**** NSP Media Release
The following is a statement from NS Power President & CEO Peter Gregg, regarding the proposed Net Metering charge filed with the NS Utility and Review Board last week.
“Recently, Nova Scotia Power submitted a general rate application to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board which will now undergo a rigorous review process seeking public input over the coming months.
We understand that the proposed changes to the province’s net metering program have caused a lot of discussion and concern for the solar industry.
Over the past number of days, we’ve heard from our customers and yesterday we talked to Solar Nova Scotia to hear the concerns of the solar industry first-hand.
Collaboration and consultation are important to me and my team and when we don’t get it right, we are committed to fixing it.
We regret that there weren’t more conversations with the solar industry ahead of the filing and that they were caught off guard by the proposed changes and, specifically, the effective date these changes would apply.
In the interest of ensuring that the right conversations can take place, we have made the decision to change the date in our filing from February 1, 2022 to February 1, 2023 and we will amend our General Rate Application to make this change.
The reality is that the provincial Net Metering Program as it is set up now isn’t working for all Nova Scotians. It needs to be addressed. We hope extending the deadline by one year provides all stakeholders with the necessary time to create solutions that support the continued growth of the solar and renewable industries in Nova Scotia.
We recognize that customers who choose solar do invest a significant amount and do pay for the electricity they use. What they do not pay for are all of the costs associated with them having access to the NS Power grid when they need energy from the grid, like the cold winter evenings when the sun is not shining.
Under the current structure, customers who may not choose solar are paying for net metering users to be able to rely on and have access to the grid when they need it.
Net Metering is a challenge for many jurisdictions going through a similar energy transition, including NS. And we know that we need to work together to address it because at the heart of it, we all want the same thing.
Our team is committed to a consultation process and work is already underway. We want to use this time to get the solution to this problem right and to also make sure that what we build together is sustainable for generations to come.
We are committed to achieving our shared goal of getting off coal-fired generation by 2030, and renewable power generation is a cornerstone of this.”
