Electrical Power - Related Articles
EMERA OUTLOOK 'NEGATIVE'
Standard & Poor's Cites Weak Cash Flows Fo
r Firm, NSP In Shift From Stable
The world’s pre-eminent credit rating agency has flashed a warning sign over the future cash flow picture for Emera Inc. and its subsidiary, Nova Scotia Power Inc. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook for both companies from “stable” to “negative.” According to an agency analyst, that means there’s a one-in-three chance that the agency will eventually downgrade either firm’s long-term credit rating from the current “BBB+” ranking.
“Their cash flows are weaker than we would like to see at that rating, given the amount of spending ahead for them,” Nicole Martin, the analyst primarily responsible for the outlook changes, said in an interview Monday. A BBB+ rating signifies a “solid, investment-grade company,” she said. A lower credit rating makes it more expensive for a company to raise capital since it has to pay more in interest to entice investors to buy their bonds and other debt instruments. Earlier this month, Nova Scotia Power raised $250 million through medium-term notes bearing an interest rate of 4.15 per cent and yielding 4.15 per cent per year until March 6, 2042. The credit rating agency’s concerns are centred upon Nova Scotia Power’s goal of generating more electricity from renewable energy. The provincial government has mandated that renewable energy account for 25 per cent of Nova Scotia’s power needs by 2015, rising to 40 per cent by 2020. Electricity from coal accounts for 57 per cent of Nova Scotia’s total generation, compared with 80 per cent five years ago, and is expected to drop further as a result of the recently announced seasonal shutdown of two coal-fired units at the Lingan generating station. Meeting that renewables goal will require a “meaningful capital expenditure program,” according to Martin. The upshot: Nova Scotia Power’s ability to cover a growing debt load will depend upon the timing and size of rate increases granted by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, which sets power rates in the province. That heightens what Martin calls “regulatory risk due to the potential for rate shock.” Last November, the board granted Nova Scotia Power an average rate increase of approximately 5.1 per cent for all customers effective Jan. 1. “There are questions as to how and when they will recover those cash flows,” Martin said. Those questions surround both companies, since Emera gets roughly half its annual net income from the electrical utility. Sasha Irving, an Emera spokeswoman, called the Standard and Poor’s change in outlook for both companies “a call or request for clarity and possibly co-operation on the path forward for provincial and federal energy policies.”
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/80380-emera-outlook-negative
NS POWER UNDER FIRE FOR FLY ASH PROBLEM
[TRENTON, NS] — "Get rid of the coal," Charlie Baillie said as he and other protesters gathered in front of the Nova Scotia Power Trenton Generating Station Monday. “That’s the only thing that’s really going to work. Get rid of the coal.” He and other members of the Trenton Hillside Environmental Watch Association were protesting in response to the latest fly ash emission from the plant, which happened around 3:18 a.m. Sunday when a precipitator in unit six of the plant broke. The protesters held up blown up pictures of the ash on cars and children's play equipment. Laura Trowell lives on Grandview Street and while she wasn’t hit by the fly ash this time, she has been in the past. “The more you think about it the madder you get,” she said. “You wouldn’t like it if a neighbour threw garbage in your yard. It’s the same thing. They’re dumping on us and it shouldn’t be happening. They should be getting major, major fines when they do that and it should be coming out of the shareholders’ pockets.” Sharon MacDonald lives in Greens Point, right across from the power plant, and has had to put up with the fly ash emission for the last 40 years.“You get it all the time — more than what they’re reporting,” she said. “I’d like to see it gone. There’s other ways and they’re just saying the coal, the coal, the coal. Get rid of it.”
Pictou East MLA Clarrie MacKinnon, who represents a portion of the area, went out to speak with the protesters on the issue. “I have great sympathy for these people who are protesting, however the alternative is no power,” he said. “We have to be practical about our situation in Nova Scotia where there has been a built-up dependency on coal-fire generation for decades and decades.” It’s a horrible thing to live with fly ash, he said but it’d be much more difficult to live without power. "There is no magic solution," he said. Protester Peter Boyles accused MacKinnon of not living up to promises he made while a member of the opposition. "You're not backing up what you said," Boyles said. MacKinnon said that was not true, but that the NDP government is taking steps to move to renewable energy. It just takes time, he said. “I fought for you then; I’m fighting for you now, but there’s no magic solution here.” MacKinnon pointed to renewable energy and natural gas as the future cure for the present problem. “I feel very, very deeply concerned that we have natural gas going nearby and it’s not being fed into major industries here,’ he said. “That’s something we have to encourage in the future as well.”
