You are a privately owned entity, of an essential service. You have no competition, and repeatedly cry poor (despite posting record profits year after year) to justify rate increases.
How about you stop raising the fucking rates every six months? Young people could use even a faint morsel of hope for their prosperity in Nova Scotia.
It’s assholes like you, that are spearheading the mass exodus of young people to the Western Provinces. If any other regular business lost their biggest customer, then decided to jack up prices to recover lost revenue – they would go out of business!
I’d ask how you sleep at night, but I already know – it’s on a pile of Nova Scotian’s hard earned money.
I hope some salty fog envelopes your mansions and causes a power outage just before your favorite TV show starts, you bastards. —Pretty Much Everyone in NS
This article appears in Sep 8-14, 2011.
Survivor? Wtf?!?
I’m business impaired so can someone explain to me why the loss of a customer mean others pay? Pay for what? Isn’t there a corresponding loss in demand for power? If you don’t have to produce it, then what exactly is it we’re going to be paying for? Call me stupid but I just don’t get it.
“I hope some salty fog envelopes your mansions and causes a power outage just before your favorite TV show starts, you bastards.” <---- I love it! Seriously though, I 100% agree. How is it legal that they can jack up our rates in order to guarantee a profit for the shareholders. And, how is it legal that, if NSPI wants to spend money on a project, the are not allowed to take the money from said profits and instead jack up our rates? Why does the province not do something about this?
Organized crime without the Cement Overcoats, nothing will change until the UARB grows a pair and says enough is enough, and don’t wait for the NDP or any other party to step in because no doubt they are getting something out it
This chaps my ass.
I agree: if they no longer have to produce the extra power, why in the name of whom ever are we paying more?
Its not like we’re getting anything extra out of paying more. Them not having to produce this extra power should be saving them money. Instead the corporate nimrods decided to charge us more to make sure their pockets are sufficiently lined, while the hole in mine keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Shit in this province keeps getting more and more expensive. And quite frankly it is ridiculous and unnecessary. I don’t blame those that high tail it the hell out of here. In fact I did the same a number of years ago. I only returned for familial reasons. All that crap aside I love my province, but sweet jeebus when are we going to get a break? A week from never? Lovely. I won’t hold my breath.
Eff-you, NSP.
I agree with you 150% Snubiz. If the mill is not going to be buying/using the power, then NS power won’t need to produce it, thus the costs associated with producing it are non-existent as well. It would be like Ford increasing the cost of their cargo vans because Purolator decided to switch over to Dodge. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s a bloody fucking excuse for them to jack up power rates YET AGAIN all to line their own pockets. Why isn’t anyone stepping in to scrutinize this bullshit?! We have a federal minister looking into why Canadians are typically paying 20-30% more for products and services from the states even though our dollar is above par with theirs. So why can’t the same be done here?
NS power supposedly supports the r & d, sales and use of alternate or “greener” energy sources to reduce consumption, offering incentives for certain products or measures utilized by the average household. My question is what’s the point? Any money saved by implementing these things is quickly gone because they just keep hiking the fucking rates!! To me, these so called incentives and support by NS power towards alternate energy savers is nothing but lip service, all designed to make them seem like the concerned and responsible corporate citizen, doing “their part” for a cleaner, greener future. I call bullshit! It’s all just smoke and mirrors force fed to us by their right hand so we don’t notice what the left hand is doing. They got us by the short and curleys and they know it. They’re the only game in town so you either pay up or you’re SOL. I fucking HATE NS Power!!
