NS: Coal still king?

paul campbell

- March 20, 2012 at 23:15:41

Nothing good has ever come from mining coal. I have many family members dead because of that dammed mineral and it's ruining our environment, locally and globally. I'd love to never see it mined or burned again.

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RealityCkeck

- March 20, 2012 at 19:37:43

GETREAL, thankyou for confirming that this deal is really all about creating a market for Nova Scotia's high sulphur, high mercury coal that is banned in most countries and one of the reasons the mines were closed under emission regulations 10 years ago. For years Nova Scotia Power has said it is cheaper to import cleaner coal than upgrade the power plants, so exactly where does the technology exist to burn it reasonably cleanly, how much does it cost and who's going to pay for it? According to figures from Nova Scotia's Department of Energy and Nova Scotia Power and debates in the House of Assembly, 35% of the energy will still come from burning 2 million tonnes of coal/yr in 2030 in Nova Scotia. Donkin has sat approved but idle since the NDP were elected and have been blasting and strip mining "surface" coal instead and are about to lift a 6 year Moratorium on 13 more sites while refusing to ban mining in municipal watersheds. So where's the evidence that shows how Nova Scotia is going to reduce emissions at all at this rate, let alone by 25% by 2020?

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Johnny smoke

- March 20, 2012 at 19:30:31

Nice sediments, too bad that you are all wrong. N.S.P. with a return on investment of 9.6 to 9.9% or R.O.I. as it is better known, live in a guaranteed world thanks to the movers and shakers that we call the Government of the Province of Nova Scotia.Their return is based on the dollars invested not the the the production or distribution of electrical power. This is the simple reason why they jumped to get on board with the provincial government's hair brained idea to stick windmills all over the province, they increased their return on investment, and yours and mine power bill at the same time. I would love to know what politician benefited greatly by that deal, I could put forward a name but in doing so, the news would probably not print this. Meanwhile the persons in Trenton have to eat fly ash, the people in Evansville have to eat coal dust, however the people in Tufts Cove and Halifax in general enjoy smoke free, smog free, ash free,dust free emissions over their sacred city. Meanwhile N.S.P. pocket a return in the upper 9% range, from the money collected elsewhere and invested in keeping out capital and our politicians not only warm and fuzzy, but spotless as well.

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getreal

- March 20, 2012 at 14:31:51

Congratulations, Shadow. Amazing array of stats without a cogent conclusion. On to the point. Congrats to both the Federal and Provincial authorities on this one. NS has a natural advantage in very few resources, but coal is something we have in abundance. And much of it, like the resource at Donkin in Cape Breton, is very high energy. And the technology exists to burn it reasonably cleanly. Practicality, reason and objectivity are terms that can seldom be used to describe government actions. This announcement is a welcome exception to that rule!

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The Shadow

- March 20, 2012 at 12:27:13

Scott NSP is regulated by the utilities and review board and is a private company . There is indeed nothing illegal about return on investment . That is how the economy works. The Utilities and review board also regulates town owned utilities in Antigonish and Kentville that charge essentially the same price for electricity. Bodies that the utilities and review boards regulate is the municipal water and sewage treatment systems that also raise their rates on a continuing basis. No one seems to question the monopoly governments have on these infrastructure pieces held and controlled by public sector unions which often back mail the population with a strike like the recent transit strike in the HRM. Problem with people in this province is we have had our lifestyles subdized to a great degree for a while . IN the case of the government controlled transit system only 37 percent of revenues come from toll box collection while the bus drivers make about 33 per more then the per capita GDP. Without privatizing NSP there indeed would be a huge debt burden on the province for the Point Aconi and Trenton Power Stations plus the pension liabilities of the last decade or so we have avoided. A possible pension liability not unlike the teachers union, Dalhousie university and the civil servants that is in the billions. NSP would not be that big for pensions but better to have it on the private payrolls then on the public's. Also in the mix is the Dexter governments green energy commitment that they are compelling NSP to. Green Energy is highly inefficient for return on investment and thus a contributing factor to rising electrical costs in the province. Two pieces of advice . If you feel that you are getting ripped off by the power company go buy your own generation capacity at Canadian Tire. IF you want to take part in NSP then do what most intelligent people do , buy stocks in NSP. Nothing prevents you from doing either.

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  RegReader

  - March 20, 2012 at 15:48:18

  No, there's nothing illegal about a return on investment... the problem most people have is the guaranteed return on investment... at over 9%. In today's market, without something illegal going on that is unheard of. It's nice that you may have the disposable income to purchase these stocks.... most of us do not.

scott

- March 20, 2012 at 11:55:31

NSP will find away to make this bad news and raise rates again. NSP business practices should be found illegal. They trade on the open market ( which is supposed to have some sort of risk) but will guarantee a return. The only way to do this is to constantly raise rates. NSP will make excuses to raise them but report record earnings. Some suits need to be sent to prison.

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