Windmills Excellent Renewable Energy Option

Windmills are proving to be an excellent renewable energy source, but they won’t be shrinking your power bill anytime soon. However, they might add some consistency to power rates.

Nova Scotia Power has cited fuel costs as the reason for a proposed hike, along with eventual tighter regulations put on them by the government to be greener.

“We anticipate the cost from renewable energy is about one to two per cent for customers,” says Patty Faith, spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power. “We also see that as having a stabilizing aspect,” she adds.

The company believes that with newer, renewable energy, its rates should stabilize a bit as it relies less on traditional fuel sources.

The utility company has also been dealing with the provincial government’s new policy on mercury emissions. The policy required plants to bring their mercury emissions down to 65 kilograms for 2010 from 168 kilograms. However, the government backed down on its tight deadlines when Nova Scotia Power revealed how much the change would affect customers through rate hikes by driving fuel prices up, as purchasing low-mercury coal is costlier.

“The government’s decision to manage mercury emissions differently over the next decade reduces the burden of rising fuel prices on customers – especially next year,” says Rob Benet, president and chief executive officer of Nova Scotia Power.

The new deadline for lowering those emissions is now 2014.

The company applied to the Utility and Review Board on Aug. 16 for a 6.5 per cent increase for residents, 8.6 for commercial and 11.3 for industrial. Its estimated fuel costs for the coming year is $60 million, half of what it might have been had the government not changed its policy.

By Staff, Transcontinental Media

Aug. 26/10