From: Moore, Rob - M.P. <Rob.Moore@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 6:36 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Thank you for contacting the Honourable Rob Moore, P.C., M.P. office. We appreciate the time you took to get in touch with our office.
If you did not already, please ensure to include your full contact details on your email and the appropriate staff will be able to action your request. We strive to ensure all constituent correspondence is responded to in a timely manner.
If your question or concern is time sensitive, please call our office: 506-832-4200.
Again, we thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Office of the Honourable Rob Moore, P.C., M.P.
Member of Parliament for Fundy Royal
---------- Original message ---------
Date: Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 6:36 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
(English follows)
Bonjour,
Nous
accusons réception de votre courriel adressé à L’honorable Dominic
LeBlanc, cp, cr, député de Beauséjour et nous vous en remercions.
Veuillez noter que nous recevons actuellement un volume élevé de correspondances. Veuillez prévoir un délai dans nos réponses.
En ce qui concerne les courriels relativement à des enjeux particuliers de nos commettants de Beauséjour, nous allons nous assurer de bien réviser votre message et un employé de notre bureau de circonscription communiquera avec vous si nécessaire. Si vous avez des questions ou vous désirez des clarifications, vous pouvez toujours communiquer avec notre bureau au numéro de téléphone suivant : (506) 533-5700.
Si vous écrivez à propos de sujets relatifs aux fonctions de sécurité publique du
ministre LeBlanc, veuillez communiquer avec notre département de Sécurité publique à ps.ministerofpublicsafety-
Pour toutes demandes des médias, veuillez contacter Kelly Ouimet à Kelly.Ouimet@iga-aig.gc.ca
Merci et bonne journée.
Bureau de L’hon. Dominic LeBlanc, cp, cr, député
Député de Beauséjour
------------------------------
Hello,
We acknowledge receipt and thank you for your email addressed to the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., K.C., M.P. for Beauséjour.
Please note that we are currently receiving a high volume of correspondence. This may mean a delay in our responding to you.
For emails related to specific issues from our constituents in Beauséjour, we will make sure to review your message and an employee from our constituency office will be in contact with you if necessary. If you have any questions or require clarification, you can always contact our office at the following phone number: (506) 533-5700.
If you are writing with respect to Minister LeBlanc's public safety duties, please
direct your correspondence to our Public Safety department at ps.ministerofpublicsafety-
Thank you and have a good day.
Office of the Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., K.C., M.P.
Member of Parliament for Beauséjour
From: Cross, Sarah (LTGOV) <Sarah.Cross@gnb.ca>
Date: Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 3:50 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
I am currently out of the office. Please contact Judy Wagner if you require immediate assistance at judy.wagner@gnb.ca.
Je suis absente du bureau. Si vous avez besoin des informations, veuillez contacter Judy Wagner au judy.wagner@gnb.ca.
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
To: blaine.higgs <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, David.Coon <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, keith.chiasson <keith.chiasson@gnb.ca>, jacques.j.leblanc <jacques.j.leblanc@gnb.ca>, jean-claude.d'amours <jean-claude.d'amours@gnb.ca>, robert.mckee <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, robert.gauvin <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, Mark.Blakely <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, martin.gaudet <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, premier <premier@gnb.ca>, Dominic.Cardy <dominic.cardy@gnb.ca>, Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, Ross.Wetmore <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, John.Williamson <John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, Bill.Oliver <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, Trevor.Holder <Trevor.Holder@gnb.ca>, jeff.carr <jeff.carr@gnb.ca>, Daniel.J.Allain <Daniel.J.Allain@gnb.ca>, Dorothy.Shephard <Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca>, andrea.anderson-mason <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>, Susan.Holt <susan.holt@gnb.ca>, ltgov <LTgov@gnb.ca>, bruce.fitch <bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>, Benoit.Bourque <Benoit.Bourque@gnb.ca>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, guy.arseneault <guy.arseneault@gnb.ca>, chuck.chiasson <chuck.chiasson@gnb.ca>, Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca <louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca>, frederic.gionet@cfib.ca <frederic.gionet@cfib.ca>, <david@ibew37.com>, david.sollows@gnb.ca <david.sollows@gnb.ca>, <mike.legere@adityabirla.com>, Ron Marcolin <Ron.marcolin@cme-mec.ca>, <executivedirector@forestnb.com>, Brandy.Gellner@libertyutilities.com <Brandy.Gellner@libertyutilities.com>, JohnFurey@fureylegal.com <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>, Leanne <LMurray@nbpower.com>, Jamie <JPetrie@nbpower.com>, Darren <DaMurphy@nbpower.com>, George <George.Porter@nbpower.com>, McKay, Pam <pmckay@nbpower.com>, Gordon, Laura <lgordon@nbpower.com>, Gibson, Kevin <kevgibson@nbpower.com>, NBP Regulatory <NBPRegulatory@nbpower.com>, NBEUB/CESPNB <General@nbeub.ca>, Dave <Dave.Young@nbeub.ca>, Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com <Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com>, Michael <Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca>, Kathleen <Kathleen.Mitchell@nbeub.ca>, Veronique Otis <Veronique.Otis@nbeub.ca>, Susan Colwell <Susan.Colwell@nbeub.ca>, Melissa Curran <Melissa.Curran@nbeub.ca>, Len <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>, jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com <jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com>, shelley.wood@sjenergy.com <shelley.wood@sjenergy.com>, dan.dionne@perth-andover.com <dan.dionne@perth-andover.com>, pierreroy@edmundston.ca <pierreroy@edmundston.ca>, <ryan.mitchell@sjenergy.com>, Zarnett, Paula <pzarnett@bdrenergy.com>, rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com <rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com>, <hwafaei@stikeman.com>, gzacher@stikeman.com <gzacher@stikeman.com>, Hanrahan, Dion <hanrahan.dion@jdirving.com>, alain.chiasson2@gnb.ca <alain.chiasson2@gnb.ca>, <randy@sjhdc.ca>, <dustin@emrydia.com>, rdk <rdk@indecon.com>, <shelley@nbcpd.org>
Cc: Jason Lavigne <jason@yellowhead.vote>, ragingdissident <ragingdissident@protonmail.com>, dominic.leblanc <dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca>, <DerekRants9595@gmail.com>
Low-income electricity customers in N.B. made to compete with others for help
N.B. Power criticized for not prioritizing those who need assistance the most
Low-income electricity customers in New Brunswick have to compete with moderate-income customers for help with efficiency and other cost-saving upgrades, N.B. Power's rate hearing heard Monday.
That makes it difficult to get assistance to those who need help the most quickly, according to Jennifer Kallay, a Massachusetts-based expert in utility "demand-side" management programs.
"Most utilities start with low income and subsequently add moderate income over time, so those two populations are distinct," said Kallay about how other jurisdictions generally try and help low-income customers first.
"In some cases the programs are separate, the incentives are separate and the designs are different for those two populations."
In February, N.B. Power disclosed it was sorting through 12,335 applications from low- and moderate-income customers who have applied for various energy assistance programs funded by the federal and provincial governments and administered by N.B. Power.
Those include programs to help people replace oil furnaces with heat pumps, improve insulation, replace windows and make other upgrades.
Jennifer
Kallay is a Massachusetts-based expert on utility "demand-side"
management programs. She said N.B. Power is unable to focus help on
low-income customers first because it has not identified who they are. (Submitted by Synapse Energy Economics Inc.)
Because of the high volume of applications for help, it's expected that some households will have to wait for up to two years for assistance. Kallay said N.B. Power is hampered in directing aid to the lowest-income households first because it does not distinguish between those and other households.
"They do not have a threshold that would delineate the difference between a low-income and moderate-income customer for this purpose," said Kallay, who was hired by the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board to analyze N.B. Power programs as part of its ongoing rate hearing.
N.B. Power is currently in front of the EUB asking for an average 19.4 per cent rate increase spread over two years, including a 9.25 per cent increase this year and another 9.25 per cent increase beginning next April.
Proposed increases to residential and large industrial customers are even higher, totalling 20.6 per cent over the two years.
The effect of those increases on low-income groups has been examined in some depth during the hearings with the participation of community groups specifically concerned with those issues, including the Saint John Human Development Council and the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities.
