NB Power has made its final arguments before the Energy and Utilities Board why the utility should be granted a 2 per cent rate increase to take effect in July. John Furey of NB Power says the easy decision to make is to defer the rate increase but he warns that could lead to much higher rate hikes down the road.
Furey says it would be easier to reduce rates later if if turns out that the decision on the future of the Mactaquac generating station will not be as expensive as previously forecast. NB Power is holding out the possibility of Mactaquac being able to continue in operation beyond what was earlier thought possible.
Much has been made of the fact that the HST is also going up by 2 per cent at the same time the rate increase for electricity would kick in. Furey says the province is giving low income New Brunswickers an HST credit so a single parent with one child will receive 600 dollars while their power bill would go up by 50 dollars for the year even with above average usage.
