Taxpayers
could be the ones footing the bill if more renewable energy has to be added to
the electrical grid because of a deal to help restart a shuttered Cape Breton
paper mill.
The
province told the regulator Friday that neither the mill’s would-be owner,
Pacific West Commercial Corp. of Vancouver, nor Nova Scotia Power customers
would have to pay any such cost.
But
the government didn’t say exactly who would foot the bill to ensure
provincially mandated renewable energy targets are met.
“The
government commits to ensuring that if the mill load does trigger an additional
(renewable energy) obligation during the term of the proposed mechanism, and if
this results in incremental costs, then the province guarantees that neither
(Pacific West) nor other ratepayers will be required to pay these incremental
costs,” deputy energy minister Murray Coolican said in a letter to the
province’s Utility and Review Board.
Pacific
West has asked the board for an expedited decision on the rate proposal because
it wants to reopen the mill by Sept. 1.
