Official Opposition Calls on new Energy Minister Houston to make high bills his top priority

HALIFAX— On Monday, Leader of the Official Opposition Claudia Chender wrote a letter to newly appointed Energy Minister Tim Houston calling on him to address the worsening situation with Nova Scotia Power as his top priority. In order to restore public trust and accountability, the Nova Scotia NDP Leader is again calling on Houston to take urgent action to lower bills and launch a full ownership and regulatory review of Nova Scotia Power.

Since the Houston government has been elected, the average Nova Scotian is paying $400 more per year for their power bills and prices continue to climb. According to the Stats Can CPI data released just last week, electricity costs in Nova Scotia have increased by 4.2 per cent over the past year – that’s more than twice the rate of the national average.

“Nova Scotians are fed up with Nova Scotia Power and they want solutions—not excuses,” said Chender. “The price of heat and power are soaring, people’s privacy and personal financial information has been irreparably compromised and now many customers are receiving incorrect bills overcharging them by hundreds of dollars from their actual usage. Surely, the Energy Minister will be taking action on these issues as his top priority.”

During the last legislative session, the Houston government refused to put in place a 10 per cent rebate to give everyone a break on their bill, kicked 46,000 people off the Home Heating Rebate Program and cut hundreds of dollars from those who remained eligible. They have also refused to put in place a low-income rate despite Nova Scotia Power advocating for this option for Nova Scotians struggling to heat and power their homes.

“Nova Scotians need leadership on this issue. The premier is now the Minister responsible. He cannot pretend his government has no role to play in delivering lower prices, privacy protection and accountability for the people he was elected to serve,” said Chender. “Tim Houston can take action today to help more people afford their heat and power. He can also start a review process to get answers for Nova Scotians who are spending more money on their energy costs than the average Canadian with fewer protections.”

On Tuesday, the Natural Resource committee will hear from representatives of Nova Scotia Power. At least one committee member anonymously voted against an NDP motion calling witnesses from the department to answer questions about the government’s role in high bills and low public trust in the utility.