NSP: No evidence spending plan is deficient
Nova Scotia Power is defending $6.8 million in proposed capital spending being questioned by an independent consultant.
The electrical utility urges the provincial Utility and Review Board to approve the seven projects, according to a regulatory filing made public Thursday.
“The consultant has provided no evidence that the plan as presented is deficient or the alternatives selected by the company are inappropriate,” the company says.
Nova Scotia Power is asking the review board to approve $330 million in capital spending this year on 388 projects.
The plan includes $143 million in new construction that customers would have to pay for starting in 2013.
A public hearing on the proposed plan is slated for Monday at the review board’s offices in downtown Halifax.
A Boston-based mechanical engineer hired by the province’s small-business advocate questioned the need for or timing of the projects in a report filed last month.
The two largest projects singled out by Mary Neal of La Capra Associates Inc. involve hydroelectric stations in the St. Margarets Bay area: a $2.5-million refurbishment of the Coon Pond dam and a $1.2-million tidewater surge tank refurbishment.
Nova Scotia Power says the upgrades will ensure the St. Margarets Bay hydro system continues to operate beyond 2014, which will help the province meet its renewable energy targets.
“This is a key driver for this project,” the utility says in its submission.
The utility also defended plans to spend $1 million for a spare transformer and $816,000 on two projects related to new human resources management software.
Nova Scotia Power said two smaller projects, worth $1.1 million in total, are also justified: equipment replacement at the Sissiboo Falls hydroelectric dam in Digby County and the Point Tupper power plant in Cape Breton.
The Digby County project will result in more than $1 million in operating savings in its first year, the utility says.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/61495-nsp-no-evidence-spending-plan-deficient
Nova Scotia Power lays off 40 workers
Nova Scotia Power has laid off 40 non-unionized workers at various locations across the province.
The company said the layoffs include contract workers and managers.
"This is in an effort to reduce our costs. We know customers are facing increased rates, we know that's difficult for our customers," said Jennifer Parker, a spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power.
"We're always looking for ways that we can cut costs internally and avoid increasing rates and so this is part of that work. We need to become more efficient, we know that."
Parker said the savings from the 40 job cuts are worth millions of dollars.
She said there would not be any impact to customer service and unionized linemen are not affected.
The laid off workers have been offered severance packages.
The reductions come on the heels of a 10 per cent rate hike that took effect last month, as residential customers were hit with a 6.1 per cent base increase and an additional three per cent fuel adjustment.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/02/09/ns-power-layoffs.html
OTTAWA BACKTRACKS ON COAL EMISSIONS
The federal government is offering the provinces a way to avoid tough new regulations that would eventually force power companies to shut down the country’s fleet of coal-fired power plants.
Environment Minister Peter Kent and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have privately indicated they are willing to provide flexibility in how new power-plant emissions rules are implemented, provincial and industry sources said Thursday. Mr. Kent is expected to release the final version of the long-promised regulations in the coming months.
he change in stance by the federal government provides relief for some of the country’s biggest utilities. Alberta-based power generators such as TransAlta Corp., (TA-T21.11-0.15-0.71%) Capital Power Corp. (CPX-T25.50-0.18-0.70%) and Atco Ltd. (ACO.X-T60.48-0.38-0.62%) – as well as Nova Scotia’s Emera Inc. (EMA-T33.030.030.09%) – have warned that a rigid approach to Ottawa’s plant-by-plant rules would increase costs, drive up electricity prices for consumers, and strand valuable assets by imposing arbitrary deadlines for power plant closings.
The Conservative government has long touted its proposed coal regulations as evidence it is serious about cutting the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions, even as it faced international condemnation for withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol, which set specific reduction targets for Canada. Coal-fired generation accounts for roughly 16 per cent of Canada's electricity.
Now the federal government is willing to cede regulation of power-sector emissions to the provinces – as long as they have rules in place that would achieve equivalent reductions. The new approach would allow provinces to set overall emissions targets, rather than adhere to strict targets for each individual power facility as set out by the government’s original approach.
Mr. Kent has said he will follow the coal regulations with new rules on the broader power sector, and on the oil and gas industry. Energy industry executives are closely watching the rollout of the coal regulations for indications of what to expect. Typically, the sector prefers a more flexible approach that allows companies to manage their emissions across their entire operations, and to purchase credits to meet the targets.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia – which rely most heavily on coal for electricity – have received assurances that Ottawa will not saddle them with cumbersome regulations in a sector that is primarily under their jurisdiction, the provincial and industry sources said.
A spokesman for Mr. Kent said the government is still reviewing submission on its draft coal regulations, which were issued last August, and that “it would be premature to comment.”
