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GPIAtlantic Submission to the 2005 UARB - NSPI Rate Case Hearings. Ronald Colman November, 2005. An Unsustainable System – The Link to Rates & the Environment. Extremely high air pollutant emissions High greenhouse gas emissions High reliance on imported fossil fuels
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GPIAtlantic Submission to the 2005 UARB - NSPI Rate Case Hearings Ronald Colman November, 2005
An Unsustainable System – The Link to Rates & the Environment • Extremely high air pollutant emissions • High greenhouse gas emissions • High reliance on imported fossil fuels • Increasing demand for electricity
Domestic Fossil Fuels • Natural gas: limited reserves, North American price • Coal: NS coal not economic thus far, high levels of impurity, many environmental impacts, likely fluctuating cost
Decreasing Renewable Energy - NS Power Generating Capacity 1979 2003
A Conditional Rate Increase • Substantial investment in development of renewable energy sources. • NSPI, in cooperation, must actively develop programs and policies to reduce energy demand. • Investments in pollution reduction from coal plants. • Strategy to address fuel poverty a prerequisite.
Summary If the 15% price hike is used only to compensate for higher fossil fuel prices, then GPI Atlantic vigorously opposes the rate increase. This will contribute nothing to the sustainability of Nova Scotia’s energy system and set a precedent for future price hikes that will accompany the inevitable and impending advent of peak oil production and surging world demand for other imported fuels.