On Monday, the Human Development Council called its own witnesses who testified New Brunswick lacks sufficient programs to help lower-income families deal with the size of the rate increase N.B. Power is seeking.
"Rate increases like this can have significant impacts upon households, especially those that are low income," said the council's Heather Atcheson.
Heather
Atcheson is a researcher with the Saint John Human Development Council.
She told N.B. Power's rate hearing that a 20 per cent increase in
electricity prices over two years will hit low-income families the
hardest. (Submitted by Heather Atcheson)
"When people are already struggling to meet basic needs for housing and eating, it amplifies the overall experience of poverty and hardship on families."
N.B. Power has argued there is little it can do to create programs for low-income customers without specific direction from the provincial government.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2024/07/meet-man-on-mission-to-lower-nb-power.html
Saturday 20 July 2024
Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 3:50 PM
Subject: Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
To: blaine.higgs <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, David.Coon <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, keith.chiasson <keith.chiasson@gnb.ca>, jacques.j.leblanc <jacques.j.leblanc@gnb.ca>, jean-claude.d'amours <jean-claude.d'amours@gnb.ca>, robert.mckee <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, robert.gauvin <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, Mark.Blakely <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, martin.gaudet <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, premier <premier@gnb.ca>, Dominic.Cardy <dominic.cardy@gnb.ca>, Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, Ross.Wetmore <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, John.Williamson <John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, Bill.Oliver <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, Trevor.Holder <Trevor.Holder@gnb.ca>, jeff.carr <jeff.carr@gnb.ca>, Daniel.J.Allain <Daniel.J.Allain@gnb.ca>, Dorothy.Shephard <Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca>, andrea.anderson-mason <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>, Susan.Holt <susan.holt@gnb.ca>, ltgov <LTgov@gnb.ca>, bruce.fitch <bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>, Benoit.Bourque <Benoit.Bourque@gnb.ca>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, guy.arseneault <guy.arseneault@gnb.ca>, chuck.chiasson <chuck.chiasson@gnb.ca>, Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca <louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca>, frederic.gionet@cfib.ca <frederic.gionet@cfib.ca>, <david@ibew37.com>, david.sollows@gnb.ca <david.sollows@gnb.ca>, <mike.legere@adityabirla.com>, Ron Marcolin <Ron.marcolin@cme-mec.ca>, <executivedirector@forestnb.com>, Brandy.Gellner@libertyutilities.com <Brandy.Gellner@libertyutilities.com>, JohnFurey@fureylegal.com <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>, Leanne <LMurray@nbpower.com>, Jamie <JPetrie@nbpower.com>, Darren <DaMurphy@nbpower.com>, George <George.Porter@nbpower.com>, McKay, Pam <pmckay@nbpower.com>, Gordon, Laura <lgordon@nbpower.com>, Gibson, Kevin <kevgibson@nbpower.com>, NBP Regulatory <NBPRegulatory@nbpower.com>, NBEUB/CESPNB <General@nbeub.ca>, Dave <Dave.Young@nbeub.ca>, Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com <Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com>, Michael <Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca>, Kathleen <Kathleen.Mitchell@nbeub.ca>, Veronique Otis <Veronique.Otis@nbeub.ca>, Susan Colwell <Susan.Colwell@nbeub.ca>, Melissa Curran <Melissa.Curran@nbeub.ca>, Len <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>, jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com <jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com>, shelley.wood@sjenergy.com <shelley.wood@sjenergy.com>, dan.dionne@perth-andover.com <dan.dionne@perth-andover.com>, pierreroy@edmundston.ca <pierreroy@edmundston.ca>, <ryan.mitchell@sjenergy.com>, Zarnett, Paula <pzarnett@bdrenergy.com>, rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com <rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com>, <hwafaei@stikeman.com>, gzacher@stikeman.com <gzacher@stikeman.com>, Hanrahan, Dion <hanrahan.dion@jdirving.com>, alain.chiasson2@gnb.ca <alain.chiasson2@gnb.ca>, <randy@sjhdc.ca>, <dustin@emrydia.com>, rdk <rdk@indecon.com>, <shelley@nbcpd.org>
https://tj.news/new-
Meet the man on a mission to lower NB Power bills
Randy Hatfield wants to convince the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board low-income people should be cut a break from 20 per cent hikes
There’s one man sitting near the back of the room who’s stood out in hearings to decide if NB Power should charge the biggest electrical hike in a lifetime.