First promised nearly two years ago, the regulations would essentially prohibit the construction of new coal-based plants after 2015 unless they include carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment to dramatically reduce emissions. TransAlta and Capital Power are considering a massive investment in a CCS project at their jointly owned Keephills 3 plant near Edmonton, but have worried that inflexible federal rules could derail the project.
Ottawa’s regulations would also require companies to close plants after 45 years of operation – considered the typical commercial lifespan – unless they are equipped with CCS. The government says two-thirds of Canada’s coal-fired plants will reach the end of their commercial life by 2025, and more than 80 per cent will do so by 2030.
But the government’s regulatory impact statement issued last August noted that “some provinces expressed a desire for equivalency agreements” under which “the federal regulations would stand down and the provincial regime would apply.”
Officials from Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan said Thursday their governments will certainly be pursuing equivalency agreements so they can pursue their own regulatory approaches.
Nova Scotia has passed legislation that targets emission reductions of 25 per cent in the power sector by 2020. The province’s plan would not force Emera-owned Nova Scotia Power to close coal-fired plants but would require 40 per cent of overall electricity supply to come from renewables by 2020.
“We’re looking for the equivalency agreement to be worked on,” Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau said. “We’re going to achieve in our own approach, and it’s going to be less costly. So I’m hopeful they’ll take this all into consideration.”
Alberta has not yet pushed for an equivalency agreement, preferring to wait to see the final regulations, said Bob Savage, director of the province’s climate change secretariat. He said the province would look for an equivalency deal if federal rules prove to be incompatible with Alberta’s own regulations, which force companies to achieve annual reductions but allow for the purchase of credits from firms that can generate emission cuts more efficiently.
Saskatchewan is currently drafting climate rules for industry, and is counting on CCS technology to cut emissions from coal-fired power plants. But the province worries the federal regulations could snuff out CCS projects because they don’t allow sufficient time to prove the technology or the averaging of emission reductions across SaskPower’s fleet, said Kim Graybiel, director of the province’s climate change branch.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/ottawa-backtracks-on-coal-emissions/article2293096/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Politics&utm_content=2293096
Partnership Formed To Promote Electric Mobility
[HALIFAX, NS] — Today, Nova Scotia Power in cooperation with Nissan Canada and O’Regan’s Nissan Halifax announced the launch of ShareReady, a new electric vehicle pilot program. Nova Scotia Power has secured 10 all-electric Nissan LEAF™ vehicles for shared use by organizations in Nova Scotia.
“This program is about being ready for all-electric cars,” said Robin McAdam, executive vice president of sustainability for Nova Scotia Power. “Through this partnership with Nissan Canada and O’Regan’s Nissan, Nova Scotia Power will be better able to prepare our system for broader adoption of this technology and expose Nova Scotians to the fuel economy and other benefits of electric transportation options.”
As part of the pilot program, Nova Scotia Power is incorporating two Nissan LEAFs™ into its own fleet. The remaining vehicles will be deployed by partner organizations. To date these include CBCL Limited and Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation. O’Regan’s Nissan Halifax will distribute and service the pilot program vehicles.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Province of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Power and Nissan Canada was also announced at the event committing the partners to work together to build awareness of the benefits of electric vehicles.
"Government is excited to be working with industry partners like Nova Scotia Power and Nissan to explore the potential for electric vehicles in Nova Scotia," said NS Energy Minister Charlie Parker. "We are working towards a new era in energy self-sufficiency, sustainability and affordability in Nova Scotia. Today’s announcement is another milestone on that journey."
The Nissan LEAF™ is the world’s first mass-market, all-electric car and will begin arriving in Nova Scotia later this month for distribution to pilot program partners. O’Regan’s Nissan Halifax, which recently became the first LEAF™ certified dealership in Atlantic Canada, currently has the 2011 World Car of the Year available for consumer test drives.
By purchasing or leasing a vehicle, ShareReady partner organizations will help NS Power answer questions about the convenience of vehicle charging, the readiness of the provincial electric grid to support wider adoption of electric transportation, the cost of driving electric vehicles and how the vehicles perform. Nova Scotia Power will provide assistance to each partner in the selection and installation of a vehicle charging station, to be some of the first in Atlantic Canada. Partner opportunities are still available by contacting NS Power by November 14.
“We’re very excited to see the Nissan LEAF™ in Nova Scotia and are looking forward to offering this revolutionary vehicle in a marketplace that will be ready and waiting for them,” said Sean O’Regan, O’Regan’s Nissan Halifax.
