Nova Scotia Power seeks rate hike

Nova Scotia Power is arguing its case for a rate increase that would cost the typical residential customer $2 more a month.

Representatives appeared before the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board on Monday, the start of a three-day hearing into the company's plans for energy conservation programs in 2011.

Nova Scotia Power wants to collect $41.9 million from ratepayers about double what it's spending this year. NSP officials said that will pay for a variety of programs to reduce the consumption of electricity.

It will also generate more than $190 million in savings by burning less fuel.

Allan Richardson, senior vice-president with Nova Scotia Power, said burning coal to generate power is expensive, and that's why the company wants to move to greener energy.

"It takes us to a cleaner future and it does so in a way that saves our customers hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.

The goal of programs that include home retrofits and new and improved light bulbs is to cut demand by two per cent each year.

No groups or individuals are registered as intervenors. But the province's consumer advocate, John Merrick, is asking how the company determines which programs are priorities and how it will monitor them.

Merrick supports conservation, but wants closer scrutiny to see which programs offer the most bang for the ratepayers' buck. He said the benefit is greater on home retrofits, than it is on $200 rebates for more efficient washing machines.

"Now, if I would have bought the washer anyway, giving me the inducement to buy it is a waste of money," he said. "Where you might say at the end of the day, we saved energy, we saved money, but you would have saved it anyway without having to spend the DSM funds."

DSM refers to demand side management or conservation. Ratepayers are now paying $2 per month for energy efficiency program, that will double next April. It is expected to double again before the programs have met their goal.