What is N.B.'s power play?
Published Tuesday October 7th, 2008
The high cost of electricity has resulted in tragedies, from the loss of hundreds of high-paying jobs to the death of Paul-Emile Durelle. New Brunswickers are worried that worse could be in store, if a harsh winter collides with uncertainty in the world's financial markets.
The Graham government must reaffirm the principles and objectives underlying its governance of NB Power. Access to affordable electricity is vital to this province's survival, and the government must make a principled commitment to provide it.
NB Power was created to serve a public purpose: job creation. Electrification gave existing industries a competitive edge and allowed new industries to develop. As the price of fossil fuels rose, successive governments also encouraged New Brunswickers to switch to electric baseboard heat. Today, roughly two-thirds of the province's home and business heating is provided by electricity, and much of the economy depends on maintaining competitive industrial power rates.
NB Power has grown from a small utility into a regional player, with diverse interests that range from a hydroelectric dam to a nuclear power plant. This is little consolation to New Brunswickers who find it difficult pay their bills.
Thousands of jobs in forestry and manufacturing depend on keeping power rates competitive. New job creation is also energy-dependent. The government will have little luck attracting aerospace, transportation and data storage companies to this province without power rates that rival those in Quebec.
In the home economy, lives may be at risk as rates rise beyond the means of the elderly and those on low incomes. Without relief of some sort, these New Brunswickers may soon face a choice of whether to eat or heat.
New Brunswick needs to bring power rates down without breaking the provincial budget. The government must work around two significant liabilities: NB Power's $3.2 billion debt, and a provincial bureaucracy that could mis-manage a single-car funeral if not given clear direction. This will require as much intelligence and shrewd planning as the Department of Energy can muster.
We don't expect the government to deliver a detailed strategy to such a complex issue in short order. But cabinet must establish the principles which will form the basis of its long-term action plan.
It could start by affirming that NB Power will be managed to serve public policy objectives, and that government will find ways to meet this province's energy needs.
More Opinion
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
Comments (1)
All comments are subject to the site Terms of Use. For a full commenting tutorial click here.
Our editorial team relies on filtering technology and our visitor community to identify inappropriate comments. In the event that a site user has submitted offensive content that has evaded our filter, please select the option to Flag As Inappropriate presented within the comment. Thank you for helping to keep this site clean.
Provincially N.B. power is a broken utility unable to completly fullfill its obligations to all of the residents in the province. These include not only the low income people but industry. It must accomplish now what it has failed to do but now with a $3.2 billion debt on its back. Hardly an inspirational story so far, lets see if they are up to the challenge to improve.