The environmental benefits of electric vehicles were examined by Dr. Larry Hughes, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Dalhousie University. The study found that with the fuel sources used by NS Power in 2010 to generate electricity, the Nissan LEAF™ produces approximately 20 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions than the most fuel-efficient conventional vehicle in its class.
To read more about the ShareReady pilot program, or to view Dr. Hughes’ full report, visit shareready.nspower.ca .
http://www.ns.dailybusinessbuzz.ca/Provincial-News/2011-11-03/article-2795205/NS%3A-Partnership-formed-to-promote-electric-mobility/1
NSP Commitment Could Push Development of Donkin Mine
It might be hyperbole but a lot of people believe Nova Scotia Power holds the key to the development of the Donkin coal mine in Cape Breton sooner rather than later. One such person is Peter Akerley, who admittedly has a vested interest in getting the underground Donkin mine project moving, but he says the utility’s use of Cape Breton coal shouldn’t be a difficult sell. Akerley says the managing partner in the Donkin project, global mining giant Xstrata, has been in talks with Nova Scotia Power for about four years but those negotiations went off the rails briefly in late 2009, when tighter environmental restrictions on emissions were introduced. Talks were restarted after authorities adjusted the timetable for implementing tighter environmental controls, allowing the power company to continue using "local coals or higher sulphur coals until 2014 or 2015, when more strict emissions begin to kick in." While a spokesman for the provincial power utility has told me in the past that his company has concerns about the quality of the thermal coal the Donkin mine would produce, Akerley says he believes the real issue is price.
Akerley, CEO of Erdene Resources Development Corp. of Halifax, maintains that the coal Donkin would produce would be at least no lower in quality than the domestic coal Nova Scotia Power already uses. The power company is already using Nova Scotia coal from Pioneer Coal Ltd. of Antigonish, which operates a strip mine in Pictou County near Stellarton and another strip mine on the site of the former underground Prince Mine in Point Aconi, near Sydney Mines. Erdene, by the way, holds a 25 per cent interest in the Donkin project. Xstrata Coal, based in Sydney, Australia, has a 75 per cent majority interest in the development, and controls Donkin though Xstrata Coal Donkin Management Ltd. based in Glace Bay. "So there’s a lot that just isn’t communicated as it should be in regard to the overall benefits. So it really comes down, right now, to a price negotiation between Xstrata and Nova Scotia Power," says Akerley. Besides being important for the companies involved, development of the mine could benefit consumers and taxpayers. Akerley says it has been estimated the mine would generate about $100 million in taxes annually and employ about 1,000 people directly, which is particularly important because the mine is located in a part of the province where meaningful employment is lacking.
Donkin coal offers the advantage of cheaper transportation costs and the energy value is estimated to be about 15 per cent greater than the coal Nova Scotia Power currently imports from Colombia.
If Nova Scotia Power signed on to acquire up to one million tonnes of Donkin coal, with a savings of $20 per tonne in transportation costs alone, Akerley says, it would save the utility about $20 million a year. With the energy content 15 per cent higher than the Colombian coal, he maintains, it would represent another $15 million saving for Nova Scotia Power. Xstrata is in the midst of the environmental assessment process, which should take about 18 months to complete. "I think it is inevitable, with a coal resource like that, that it will be developed," concludes Akerley. "It’s just a question of making it happen sooner to the benefit of everybody, especially for the people of this province." Key to bringing the mine into production will be the outcome from the public consultation, which will begin next month. Depending on what happens during that consultation period, he says, Xstrata should be able to push forward with that underground development.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1266602.html
NSP SEEKS TO RECOVER MILLIONS
September 13, 2011 -- Nova Scotia Power Inc. wants a deferral mechanism to recover millions of dollars in costs associated with the closure of the NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill. In a filing with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board on Monday, the power company said the loss of NewPage, its largest customer, would mean that the 7.2 per cent average rate increase it proposed in May for next year would change to a 10.5 per cent increase. If NewPage doesn’t come back into production in 2012, NSP would need to recover roughly $32 million, according to the utility.
The rate application is subject to a hearing scheduled to begin in Halifax next Monday.
Spokesman David Rodenhiser said Nova Scotia Power isn’t seeking to amend its application and ask for the higher rate due to the pending NewPage closure this Friday. "We’re requesting the creation of a deferral mechanism to recover any fixed costs not recovered due to NewPage not being in operation next year," he said in an interview Monday. Rodenhiser said the deferred amount would depend on how long the Point Tupper mill, which has been placed under creditor protection while a new owner is sought, is shut down.
