Task Force Report Shakes NS Electrical Biz
The Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables says changes must be made in the province’s electrical system to ensure clean, reliable, and affordable electricity.
Tory Rushton responded to the report of the Clean Electricity Solutions Task Force which was formed in April 2023 and submitted its report to the minister about three weeks ago.
Rushton says, “We asked the task force to give us recommendations to help modernise our electricity system and make sure it has the capacity we need to reach our climate change goals.”
Referring to Alison Scott and John MacIsaac, he thanked them for their “expert advice.”
Rushton says, “I can confirm that the government accepts the recommendation for a new Energy Modernisation Act which I plan to table in the upcoming session of the legislature.” He added, “This legislation will create an independent energy system operator and a standalone energy regulator. It also ties our climate change goals to the regulation of this sector.”
The legislation may have a dramatic impact on the operations of Nova Scotia Power (NSP), by Rushton says, “We are conscious that some jobs will need to shift, but there will be no job losses. The implementation plan will respect collective agreements and protect pensions.”
The minister says he supports NSP “overseeing open competition for new generation and storage infrastructure. However, at this time, we will not consider extending that responsibility to transmission and distribution.”
That would seem to suggest that the actual sale of power to consumers — transmission and distribution — may be open to a new company or structure.
Referring to NSP and the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board which regulated electricity pricing and distribution, Rushton said, “I look forward to our continued work together to transform our electricity system for the benefit of all Nova Scotia ratepayers.”
Electricity pricing and regulations have been frequent topics in Rushton’s weekly interview on Six Rivers Radio.
As far back as two years ago the topic was compared to boxing with NSP but Rushton denied the gloves were off.
He also hesitated to answer the direct question of whether the time had come for the province to resume control of transmission and distribution, preferring to wait for this report and its recommendations.
Read the press release announcing the study — Seeking Solutions for Clean Electricity at https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2023/04/20/seeking-solutions-clean-electricity.
The task force report is available at: https://cetaskforce.ca/.
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