Board blocks Nova Scotia Power on audit secrecy
The provincial regulator has rejected Nova Scotia Power’s initial reasons for wanting to keep secret parts of an audit report that says the utility overspent $22 million on fuel over the past two years.
The provincial Utility and Review Board told the power corporation Tuesday that it has scheduled a hearing Aug. 30 to help determine how much of the findings should remain confidential.
“The board is not prepared, based on the written submissions, to accept NSPI’s request for redactions,” Doreen Friis, the board’s regulatory affairs officer, said in a letter to Nova Scotia Power.
Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie complained last month that too much information was removed from the report before it was made public July 11.
The Tory leader asked the board to review the classified sections, which were requested by the utility, saying ratepayers deserve to know more about why the audit concluded that Nova Scotia Power could have gotten better prices for fuel in some instances.
The utility disagrees with the findings of the regulator’s consultant, Liberty Consulting Group of Quentin, Pa., and said it has achieved the best prices possible through its fuel-procurement process.
Nova Scotia Power has told the board that additional information shouldn’t be released because most of it is sensitive commercial information. Other sections should stay secret because “specific and serious harm will be caused” if they are made public, the utility said.
“NSPI has already minimized the extent of redaction in the Liberty (fuel adjustment mechanism) audit; indeed, many of Liberty’s criticisms have not been redacted,” Peter Downard, the utility’s Toronto lawyer, said in a July 25 letter to the board.
Nova Scotia Power said the amount of confidential information in the report is consistent with past fuel-related filings.
The utility also asked that a hearing be held if the regulator didn’t agree with its position, although the power corporation wanted a closed-door session.
Two customer representatives say more of the report should be made public.
“The information referred to in Mr. Downard’s July 25th letter does not establish an interest or a potential harm that outweighs the public interest in open accountability,” consumer advocate John Merrick said in a filing last week.
Merrick, a Halifax lawyer, said Nova Scotia Power has indicated it is reluctant to release more of the audit because the findings may be defamatory toward officials with the company or its parent, Emera Inc.
Halifax lawyer Nancy Rubin, representing industrial customers who fall under the Avon Group umbrella, said the defamation claim should be rejected.
“The audit is a critical component of the (fuel adjustment mechanism),” Rubin said in an Aug. 1 letter.
“Disclosure is patently in the public interest as the substance of the FAM audit, including critical portions, require the cleansing light of public scrutiny.”
The truth hurts
Submitted by Personalo on August 8, 2012 - 8:35am.
"specific and serious harm will be caused" Yes this will harm the ridiculous profits that NSP and Emera have been able to suck out of NS rate payers.
This report should be revealed in full and used as a battle cry for the breaking up of NSP. It is completely insane that this company is guaranteed a profit under the law which allows them to overpay their top staff, build grand waterfront palaces, and go empire building around the globe all without risk as the government has traditionally been forced to allow for rate increases to cover these crazy costs.
But no more it turns out Emera wanted even more they weren't satisfied with a golden goose. They wanted to become full fledged vampires. So they messed with gas rates so that even more money came their way.
Minimally NSP should be remade with the same laws as the banks; no single person (or group) can have more than 10% ownership. This would end this whole parent company thing. It is a power company providing power to NS people. What need do they have for a parent company. That is just larding on confusion. Next the guaranteed profit needs to be reset based on the typical return of the stock market this whole around 10% thing was set in a time of high returns during high inflation.
NSP is seriously broken, time to fix it.
NSP Incompetence
Submitted by Alberta Bound on August 8, 2012 - 8:55am.
The article is certainly correct in one regard. Full disclosure of the audit will make everyone aware of just how incompetent NSP snior management is. The very fact that NSP wants to hide behind a cloak of secrecy speaks volumes about how they run their operations. The NS public would be more irate than they are now, if that's even possible, if they were to learn how NSP has failed in terms of buying fuel at as low a cost as possible. And now NSP doesn't agree with the audit and refuses to pay back what they have over-charged the NS electricity consumer. THat's nice, the next time the CRA is looking for a return on my taxes, I'll just tell them that I disagree with their findings and that I will refuse to pay.
Wanna buy a bridge?
Submitted by No problem here... on August 8, 2012 - 9:06am.
Dealing with N.S.P.I. is like dealing with the Mafia. All is clean and legal outward, inward it is a totally different story.I grin when I read of N.S.P.I. objections because of commercial and competitive disclosure. Who is their competition? No one to be seen, who is their enabler? The successive governments of Nova Scotia, the U.A.R.B. who is finally awaking to the fact that they are there in the interest of the rate payers not the shareholders, it is the ratepayers that pay their salaries, obviously not on the pay for performance model. All information must be available and provided, playing peek a boo with pertinent information is not only derogatory it is demeaning as well. Then of course there are millions at stake, and executive bonuses to be paid, oh the humanity.
Hm! No mention of our premier?
Submitted by hav2b on August 8, 2012 - 9:36am.
Does he have no interest in the affairs and wellbeing of the people he works for?
I just hope this doesn't cause the UARB to feel they have done their job. Guaranteeing that the cheapest fuel source is sought and found is only the first step in the huge task of evaluating all plausible alternatives to Muskrat Falls.
Making the facts available to the public should be a given, in all these dealings. If we have to pay for it, it's imperative we know what "it" is.