The closure will put about 1,000 people out of work and affect thousands of others. The mill’s parent company in Ohio has filed for bankruptcy. Given the uncertainty about NewPage and concerns that the Bowater Mersey Paper Co. Ltd. plant in Brooklyn, Queens County, might close if power rates go up, Rodenhiser said the deferral mechanism would ease the burden on other Nova Scotia Power customers who would otherwise have to bear millions of dollars in fixed costs next year. "We’re trying to suggest a solution," he said.
In a follow-up email, Rodenhiser said: "We don’t know whether the NewPage mill will come back into service in the next few months or sometime next year. That’s really beyond our control, and beyond the control of our other customers. We’re looking for the fairest way to set rates during this period of uncertainty with NewPage, and we don’t want to place extra burden on our other customers. In the event that the mill doesn’t resume production next year, our proposal will protect our other customers from paying additional costs in 2012, by deferring any shortfall in recovery of fixed costs until 2013."
Provincially appointed consumer advocate John Merrick, a Halifax lawyer, could not be reached for comment Monday on Nova Scotia Power’s proposal, which was included in reply evidence filed with the review board in connection with its general rate application. The power company said recently it might have to consider closing plants and halting green energy projects if the NewPage mill doesn’t reopen.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1262865.html
FIX N.S. SYSTEM BEFORE INVESTING ELSEWHERE,
LIBERAL LEADER TELLS NOVA SCOTIA POWER, EMERA
HALIFAX – September 14, 2011– Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil says Nova Scotia Power and parent company Emera should focus on improving the power system in the province instead of investing elsewhere. McNeil said Wednesday he didn’t like Emera’s announcement earlier in the week that it has invested almost $39 million in Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. of Ontario. He said the investment is inappropriate when the system here needs upgrades. McNeil said Emera has sent $1 billion out of the province in the last decade while power rates have steadily increased.
The Liberal leader said the utility’s parent company must stop treating Nova Scotians “like a cash cow and must start investing in Nova Scotia.” Emera spokeswoman Sasha Irving said McNeil has ignored the spending Nova Scotia Power has done in the province over the last 10 years. “The fact is, since 2001, Nova Scotia Power has invested $2 billion back into Nova Scotia,” she said. “That equates to approximately its entire amount of earnings in that time, plus an additional $1 billion, so it’s almost double what they’ve earned in that period of time that we’ve invested back into Nova Scotia.” She said that includes spending on renewable energy projects, infrastructure and transmission lines.
McNeil had a different take. “I would say that Nova Scotia ratepayers have invested $2 billion,” he said. “We’re the ones paying — the rate base does.”
A hearing on Nova Scotia Power’s application for a rate increase in January is schedule to start Monday before the provincial Utility and Review Board.
(Halifax Chronicle Herald)
NS Power Discusses Rate Stabilization Plan with Customer Representatives
Canada NewsWire
HALIFAX, May 5
HALIFAX, May 5 /CNW/ - Nova Scotia Power met with customer representatives today (May 5) to discuss a plan that would stabilize growth in electricity prices for three years. The proposed Rate Stabilization Plan would hold rate increases to four percent per year for 2012 to 2014 for each customer class.
"By using some short-term deferrals of expenses, we can smooth price changes for customers over the next three years," said Rene Gallant, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Nova Scotia Power. "We strive to ensure that electricity prices are as low as possible for our customers, and that any price changes are as manageable as possible. This plan will help."
Last month, NS Power initiated a public discussion with customer representatives aimed at developing a multi-year approach to smooth increases in electricity rates through 2014. The Rate Stabilization Plan builds on that effort.
In order for a rate change to take effect on January 1, 2012, Nova Scotia Power will be required to file a General Rate Application with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) later this month. Nova Scotia Power has not yet made a final decision to make such a filing. General rates were last adjusted on January 1, 2009. Nova Scotia Power has been able to avoid filing a general rate application for three years, thanks to prudent management of expenses, tax credits from renewable energy projects, and the ability of the UARB to adjust fuel expense recovery through the Fuel Adjustment Mechanism (FAM).
"Our customers have benefitted from Nova Scotia Power being able to avoid a general rate application for three years," Mr. Gallant said. "However, since 2009, we've made substantial investments in infrastructure, reliability improvements, and recruiting and retaining skilled workers. Those investments haven't been accounted for in rates, and coal prices are continuing to climb."
Using current rates, 2012 revenues would be $94.4 million less than forecasted requirements of $1.34 billion. Without the Rate Stabilization Plan, NS Power is forecasting average increases in general rates of 9 percent in 2012, four percent in 2013 and two percent in 2014. The Plan proposes to defer recovery of fuel cost increases for three years. Recovery of deferred costs would begin in 2015.