And I agree with BitchPlease, too. How about you take some of these record profits and invest them back into your own company? FFS, I can’t believe that in this day and age we are still relying on coal to generate electricity. COAL! Especially since being a coastal province as we are, there is no lack of wind. This place should be plastered with wind turbines. (Look at Denmark, Germany, Netherlands). But no. Not NS. Anytime someone questions as to why we are still relying on archaeic methods to make power when we have all this free resource blowing around, NS power says that it’s too cost prohibitive. We won’t be able to comply with the federal government’s deadline for reduction in green-house gas emissions, (finding alternatives to burning coal), because it will cost too much….UNLESS we jack up rates. Fuck, the last rate hike was because they couldn’t afford the “cleaner burning coal”. (If there is such a thing) Fuck you, you bastards! If you take even a percentage of your profits and invest it in these alternate power producing technologies instead of giving bonuses out to your non-union employees, and spread it out over several years, there is NO reason why you couldn’t afford to do it AND not increase power rates. It’s fucking extortion.
THE TRUTH IS HERE.
They aren’t going to lose money at all, they are going to get more money, because, instead of selling it at a discounted rate to our provincial industry, they are going to sell it to the USA for 3 times the amount of $.
They are just playing to the politicians and media.
And they are not playing fair.
While I haven’t heard specifically that NSP will raise rates due to the loss of New Page, I believe they may apply to raise because of the loss of revenue, which, of course is not fair to the power users.
Makes me wonder about the cost of supplying energy to New Page, maybe it isn’t as much as NSP claims. It may be a case of major loss of revenue combined with insignificant savings from not having to supply power to the pulp mill.
Now NSP goes running to URB. Shame, shame.
http://www.newpagerestructuring.com/wp-con…
This link is to the afridavit filed by the general manager of NewPage Port Hawkesbury in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
Paragraphs 36-44 outline the impact of the the proposed electricity increases on NewPage. While not the sole factor in requsting bankruptcy protection, it did aggravate the problem.
On pages 28-29, there is a copy of a letter and an invoice from NSPI demanding payment for $9,827,695.01.
And that is just for one month!
not to mention wanting to raise their GUARANTEED RETURN on investment.
that’s bullshit.
This day and age, NOTHING is guaranteed.
oh and hey, shipping off millions to their parent company in the states while you’re at it…
tough to cry poor when you post record profits year after year.
I don’t know who’s job it is to plug this money sieve but they’ve been asleep at the wheel for years. Oh and how’s that new 50 million dollar renovated headquarters on the waterfront treating you?
“we didn’t like the look of concrete so we spent some money to put in windows… “
you fucking asshats.
fix the god damn lines so that they don’t get fucked by salt, fog, a slight breeze, raccoons…
FUCKING RAGE.
On top of all this, what really grinds my gears is we are charged an extra tax on our power bill to pay for the fine folks over at “Efficiency” Nova Scotia. A department created without a vision, and without any thought about whether they are relevant in any way (they aren’t).
I have tried to get someone with the NDP government to explain how charging me more on my power bill is going to save me money. They can’t.
Renters are paying a tax to help out those “poor homeowners” to pay for their rebates on a $2000 washing machine or dryer.
Meanwhile renters get helpful tips on how to change over to energy efficient light bulbs.
All my light bulbs are energy efficient. I bought special power bars that have a wireless switch so I can conveniently turn off all of my computer/AV equipping when I’m not around. That’s pretty much all I can do as a tenant (other than turning lights off when not using them). I am as efficient as I can be.
So they charge me (and you and everyone else) an efficiency tax.
Yet I don’t get any sort of rebate or other award for doing my part – I subsidize the fucking jack-asses who make enough money to not have to care about how much electricity they waste.
Thanks a lot you NDP fucks. I’ll show you some efficiency – with my x – around election time.
“afridavit” – is that the type of legal document formerly called Seaview Park?
>; )
It doesnt matter what we say or do ,there is nothing we can do about it.
Maybe they are driving us poor people out of NS so all the rich folk can have waterfront property.
Im not sure that NSP understands that all of us dont get 12% (or 2% for that matter)raises every year.Holy fuck I (and most of us )feel powerless to do anything.Maybe all these shareholders and fat fucks at NSP should try it and live they way most of us do.
It must be tough living off a 6 (or 7)figure salary.