Quiet, unassuming Randy Hatfield isn’t a lawyer among the interveners. The executive director of the Human Development Council, an anti-poverty organization in Saint John, is appearing for the first time at such hearings with a singular mission: to ensure a low-income energy rebate program is created.
“People are hurting,” he told Brunswick News on Wednesday at the Fredericton Convention Centre, site of the latest hearing of the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board. “Despite all the Chamber of Commerce boosterism out there, I see it every day in Waterloo Village.”
Hatfield, who on most days works in Saint John’s vulnerable neighbourhood near the city centre, is deeply concerned that if NB Power successfully convinces the independent board to boost rates this year and next for a combined near-20 per cent increase, poor people will be devastated.
We need to know where we have to put pressure.
Randy Hatfield
He’s hoping the three-member board will take an unprecedented step, such as ordering NB Power to create a comprehensive energy poverty strategy, including a low-income rebate program, the kind of discount offered in other places.
According to the council’s research, more than one in three New Brunswickers – 36.3 per cent – are considered energy poor, paying more than six per cent of their after-tax income to light and heat their homes. That’s nearly twice the national average of 18.4 per cent and the highest figure of any province.
“We need to know where we have to put pressure,” Hatfield said. “NB Power is saying, ‘we lack the authority to introduce something like a low-income rebate. Go to the province.’ But I’m not sure that’s the case, and I don’t think it’s ever been argued before the board. Or if it has, it was a long time ago. And I think that needs to be revisited.”
As part of a tag team effort, on Thursday at the hearing, Shelley Petit, the chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, appeared virtually to ask questions of a panel of NB Power officials that included a rate design specialist and manager of customer care.
We’re paying for the mismanagement of the last 10 decades.
Shelley Petit
She told the panel that she’d done an informal survey of 50 people she knows with disabilities, and the average was paying nearly a quarter of their after-tax income on electricity, an astonishing amount.
The proposed residential rate hike this year of 9.8 per cent and a further 9.8 per cent jump next year are unaffordable, she argued.
“We’re paying for the mismanagement of the last 10 decades,” she said of the public utility.
Shelley Petit, the chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, says NB Power needs to do more to ensure people on low incomes are not disconnected. Photo by John Chilibeck/ Brunswick News
Later in the session, Hatfield questioned the same panel in person, asking why NB Power hadn’t created any affordability policies specifically to help low-income customers, many of whom are in arrears on their bills and worried about being disconnected.
Veronique Stevenson, a rate design specialist with NB Power, pointed out that if poorer customers were cut a special break, others would have to pay for their electricity.
“It would put the burden on other customers,” she said. “They may be paying their bills on time, but that doesn’t mean they’re not struggling.”
The number of customers who were in arrears – missing at least one monthly bill payment – peaked the year before the pandemic. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, more than 59,000 residential customers, or 18 per cent of the total, were late paying their bills.
The numbers went down during the COVID-19 crisis, likely because rates were frozen and people who weren’t working had their incomes supplemented by Ottawa.
But the numbers have been steadily going up. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, close to 45,000 residential customers were behind on bill payments, about 13 per cent.
The average unpaid bill for each customer was $254.77.
Likewise, customers being disconnected also went down during the pandemic because NB Power decided to be less strict when there was so much illness going around and job losses. In the year before the pandemic, 4,611 were disconnected.
In 2021, the number of disconnects was just 746. Last year, it had crept back up to 3,580.
Hatfield said it was proof that NB Power could change its policies to meet social goals.
Christina Schneider, the utility’s manager of customer care, emphasized that her staff of 15 responsible for late collections had been trained to be considerate and caring. Customers with late bills are encouraged to go on a three-month repayment plan, which can be extended to six months or even longer, if circumstances are dire.
“Caring for our customers is something my team hangs their hat on,” Schneider said.
