Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Tufts Cove to cost $93 Million

Nova Scotia Power was given the OK on Monday to spend an extra $8.7 million on its Tufts Cove waste heat recovery project. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff / File)


     Here is another article that I was able to come across, this time done by JUDY MYRDEN; It is about NSP (Nova Scotia Power) and the Tufts Cove project to cost $93 million which is up from the original cost that put out on Sept. 12, 2007 in the amount of $66.2 million, this is the second increase since it was put out 3 years ago, the first increase was approved on May 28, 2008 to increase the budget for the project to $84.3 million.

     This means that they were approved to increase the spending to get this project done the first time by 18.2 Million not even 1 year after it got started; Now we are in to year 3+ and the project is still not done but they were approved for another financial increase for the project of $8.7 Million more, this does not seam right to me, power rates seem to go up every other year, yet the company is consistently making a profit every year, Nova Scotia Power Inc. earnings rose to $22.4 million from $16.6 million, so they have had almost 8 Million more in profits this year, but yet they still want a rate hike for the consumers, when is enough enough for large companies, no company needs to make this much money after all is said and done; at what point is this going to be considered greed, when all the poor/old age and such can no longer afford to have power where they live.

     Who here wants to have a possible rate increase from Nova Scotia Power of 18% (industrial) and 12% (residential), I know I do not, sure I use power, but I know I am using right around the same amount now as I was back in 2000, my rates have gone from Basic Charge of $21.00 to $21.66 and a per KWH of $0.0835 to 0.11612. That is a basic charge increase of $0.66 (3.1%) and a increase of 0.03262 (71.9%) per KWH used and yet get hit with a high wind storm and we lose power for who knows how long; I say increases like that should have results that can be seen and tested.

local Christmas tree certification

     I just read a article on the News 95.7 website about "local Christmas tree certification" by Doug Cogswell. It states that all lots that sell Christmas Tree's that are grown here in Nova Scotia will have a banner indicating that they were grown locally and cut down within a maximum of 10 days of them being displayed for sale to the public, so other than having to go out and cut down your own tree and then bringing it home; The tree you get should last a lot longer than in previous years due to not knowing when the tree you picked out was cut down no matter what you were told.

     I say this is a good turn of advents to the local consumer and should make it a better time of year for the young children in all of us walking in to our houses and having the great smell of pine wafting through the house.


HHB Toll Increase

     There is a recent news report about the Toll hike for the bridges connecting Halifax and Dartmouth Nova Scotia ("Hearings into proposed bridge toll hike underway"), the current rate for crossing either of the bridges is $0.75 + $0.25/axle ($0.60 + $0.20 if using a MacPass) for a one way trip for a Passenger Vehicle, for a Over sized Vehicle (Anything with more than 2 tires per Axle) is $1.00 ($0.875 if using a MacPass), Buses are charged $2.50 ($1.20 if using a MacPass), "Source".

     As it is now the Bridge Commision already allocates 14.82% of their total income towards Maintenance Expenses, In 2005 the average number of vehicle crossings per day was 37,739, the information listed on page 18 of the HHB "Planning & Partnerships Annual Report 2009-10 "Maintenance expenses decreased by $1,249 in Q4 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Annual maintenance expenses decreased by $3,936 to $3,736 in 2009/2010 from $7,672 for the same period in 2008/2009. The significant decrease in bridge maintenance is attributable to the Victoria Road Interchange maintenance project expenses that occurred during the year ended March 31, 2009." and they had a Annual toll revenue for 2009/2010 of $24,251.

     So why is it that they have to raise their rates for people that need to cross the Harbour to make a living, this is not only for professional people, but also for other services such as Taxi's and couriers and other services, if the rates do increase for travel across the bridges, then that would lead to the other services would have to increase their rates as well.

     So 1 small change to this service will effect more than just their traffic across the bridges and the congestion but also the other services that use the bridge's as well. I say that there is no need to raise the rate('s) for the use of the bridges.

     I say that if they want to be able to have more money, have them turn the lights off that they installed back in 1999, at that time the estimated cost for those lights to be used was $50,000.00 a year; and with the possible rate increase from Nova Scotia Power industrial rates by as much as 18% (residential rates by 12%) ("Source").


What are your thoughts on this, for me I say no, the increase is not needed and should not be allowed to pass.

Do you like sports!

Do you like sports, if so here is a great place to go to to listen (News 95.7; All News Radio) to them online if you do not have access to a TV to see the games. http://bit.ly/aShWPN

New Local Radio Station

Have you heard that there is a new radio station (Live 105.1; "Live Life Loud") locally operating now, they play all the stuff from the 90's and such, check them out here http://bit.ly/eb6kyn

Christmas Timer

Here is a link to a Christmas count down timer for those that can not remember how many sleeps they have till Christmas is here. http://bit.ly/aMi8EU

Christmas Video

Here is a great link that I have found to a great video for all variations of Christmas, I give it a 5/5 for originality and for quality of sound and video. http://bit.ly/btSage

Santa's Info

Do you have kids and want to keep up with Santa and what is going on, then this is the link to go to to get that information, this is something that your kids will get a good kick out of. http://bit.ly/d1Dqrq

Winter Parking Ban

Do not forget people that the winter parking ban for this year as per the HRM takes effect as of December 15, 2010 until March 31, 2011. The parking ban restricts on-street parking each night from 1:00 am to 7:00 am. http://bit.ly/fjAjY1

Latest HRM highwaynroad conditions

The latest info for the local highways in the HRM are as follows. Highways 2 & 111 & 118 are snow covered and care should be taken when driving on these highways.

HRM's latest road conditions

For people in the HRM of Nova Scotia you should check this site out from the Weather Network.ca for the latest road conditions so you know what to expect when driving. http://bit.ly/eLypff

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