If approved by the UARB, new general electricity rates would take effect Jan. 1, 2012.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/299647#ixzz1Ltuh3f1s
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/299647
NSP plan lacks details
Ratepayers ‘entitled to whatever information company can provide’
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Tue, Mar 29 - 4:54 AM
Nova Scotia Power Inc.’s capital expenditure plan for this year was heard publicly for the first time Monday.
But participants would have liked a clearer picture of what that plan, and those expenditures, may mean to ratepayers.
"In 2009, it’s $155 million annually," provincial consumer advocate Bill Mahody said in an interview during a provincial Utility and Review Board hearing on the Nova Scotia Power application.
"In 2011, they’re proposing to spend $367 million, of which $150 (million), roughly, is the subject matter of this application."
Mahody said it was difficult to determine whether the plan was justifiable and to assess its impact on ratepayers, given the information made available by the utility.
"I understand, from an analytic perspective, why the impact on rates may not be important," he said. "But our position would be that in the context of significantly increasing capital spends, the ratepayer is entitled to whatever information the company can provide and part of that involves likely rate impacts."
In its application, Nova Scotia Power noted that it is in a period of historic change and transformation as the province has legislated renewable energy targets the utility is required to meet.
Those changes will require about $2.8 billion in capital investments from 2010 to 2015, which the utility called an "extraordinary level of spending."
Mahody said those extraordinary expenditures are bound to lead to rate increases.
"There’s no question that revenues have to go up substantially."
Halifax Regional Municipality made a similar argument for more rate-related information in its submission to the board.
"The Halifax municipality, like other interveners, needs to plan," it said. "We, therefore, require an indication of how the current (annual capital expenditure plan) will influence rates over the next five years."
Alan Richardson, the power company’s vice-president of integrated customer services, testified that the $2.8 billion, five-year capital investment plan will result in lower costs for customers.
"If it didn’t, we wouldn’t be following this path."
Richardson said power customers have indicated that they want to see a shift to renewable energy sources.
"What customers said to us overwhelmingly was, given the choices that we see that you have, our strong preference is that you go after wind and renewable energy and conservation and energy efficiency."
The utility’s plan to shift to renewable energy sources will save money over time because energy such as wind is essentially free once the capital costs of infrastructure such as turbines have been paid, he said.
Brennan Vogel of the Ecology Action Centre said in a letter to the board that Nova Scotia Power’s business model is "socially, economically and environmentally unsustainable."
Vogel suggested that the utility should devote more attention to making the province’s electricity marketplace more democratic by investing in the development of distributed and decentralized renewable electricity that would involve more participants.
( berskine@herald.ca)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1235552.html
NEW RULES NEEDED FOR METERING CHANGES
Nova Scotia businesses and municipalities want to start seeing their electricity meters rolling backwards.
But for that to happen there must be legislative changes so more Nova Scotians can sell their electricity back to Nova Scotia Power, according to comments filed with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.
In November, the utility filed a proposal to expand a program referred to as "net metering." This allows customers to generate electricity from small, renewable sources to meet all or part of their power requirements and any excess can be sold back to Nova Scotia Power.
Nova Scotia Power has offered this option to its customers since 1989 and more than 80 residential and business clients across the province participate, the utility says.
A new proposal would allow producers to generate one megawatt of electricity, up from 100 kilowatts, to help reduce their power bills. The power generated must be equal to the client’s total annual electrical consumption.
Hantsport’s Minas Basin Pulp and Power argues that fewer customers will participate in the program if there are limitations on the amount produced.
"Minas Basin also believes that green electricity has a value that exceeds the value of conventional electricity, but the net metering program only pays for this green electricity at conventional electricity rates," states Minas Basin’s Aaron Long in a letter to the board.
Nova Scotia Power currently charges about 12 cents a kilowatt per hour for residential customers.
Larry Wilkins of Natural Resources Canada questions why the utility is only allowing a one-megawatt wind turbine to be used when most turbine manufacturers are building 1.5-megawatt turbines.
"The one-megawatt limitation will severely limit the number of manufacturers available to supply a turbine. It is especially important to have a reliable supplier able to service a single turbine, and this can more easily be performed when a wind farm with multiple turbines is nearby," wrote Wilkins.
Alison Gillan of Nova Scotia Power wrote back to Wilkins, stating the utility has filed its proposal and is uncertain what regulatory process will follow, or when the board might rule.
Appleseed Energy of Cape Breton has written a letter stating that for the small renewable industry to grow, they need to be paid higher prices for the electricity.
