EUB. It was decided to charge residential customers extra to be safe, he said.

"In the absence of having any clear idea about which of those two choices we should make, we just made one," said Gibson.

A two per cent increase in residential rates would add an estimated $13.3 million to NB Power residential bills next year. The 2.33 per cent increase adds $15.5 million instead.

New Brunswick's municipal utilities tend to mimic NB Power's increases and are likely to add extra to residential bills as well.

No rule on rounding

John Todd, an expert in regulation who helped NB Power develop its rate structure, said there is nothing wrong with rounding numbers off to decide if customer groups are inside the range of reasonableness and paying enough.

But he said there was no way to know if the EUB's predecessor — the Public Utilities Board — meant 95 per cent to be an absolute minimum number or not when it picked the figure 25 years ago.

"It's not specified, it's never been addressed historically and, at least as I look at it, I'd say there are two interpretations of 95 and it's valid to take either interpretation," Todd said.

"The company [NB Power] has defined it as 95.00."

Charges 122.5% of cost for water heaters

Public intervener Heather Black noted NB Power keeps net revenues for water heaters separate from its residential class of customers. (CBC)

But Desmond and public intervener Heather Black both suggested residential customers overpay NB Power for water heater rentals and if that was factored into its calculations the group would be comfortably inside the 95 per cent number without rounding.

Evidence at the hearing shows NB Power rents more than 244,000 water heaters provincewide. It charges $21.5 million per year, which is 122.5 per cent of its costs to supply the service.

Most of the water heaters, 87 per cent, are rented to residential customers and both Black and Desmond suggested what they overpay for that service could reasonably be counted against what they underpay for electricity.

"You don't allocate those net revenues for water heaters down through the residential class, you keep them separate as a water heater class," said Black.

"That's correct," said Brad Crawford, NB Power's manager of regulatory affairs.

Desmond said this suggested to her that residential customers may pay enough already to be given an average rate hike next year, not one that's higher than other groups.

"If we were to look at the allocation with respect to water heaters, we could see the revenue-to-cost ratio for residential is actually better [than 95 per cent]," she said.