A public hearing regarding the transfer of the Canso electric utility is set for later this month.
Earlier this year, the Municipality of the District of Guysborough and Nova Scotia Power filed an
application with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to transfer the Canso Electric Light Utility from the county to NSP. In order for the power rates to change to Nova Scotia Power’s rates, the residential customer class rates will increase by 12.3 per cent while the small general and general classes with decrease by 19.2 per cent and 14.6 per cent respectively.
No one filed evidence opposing the application.
The venue for the public hearing has changed from Canso to the UARB offices in Halifax and is set for 10 a.m. on October 22. There was one request filed to speak during the session.
After the Town of Canso dissolved and amalgamated with the Municipality of the District of Guysborough in 2012, Guysborough absorbed the former town’s electric utility. The Town of Canso council passed a resolution to sell the utility in 2010 and after Guysborough looked for a body to assume operations of the utility, Nova Scotia Power was the only viable candidate.
Guysborough’s application before the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board would see the utility switch hands at a cost of $1 and become official on January, 2020. The municipality is set to still own the financial assets within the utility and as part of the process, NSP will invest close to $500,000 to upgrade infrastructure in the county.