Hatfield said he appreciated the sentiment, but wondered why NB Power hadn’t created rules around affordability and the ability for customers to pay for electricity.
Stephenson replied that such proposed changes had to be made at the highest levels of NB Power or the provincial government.
“This is a taxpayer versus ratepayer question,” she said. “It’s really more of a policy question I can’t answer.”
As part of its evidence, the Human Development Council hopes to present two of its researchers before the hearing that could serve on a panel, the same way NB Power officials and other energy experts have appeared.
Lawyers representing various interests question these experts for hours. The chief interrogators have been lawyers for the big, energy-intensive timber firm J.D. Irving, Limited, the group of municipal energy utilities such as Saint John Energy, the public intervener and the board itself.
Researchers Liam Fisher and Heather Atcheson will likely appear at the hearings in August, their day in the sun to counter the gloom over high power bills.
One difficulty would be to figure out who would pay for such a low-energy rebate program.
NB Power is a cost-of-service utility and tries to recover most of its money from its more than 400,000 customers.
Short of the provincial government intervening with taxpayer funds, offering such a program would mean the rest of NB Power customers, both commercial and residential, would have to pay more.
From: Shelley Petit <chairperson@nbcpd.org>
Date: Thu, May 16, 2024 at 11:20 AM
Subject: Re: Matter 552 - NB Power 2024-2025 And Games People Play
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
---------- Original message ----------From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 3:06 AM
Subject: Re: Matter 552 - NB Power 2024-2025 And Games People Play
To: blaine.higgs <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, Holland, Mike (LEG) <mike.holland@gnb.ca>, Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, David.Coon <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, <keith.chiasson@gnb.ca>, <jacques.j.leblanc@gnb.ca>, <jean-claude.d'amours@gnb.ca>, <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, martin.gaudet <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, premier <premier@gnb.ca>, <dominic.cardy@gnb.ca>, Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, Ross.Wetmore <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, John.Williamson <John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, Bill.Oliver <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, Trevor.Holder <Trevor.Holder@gnb.ca>, jeff.carr <jeff.carr@gnb.ca>, Daniel.J.Allain <Daniel.J.Allain@gnb.ca>, <Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca>, andrea.anderson-mason <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca> , <susan.holt@gnb.ca>, <LTgov@gnb.ca>, bruce.fitch <bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>, Benoit.Bourque <Benoit.Bourque@gnb.ca>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, guy.arseneault <guy.arseneault@gnb.ca>, chuck.chiasson <chuck.chiasson@gnb.ca>, Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, rrichard <rrichard@nb.aibn.com>
Cc: louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca <louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib. ca>, frederic.gionet@cfib.ca <frederic.gionet@cfib.ca>, <david@ibew37.com>, david.sollows@gnb.ca <david.sollows@gnb.ca>, <mike.legere@adityabirla.com>, <Ron.marcolin@cme-mec.ca>, <executivedirector@forestnb. com>, Brandy.Gellner@ libertyutilities.com <Brandy.Gellner@ libertyutilities.com>, JohnFurey@fureylegal.com <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>, Murray, Leanne <LMurray@nbpower.com>, Petrie, Jamie <JPetrie@nbpower.com>, Murphy, Darren <DaMurphy@nbpower.com>, Porter, George <George.Porter@nbpower.com>, <pmckay@nbpower.com>, <lgordon@nbpower.com>, <kevgibson@nbpower.com>, NBP Regulatory <NBPRegulatory@nbpower.com>, NBEUB/CESPNB <General@nbeub.ca>, Young, Dave <Dave.Young@nbeub.ca>, Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com <Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com >, Dickie, Michael <Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca>, Mitchell, Kathleen <Kathleen.Mitchell@nbeub.ca>, Veronique Otis <Veronique.Otis@nbeub.ca>, Susan Colwell <Susan.Colwell@nbeub.ca>, Melissa Curran <Melissa.Curran@nbeub.ca>, Hoyt, Len <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>, jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com <jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com>, shelley.wood@sjenergy.com <shelley.wood@sjenergy.com>, dan.dionne@perth-andover.com <dan.dionne@perth-andover.com> , pierreroy@edmundston.ca <pierreroy@edmundston.ca>, <ryan.mitchell@sjenergy.com>, <pzarnett@bdrenergy.com>, rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com <rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com>, <hwafaei@stikeman.com>, gzacher@stikeman.com <gzacher@stikeman.com>, <hanrahan.dion@jdirving.com>, alain.chiasson2@gnb.ca <alain.chiasson2@gnb.ca>, <randy@sjhdc.ca>, <dustin@emrydia.com>, <rdk@indecon.com>, <shelley@nbcpd.org>
---------- Original message ----------
From: John Furey <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:31:03 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE Matter 552 - NB Power 2024-2025 Its
obvious Holland's minions in NB Power are pulling a fast one within
the EUB before Higgy has a writ dopped an Mikey is out a job
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
I am away from my office until Tuesday, February 20, 2024, and have
limited access to email. If your matter requires immediate attention,
please contact me directly at 506-444-1328.
