EUB unsure if rate hike was justified
Report | NB Power's corporate structure must be changed, energy minister says
The way NB Power is structured makes it difficult to determine whether a recent rate hike was justified, says the province's Energy and Utilities Board.
The former Conservative government divided the utility into separate companies that operate under the NB Power banner.
In a report released Friday, the EUB said it was unclear whether the April 1 three per cent hike was necessary based on information provided by the power company's distribution and transmission sectors.
NB Power CEO David Hay said the EUB's report didn't question the credibility of the data it provided, but the EUB identified problems with separating specific types of information.
"What they're saying is, the legislation is confusing in the separation between the distribution company, the generation and the nuclear company," Hay said.
"We agree that there's confusion there."
The Liberal government wants to put an end to that confusion. Energy Minister Jack Keir said it's necessary for NB Power to change the way it records its information.
"What the EUB's really highlighting here is there's a governance issue," he said.
"You have a company that's legislated to run five separate silo companies, and yet NB Power's saying they're running as an integrated company and providing data that way.
"What (the EUB is) saying is, 'Which way is it going to be? Fix it."
Keir said he doesn't know how changes can be made or when, but it should be done soon.
Opposition leader Jeannot Volpe said he's hoping Keir will get to work on making things easier for the EUB to do reviews.
"I would hope that the minister will bring it back to where it was supposed to go when we left the government," he said.
Volpe said he doesn't believe NB Power should have to reveal all of its financial dealings to the public, but it should make its information available to bodies such as the EUB.
"The next step, I would say, is to put in place the plan that was already started quite a few years ago so that we would know if New Brunswickers have a fair price for the product that they buy," he said.
"And the only way to do it is for someone to have access to those numbers."
Hay said he expects the province will try to find a way to make these kinds of investigations more successful before another rate-hike application is made.
Hay said the recent rate hike was based on the rising costs of fuel and purchased power.
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It is a clear case of pandering to the masses: board looks at public and says we are looking into this while winking at N.B. power.