Mayor says village had no time to oppose rate increase
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Jan 12/01) - The mayor of Fort Simpson says village council never had a chance to object to the latest increase in power bills.
Tom Wilson said by the time council received notice that the Power Corp. planned to add a 9.9 cents per kilowatt hour fuel rider it was too late to intervene.
The additional charge, which is intended to help the Power Corp. eliminate the deficit in its fuel stabilization fund, only applies to communities that are powered by diesel fuel.
As the community with the largest diesel consumption in the NWT, Wilson says Fort Simpson should have been given more notice.
The first piece of correspondence to arrive in late October was vague and only indicated that there may be an increase, he said.
"The next letter we got from them was dated Dec. 5 ... we never saw it at council until the 18th of December, by that time it was a done deal," Wilson said, adding that the Public Utilities Board (PUB) approved the fuel rider on Dec. 8.
"Even if it was faxed to us on the 5th, how the hell do you put things together to have an intervention on the 8th?"
Peter Watt, communications officer for the Power Corp., said Fort Simpson doesn't have the authority to intervene in an application for a rate rider, only in a general rate application.
Wilson said those sorts of rules have been subject to change in the past and can be changed again. He added that the information has been forwarded to Nahendeh MLA Jim Antoine.
"To say people are upset would be putting it mildly," Wilson said. "This leaves a sour taste in people's mouths."
Watt said the Territorial Power Support Program (TPSP) will cover the fuel rider for all residential customers up to 700 kilowatts per hour. Based on calculations Watt did last year, he said about 45 per cent of Fort Simpson customers exceed that 700 kilowatt per hour cap, even during the coldest months of the year.
The TPSP, a GNWT program, is not applicable to the municipality, however. Wilson said the village, which is cash strapped, will pay an additional $17 per month on each street light alone.
"There's quite an impact on the village," Wilson said.
Watt said the latest fuel rider is expected to be in place until the end of March, but is "open ended" in case sales aren't as high as forecasted.
The latest rider replaced the former fuel rider of 3.4 cents per kilowatt hour, which had gone into effect in July. The Power Corp. had anticipated some relief in fuel prices, said Watt, costs have continued to climb.
In justifying the higher fuel rider to the PUB, the Power Corp. said its $3.1 million fuel fund deficit as of Nov. 30 was projected to reach $5.8 million by March 31, 2001, if the 3.4 cents per kilowatt hour was not increased to 9.9 cents.
