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Latest rate application has nsp, energy consumers at odds again by ferujkll sdff
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Latest rate application has nsp, energy consumers at odds again |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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The interests of Nova Scotia Power and its customers don"talways converge, and no better example is the uproar over therecent application to raise electricity rates again. To help justify three per cent rate hikes in 2013 and 2014, NovaScotia Power is pointing its finger at how much it costs to achieverenewable energy targets — in addition to reduced demand fromNova Scotia"s two largest paper mills. But renewable power experts believe, instead of costing consumers,wind energy should be seen as a saviour for people sufferingrate-hike fatigue. As it was described to me Thursday, not all sources of renewableenergy are the same. Wind energy in Nova Scotia, it is argued, canbe as competitive as most of Nova Scotia Power"s existingenergy sources.
But the cost of building other so-called renewable projects usingbiomass, tidal power and even solar are more expensive than NovaScotia"s homegrown wind projects. The major factor in determining the cost of wind power is whobuilds the project. Independent power producers, who sell the electricity to theutility under fixed-rate, 20- to 25-year contracts, have longargued that they can generate electricity at a better rate thanNova Scotia Power can with its wind farms. The province has favourable sources of wind for electricitygeneration, the cost of borrowing is low and wind farm companieshave a knack for keeping construction costs down. So conditions areright for private producers to erect more turbines.
I should point out that power producers are reluctant to go on therecord because they are required to sell their electricity to NovaScotia Power. Nevertheless, the utility should be signing long-term contractswith private-sector wind farm developers rather than relying onratepayers to carry the risks involved in such projects. Contractors finance and build wind farms, and cost overruns aretheir responsibility. Penalties are paid to Nova Scotia Power ifthe contractor fails to provide the promised amount of electricity.
I"m told a properly built wind farm in Nova Scotia should beable to provide at least 40 per cent of its contracted power at alltimes. And when there is a wind lull, it is only temporary andrarely if ever for a full day. In an earlier column, I referred to an email in which a readerpointed out that in 2004, when the Pubnico Point wind farm promisedto generate electricity for 20 years at 6.8 cents per kilowatthour, Nova Scotia Power objected based on price. I inadvertently left out the decimal point in the previous column,which was a cause for confusion for many readers. But the emailwriter estimates the cost of burning coal to generate power washigher than 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour, which means the PubnicoPoint wind power is cheaper than coal.
Many more wind farms could be built by private producers to thebenefit of many rural communities across Nova Scotia, and to thebenefit of concerned ratepayers who see their bills rising yearly. ( rtaylor@herald.ca ). I am Electric Power Tools writer, reports some information about salt pepper mills , decorative beaded pillows.
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