Nova Scotia is exploring ways to avoid green power gridlock, but the jury is still out on what it might cost consumers.
"It's too early to answer that," said Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Margaret Murphy when asked Thursday what green-power upgrades to the province's power grid, which NSP owns, might cost.
The government has commissioned a $300,000 study by SNC-Lavalin to examine ways to strengthen Nova Scotia's transmission system to accommodate more green power.
"Nova Scotia's new targets for 2020 will mean at least 25 per cent of all our electricity will come from renewable sources like wind, tidal, hydro and biomass," said Energy Minister Barry Barnet. "To get even more green power, we'll need to strengthen the power grid connections that bind our province and region together."
The study, which will look at the establishment of a single regional energy operator, follows this week's announcement that Nova Scotia Power plans to spend $100 million over the next five years to upgrade the performance and reliability of its system.
NSP president and CEO Rob Bennett faced a firestorm of criticism after disclosing that the improvements won't come out of company profits but could result in a one per cent rate hike in five years.
Mr. Barnet said the utility, and not customers, should cover those reliability improvement costs.
But Energy Department spokesman Matt Lumley agreed that it is too early to say what it might cost to build a greener grid and whether NSP customers would be on the hook for it, as they are for reliability upgrades.
"It's unclear at this point," he said, noting that federal infrastructure funding might be used for the green upgrades or costs might be shared regionally. "That's why we need the study."
Dalhousie University professor Larry Hughes, who has written extensively on alternative energy issues, suggested the government study will focus on tapping into large hydro projects, like the Lower Churchill in Newfoundland and Labrador, which he said might not happen.
"It's not necessarily going to fly," he said, adding that the government isn't looking at importing nuclear energy from New Brunswick or implementing interval metering that would charge consumers according to the fuel sources they use.
"If we want all new fuel sources, we should change the way we meter," he said, speculating that NSP would likely pass any costs associated with green grid improvements to consumers.
Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil was in Newfoundland on Thursday to meet with Premier Danny Williams and promote an energy corridor from Lower Churchill through Nova Scotia.
"The importance of securing this project cannot be overstated," he said in a release, adding that Nova Scotians would benefit from access to the project's clean, renewable energy.