New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt, shown speaking in India in February, says her government will make structural changes after a review of the province's public utility.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says she’s committed to making the changes necessary to address NB Power’s soaring electricity rates.
Holt says the province’s troubled public utility will require structural changes to deliver predictable and affordable power for residents.
A third-party review of NB Power released last week said politically motivated decisions like rate freezes have added more than $1-billion to the utility’s $6-billion debt.
The report called for an end to political interference at the utility, where rates had increased more than 20 per cent over two years.
Holt has not said whether her government would rule out rate caps or freezes, blaming past administrations for the utility’s current state.
The Liberal provincial government is expected to give a formal response to the NB Power report in May.
“We will make the changes necessary in order to deliver to New Brunswickers predictable and affordable increases to their cost and power,” Holt said in an interview.