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2024/02/nb-power- facing-326m-revenue-loss- after.html
Monday 5 February 2024
Games People Play
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power- rate-request-1.7108327
Delayed N.B. Power rate request promoted as a government achievement by PC Party
Premier Blaine Higgs personally credited with thwarting increase
despite ordering utility to shape up
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Feb 08, 2024 6:00 AM AST
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/power-people-disability-prioritized-1.7280879
Power for people with disabilities should be a priority during outages, advocates say
Outages have sent people with disabilities to hospital, says N.B Coalition for Persons with Disabilities
Murielle Pitre, who has spina bifida and relies on a wheelchair, wants N.B. Power to prioritize helping customers like her during power outages.
While many contend with inconvenience during a power outage, such as not being able to use their computer or watch television for entertainment, Pitre loses access to items that are not optional.
"If the chair doesn't work, it's everything right? You can't get to the kitchen to make food, you can't go to the washroom, you can't go have a shower," she said in an interview.
"It's the same impact as, 'Oh the power's out, so we'll just take your legs and we'll put them in the corner over there until the power comes back on' ... it seems kind of silly to say, but that's basically what it is if I don't have my chair."
Pitre, who is a founder of the N.B. Coalition for Persons with Disabilities and lives in the Moncton area, uses several items in addition to her wheelchair, including a bed with a lift and a breathing aid similar to a continuous positive airway pressure machine, or CPAP.
She isn't alone in her experience with power outages.
Shelley
Petit of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities says
some people have been hospitalized after losing power at their homes. (Submitted by Shelley Petit)
Shelley Petit, also with the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, told N.B. Power at an Energy and Utilities Board hearing that outages, in the worst cases, have sent people with disabilities to the hospital for medical attention.
"We had people ... get stuck in bed. We had one who got stuck in the bath, because her bath lift would no longer lift her out of the tub," Petit said.
"These become very significant for us."
N.B. Power spokesperson Dominique Couture said a customer's file can receive a priority flag if "life-saving equipment" is in the home, meaning a device that will directly keep the person alive, and the need for it is verified by a doctor.
"As priority customers, their status is considered when working to restore power," she said in an email.
"To provide additional support, communications to priority-coded customers are enhanced when there is a planned outage or extended outages, to ensure they are aware and can make arrangements if needed."
N.B.
Power says a customer's file can receive a priority flag if life-saving
equipment is in the home, meaning a device that will directly keep the
person alive. (Aniekan Etuhube / CBC)
In cases where a customer using assistive devices may be disconnected for non-payment, Couture said the utility considers "all relevant information, documentation, and their unique needs."
While the current system is a start, Pitre wants the utility to recognize that assistive devices are essential.
"For me it seems logical, because I'm so used to living this way ... I want them to know that the things that we use, they are not options," she said.
"It's not like ... 'I have to go a whole day without using my computer. So boring.' It's a lot more than that for us. It's critical."
Pitre says mental health effects, like feeling trapped or unable to communicate with the outside world, can be as distressing as physical health effects.
"Sometimes you're afraid that people will forget you're here," she said. "My elevator doesn't work, my phone doesn't work, then what is really my contact with the outside world? Not much ... It can be scary."
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