Rates are going up for industrial users of the Landrie Lake Water Utility in Point Tupper, N.S., and the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board has approved the creation of a separate customer class for a proposed green hydrogen project.
For existing customers of the treatment plant, gradual increases over the next three years would amount to higher rates totalling about 20 per cent overall, according to a board decision released this week.
The utility told the regulator the increases are needed to cover increased operating costs and capital spending.
Existing customers include Port Hawkesbury Paper and Nova Scotia Power, among others in the Point Tupper Industrial Park in Richmond County on the Strait of Canso.
The Town of Port Hawkesbury also buys its water from the Landrie Lake utility, but the new rates won’t immediately affect residents, because the town has its own utility with its own customer rates.
Meanwhile, EverWind Fuels, which plans to build a green hydrogen plant in the area, will pay a flat rate for untreated water amounting to about $74,000 a year.
During a hearing in May, the regulatory and appeal board was told the proposed rate increase for existing customers and the flat fee proposed for EverWind are unrelated. (Tom Ayers/CBC)
According to figures filed by the utility, that would make EverWind a mid-sized customer.
The company is proposing to extract hydrogen from water for export.
Under the original rate proposal, the utility said EverWind was expected to build its own pumping station and pipeline, paying a flat fee of $50,000 a year to draw untreated water from Landrie Lake.
At the time, there was some suggestion that the revenue increase was needed in part because of EverWind’s plans, but at a hearing in May, the regulator was told the increased rates for existing users and the fee for EverWind were separate items.
Pipeline not part of application
The provincial government had issued a press release touting approval for a new pipeline to supplement the Landrie Lake water supply and connecting its approval to support for green hydrogen, but the rate hearing was told the new pipeline was not part of the current application and would only be needed in the future if demands increase on the water supply.
They said Landrie Lake has enough capacity now to handle the 10 million litres a day of water EverWind intends to draw from the source.
Both Nova Scotia Power and EverWind registered as intervenors at the hearing, but neither made any presentation to the board.
For a variety of reasons, the board directed the utility to revise its proposed rates to smooth the increases for existing customers and to increase the rate for EverWind.
MORE TOP STORIES