"It was too expensive before and the enhanced net metering has not addressed this issue. It may be the policy of Nova Scotia Power not to promote growth in small-scale production, but there is an opportunity in this sector as yet untapped," wrote Appleseed Energy of Cape Breton, which installs solar panels and small-scale wind turbines.
Earlier this year, amendments were approved under the Electricity Act, ordering Nova Scotia Power to enhance its metering program.
At the time, Erin Beaudin, District of Chester’s chief administrative officer, was looking for a definition of a single customer, and hoping all non-municipal buildings that are serviced by the municipality, such as libraries, arenas and a local business park, could be included.
At the time of the announcement, Robin McAdam, Nova Scotia Power’s vice-president of sustainability, said the utility’s new proposal required input from government and other stakeholders "to offer greater options and benefits for customers" who want to generate electricity for their own use.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1219773.html
EMERA LAYS OFF WORKERS
Atlantic Canada’s largest supplier of trade workers who build, maintain and operate power projects is temporarily laying off 78 employees, it confirmed Friday.
Emera Utility Services of Lakeside is blaming the layoffs on the completion of several renewable energy projects at the end of 2010, including Nova Scotia Power’s Digby wind farm and the Glen Dhu wind farm in Pictou County, spearheaded by Shear Wind Inc. of Bedford.
Emera Utility Services, an affiliate of NSP’s parent company Emera Inc., employs 300 workers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and has been in business for 10 years.
This is a "normal course of business" in this sector, Emera Inc. spokeswoman Sasha Irving said Friday.
"There has been a temporary layoff of 78 employees and it is expected to last about two to three months, and it’s due to the timing of projects," she said. "The first part of the year from a construction perspective is usually a slower time than other quarters, and with the timing of projects on their schedule, that is the reason for the layoffs."
Emera Utility Services was in the news this week when Nova Scotia Power appeared before regulators seeking approval to pass along the construction costs of the $82.7-million Digby wind farm to its 470,000 customers. The Utility and Review Board can OK the request, approve it with conditions or reject it.
Nova Scotia Power awarded Emera Utility Services an untendered $25-million construction contract, along with a $1-million bonus, for the Digby wind farm, consumer advocate John Merrick revealed.
Merrick is asking the review board to consider that the utility’s contracts are supposed to be tendered to ensure the lowest price for its customers.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1220958.html
Investors taking stock in Emera
Low interest rates, solid dividends attractive to those looking for income
Record low interest rates are stoking the price of Emera Inc.’s stock, says a Vancouver energy analyst. Emera, which owns Nova Scotia Power, has enjoyed record high stock prices recently.
"Interest rates are very low and investors (are) looking for income," said Bob Hastings of Canaccord Adams on Wednesday. "Canada has no shortage of retirees and people approaching the retirement age, and people would like to have some income. And with cash earning very little in the bank and bonds, people are looking to other sources." The Halifax-based company bumped up its dividend by approving a 15 per cent increase in September. Wednesday afternoon, the stock was trading at $32.51 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which translates into a four per cent dividend paid to investors on a quarterly basis, Hastings said. "Generally, if you looked around at the other utilities, you would find that anything with dividend income has been doing extremely well, and it’s certainly been a part of that. So that would explain a lot of the move, and the good performance of the company and being able to attract growth."
Last year, the stock was trading below $20 a share. Over the past year, it has had "phenomenally" good performance, he said. In May, the stock was trading around $24 a share and then it started to steadily rise at the end of June, when it was trading at $24.62, Hastings said. Besides offering a higher dividend in a low interest rate market, the company has been growing with conservative investments in utility assets that have driven growth without undue risk, he said. This week, Emera announced it was offering to buy 62 per cent of Light and Power Ltd. in Barbados. The National Insurance Board of Barbados owns 23 per cent and the rest of the shares are held by 2,700 Barbadians. The company bought 38 per cent of the electric utility in May for $85 million, said Emera spokeswoman Sasha Irving on Wednesday. Light and Power is the only utility on the island of Barbados and serves 120,000 customers. It has three power plants generating 239 megawatts of electricity.
In 2007, Emera bought a $22-million stake in St. Lucia Electricity Services, and the next year it purchased a 25 per cent stake in Grand Bahama Power Co. Ltd. for $41 million through its acquisition of half the shares of holding company ICD Utilities Ltd. of the Bahamas. Last month, there was a lot of attention on Emera when it announced it was looking to invest $1.8 billion with its partner Nalcor to build the first phase of the Lower Churchill hydro project at Muskrat Falls, with undersea transmission lines from Labrador to Newfoundland and also to Nova Scotia. "I would say the market has been slow to recognize the good job they did and once it showed up in spades, the market woke up. And that’s why you’ve seen the superior performance this year," said Hastings.