Man I cant wait to get the fuck out of NS when I retire at 85.
OP, you didn’t get enough response from last week’s bitch,so you are back to try it again?
Lets get something straight. My power bill is by no means my largest expense.
my heat bill is greater. my gasoline bill is greater. my insurance bill is greater. my dentist bill for my family is greater. my grocery bill is greater.
hell, why doesn’t someone bitch about the cellphone industry. most 2 cellphone families are probably pumping out about 2000 bucks per year. whats your electricity bill like?
this is the only bitch that i will bother responding to. these jackyls are playing a waiting game, to see who folds first. usually they jack up prices just as fall starts, so they know if you have electric heat, you gotta pay them.
remember back when the slogan was ,” live better, electrically”? well most are, and there is the grab. they are living better, not the poor suckers just barely eking out a living.
now for the win, yes, they said if they lost a major buyer, then rates would go up, yet again. the first question was why, use less, pay less. but you have to remember who we are complaining about here. they are a monopoly, and as such, can say and do whatever they wish. the province can’t do fuck all, like the rest of us, or they will get cut off, for some inane reason.
myself, like many other suckers, converted light bulbs to these fucking firefly asses, and yes my bill was 40 bucks more, the next time it came, and no rate increase at that time.wtf is up with this shit, they have us in a fucking strangle hold here, and they know it. either we pay, or go dark, simple as that. there are companies making solar grids, and canada will not let them be sold here, why the fuck not?
i just wish dexter would make them an offer they can’t refuse, and tell them to either drop their rates to a more easy leval, or the province will buy them out, at the cost of time of sale, back when, plus 25 per cent. that is a fair deal for us, fuck them, who cares if they like it or not. if they balk, lay some interesting new green laws on them, that they have 30 days to get onboard with, or they will get shut down. just like that paper place. i think the coast should start doing some rabble rousing here too, it would be good for sales, and readers alike. how about it tim?
Its one thing to claim that they are expensive, but is an employment challenged province we are always complaining about cost? So where are the hard facts to back it up? How much do we pay for a kwh?
damn, I hate not having the ability to edit my posts. Here it is again, maybe it will make a bit more sense:
Its one thing to claim that power is expensive, but nova scotia is an employment challenged province. so aren’t we are always complaining about cost of everything?
In order to convince me that the power is expensive, how about providing some hard facts? How much do we pay for a kwh? How does this rate compare to other provinces?
Awww….someone’s angry they weren’t smart enough to buy a certain stock. Keep those energy rate hikes coming! Us shareholders love the profits.
You can blame all this on deregulation. The powers that be decided that it’d be a smart thing to open up the “market” and deregulate. If they wanted to sell & buy power to the Americans, then they’d have to open up the NS market to allow the Americans to buy & sell to NS. Same thing with NB.
Well, they didn’t bother to study every other place that deregulated to figure out that the so called increased competition and “choice” to the consumer resulted in increased rates, not decreased rates as promised. Now, instead of being a government entity, and hence no longer looking out for the good of the citizens of the province, all they care about is the bottom line and making money for the share holders. These share holders are not your average joe/jane of the province, so the money leaves the province to line their profits.
Rates are now determined by a market, like oil or stocks on the open market. Instead of being regulated by the government, they are free to go up and down as the market decides. However, being the only large producer available (monopoly), when the price goes down, those savings aren’t passed to the consumer. The rates remain the same (high) and the difference is pocketed by NSP. That then gets passed to the share holders.
Essential services such as power & water should never be deregulated or privatized. They should remain a non profit, government entity in which the people of the province/country have full control over, and not share holders. Look at the rolling brown outs & black outs that are experienced in California & Texas because of deregulation. Then look at the areas that have the lowest rates & highest up times. That’s right, the municipalities or regions that did not deregulate! Do not ever let them try to privatize The Halifax Regional Water Commission!!! Here are some eye openers for you about privatization:
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/V…
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/water/