Thefts, vandalism and poor gas mileage: No issue too small to review at N.B. Power rate hearing
Expenses down to tens of dollars being looked at during two-week rate hearing
"Folks are breaking into some of our substation terminals and they are stealing copper," said Phil Landry, N.B. Power's executive director of project management offices and engineering.
"And no different than we've seen on the news, getting our catalytic converters stolen out of our trucks."
Daily at N.B. Power's rate hearing, attention swings widely from big-picture examinations of billion-dollar expenses like the upcoming refurbishment of the Mactaquac dam down to issues that involve thousands — or even tens of dollars — like thefts, vandalism or poor gas mileage recorded in company vehicles.
J.D.
Irving Ltd. lawyer Brianne Rudderham questioned N.B. Power on a variety
of cost items Thursday from spending on the Mactaquac dam project to
the cost of speeding employees. (Jonathan Collicott/CBC)
On Thursday, J.D. Irving Ltd. lawyer Brianne Rudderham covered all of those topics and more.
On the theft and vandalism issue, the utility documented 118 incidents in 2022, more than double the number in 2021 and nearly five times what was suffered in 2019 when just 25 events were noted.
N.B. Power's director of finance operations, Angela Leaman, said with incidents occurring more frequently, the utility has set up a category in its accounting and budgeting system to track events and costs as they occur.
High
gasoline and diesel prices in New Brunswick over the past year hit N.B.
Power and its extensive vehicle fleet. The utility says speeding by
employees in company cars and trucks is adding to that problem. (Robert Jones/CBC)
"We hadn't been, but this past fiscal year we did set up a structure," said Leaman.
N.B. Power self-insures many of its assets and Phil Landry said every incident represents a complete financial loss.
"Are these covered by insurance," asked Rudderham.
"No, they are not," said Landry.
Rudderham asked questions on the big issues as well. She tried to get a figure on how much has been spent on planning for the multi-billion-dollar Mactaquac dam refurbishment project to date but no one had the amount at their fingertips.
One
man was killed in 2019 attempting to steal copper wire from an N.B.
Power substation in Bathurst. N.B. Power told its rate hearing Thursday
thefts and vandalism have only escalated since then. (Francois Lejeune/Radio-Canada)
She had more luck on smaller items, including a revelation some lead-footed N.B. Power employees regularly drive over the speed limit and add to company fuel costs.
Leaman confirmed many company vehicles are equipped with devices that track driving habits and in some cases they do show evidence of high speeds.
N.B. Power self insures much of its vehicle fleet and has been taking losses on the theft of catalytic converters. (Catherine Harrop/CBC News)
"The faster you go, the more fuel you burn," said Leaman.
"To the extent that they are exceeding speed limits when they are executing their work, there would be reports available to provide to managers."
Twenty-two N.B. Power witnesses are scheduled to testify during the two-week hearing, in which 400 documents have been submitted for review. Three expert witnesses hired by other participants are also expected to give evidence.
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23 Comments
Methinks the lady doth protest too much N'esy Pas?
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Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Jan 27, 2023 8:00 AM AST
Lou Bell
I know of NB Power emplyees who bought vehicles / machines that had thousands of dollars worth of work done on them and of which were sold to those employees just after the repairs were completed . Many of those employees even did the work themselves as part of their jobs and on company time .
Lou Bell
Inside jobs maybe ?
Lou Bell
I spoke to a gentleman who owns a trucking company of around 25 trucks and of which put in a fuel savins program with bonuses for their drivers . In a 3 monthe period the company saved over 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS and the drivers got bonuses of around 600 to 1000 dollars each over those 3 months . Imagine if you had a company as large as NB Power and how much money they COULD save ! Incompetence is not an excuse !!
Benoit Boudreau
Nice to know that Irving is still running the show. /s
Jack Bell
"Theft of copper wire and catalytic converters, and incidents of general vandalism of N.B. Power property have become so common the utility has begun to track and account for the incidents as a regular recurring expense,"
Mike Dubreuil
They are also wasting money when they keep around plow operators whom are not fulfilling their agreed upon requirements of their contracts when clearing snow from NB Power properties
Rosco holt
Time to fire all political appointments.
They should look into the contractors they use, many cost money to the utility by their incompetence.
Dennis J Murphy
Although not a major expense, but the little plastic cups of coffee creamers have gone up more that a buck a bag. And some Head Office workers have been known to take toilet tissue.
Fred Brewer
Reply to Fred Brewer
Actually , If I drive my SUV from central NB to Montreal at 110 kms/hr average I can get around 700 kms on a tank of gas . If I travel at 100 average I can get to Montreal ( 800 kms ) and still have about 1/16th of a tank of gas left . Probably abou 20 % further on a tank of gas . At $1.50 / litre , one will cost me 96 dollars to Montreal plus another 30 or 40 kms. , or if I travel faster about 20 dollars extra for a tank of gas . And for trucks and larger vehicles , the difference is huge . So just MONITORING is one thing , while MONITORING and ENFORCING could be in the millions over a 3 month period !!
So they say now the driver's to NB power trucks are speeding and using to much gas doing so -- You can't make this stuff up wow How low will they go -- To blame everyone but themselves shows us so much about what is really happening -- Shame on you NB power and maybe blame your staff and CEO's and the decisions and choices you made not the people -- Stop giving handouts to Irving and the likes -- Start with your own accountability on who runs this show -- We need to cut the head off the snake --
Jack Bell
Reply to Archara Goldehere
Isn't this the same company using outdated commodity numbers in their calculations?
Good times in New Brunswick! 🙄
June Arnott
Wonder how the metal and copper are able to be sold? What happene to good old detective work?
Dee MacDonald
Can no one do a better job than the current management of this government mistake.
WoW! Any excuse they can come up with to cover their greed, incompetence and failures! What is next? Blaming the Chinese spy balloons ?
I'm sure expenses by NB Power execs are given the same kind of scrutiny as the speeding habits of their workers.
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