( jmyrden@herald.ca)
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Record earnings for Emera
Halifax-based energy company posts third-quarter profit of $44.8 million
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Sat, Nov 6 - 4:54 AM
Emera president Chris Huskilson announced Friday the company posted record earnings in the first three quarters. Emera Inc., the owner of Nova Scotia Power and other utilities, is reporting record earnings of $44.8 million, compared to $37.3 million the previous year, in third-quarter financial results released Friday. "We have momentum in our business and this is translating into record earnings for the first three quarters of this year. In fact, Emera shares have provided an annualized total return to shareholders of 14.5 per cent over the last five years. This result is one that we are particularly proud of as it is proof that our strategy is working," Chris Huskilson, Emera president, told analysts during a conference call. Emera’s stock was up 25 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange late Friday, trading at $30.20 a share. The Halifax-based company also reported profits of $151.5 million for the first nine months of this year, compared to $138.2 million for the same period in 2009. Huskilson also noted several milestones for the company over the past three months, with the advancement of the Maine and Maritimes Corp. as well as a transaction with NV Energy. NB Power and Emera continue to work together to "formalize an agreement" to develop a new transmission line from Nova Scotia to southern New Brunswick, said Huskilson. "New capacity in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick benefits everyone in the region. It improves our options for future renewable energy development. It enhances the reliability of the systems," he said.
This week, Nova Scotia Power and its partner, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, closed a deal after receiving regulatory approval to go ahead with a $208-million project to burn wood waste at a new power plant at the mill’s site in Point Tupper starting in 2012.
Also, Nova Scotia Power appeared before government regulators this month to hike power rates for residential customers by 6.5 per cent starting next year. If approved by the board, it would be the sixth power rate increase in nine years in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Power’s earnings were $22.4 million for the third quarter this year, compared to $16.6 million for the same period last year. The company stated the increase relates primarily to lower income tax expenses as a result of tax deductions associated with NSPI’s increased renewable investments. Emera has $508 billion in assets. Besides Nova Scotia Power, it operates Bangor Hydro Electric Co. in Maine and the Brunswick Pipeline, a 145-kilometre gas pipeline in New Brunswick. Bangor Hydro Electric contributed $11.5 million to earnings in the third quarter of 2010, compared to $8.8 million in the same period in 2009. The increase was primarily due to increases in transmission pool revenue due to recovery of regionally funded transmission investments, in addition to other increases in transmission revenues in 2010. Emera’s pipelines contributed $8.5 million to earnings in the third quarter, compared to $5.7 million in the same period in 2009.
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NSP wants to test ‘smart grid’
Green technology saves users’ cash
Nova Scotia Power is looking to spend $4.3 million to find out if customers are prepared to save money on their power bills while helping the environment.
The utility wants to participate in a regional pilot project to help manage the electricity grid and use wind power more effectively by using "smart grid" technology.
Here’s how it would work.
When the wind is not blowing, the utility wants to be able to shut off customers’ hot water heaters, instead of what they do today, which is switching to another fuel source like coal.
The idea behind the program "is to save energy and increase the use of renewables," said Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Patty Faith, on Friday. The study will select up to 1,500 residential customers and 150 commercial customers to participate in the test. About 750 will be in Nova Scotia.
Faith said the customers and the areas in this province to be tested will not be decided until the expenditure is approved by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.
If approved, Nova Scotia Power would install special devices on water heaters that communicate with the electrical grid. The devices would tell the appliances to turn on or off, depending on the conditions of the system and the amount of renewable energy available. Homeowners shouldn’t notice if their hot water or space heater was turned off, Faith said.
The pilot project will evaluate, "the customers’ role and their acceptance of utility load control for the purposes of renewable energy integration," the power company said in its application to the board.
Called PowerShift Atlantic, the $32-million project was first announced in July in Fredericton when the federal government announced it would provide $15.9 million through the federal government’s Clean Energy Fund.
"The challenges with wind generation are the variability and uncertainty of production levels to match customer demand. If proven commercially viable, load control, as an ancillary service, may provide an effective means of dealing with wind energy intermittency," the utility’s application said.
"This is a unique opportunity to look at how you can take that technology and use it to balance intermittent power like wind," said Faith.
Participants in the study besides Nova Scotia Power are NB Power, Maritime Electric Co. Ltd. of Prince Edward Island, the University of New Brunswick and the power commission in Saint John, N.B.
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