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The following is being distributed at the request of the Consumer Advocate, Dennis M. Browne, Q.C. Newfoundland Power ads misleading says consumer advocate - "Newfoundland Power's newspaper advertisements maintaining 'Newfoundland's electricity cost lowest in Atlantic Canada'", are plain wrong," says Consumer Advocate Dennis Browne. "This is simply not true," states Browne. "In fact, our analysis shows that the consumers of this province pay the second highest electricity rates in Atlantic Canada. Only the Province of Nova Scotia is higher. In the ads, Newfoundland Power used figures based on low usage of electricity. These figures would only be good in the summer months or for someone who does not have electric heat. Upwards of 80 per cent of Newfoundland Power's customers use electric heat. "In New Brunswick and P.E.I. the utility charges a two tier rate where the first 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity is more expensive," Browne explained. "In effect, consumers in other provinces pay more on average per kwh in the summer months, when their consumption of electricity is low, but less on average in the winter months when their consumption is high. Under the two tier system in use in New Brunswick, consumers are charged 7.13 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours and 5.38 cents per kilowatt for anything above 1,000 kilowatt hours. In this province there is no two tier system and consumers pay 6.751 cents for every kilowatt used." "In this province a typical electric heat customer would use in excess of 2,500 kilowatt hours of electricity per month during the winter," Browne stated. "For the vast majority of Newfoundland Power's customers, electricity, particularly during the winter, costs more in Newfoundland than in either New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island. It is misleading of Newfoundland Power to suggest otherwise." Browne noted: "The most recent report on Newfoundland Power completed by the Canadian Bond Rating Services has described electricity rates in Newfoundland as amongst the highest in Canada. Therefore, the consumers of this province have good reason to be sceptical of any numbers put forward by Newfoundland Power which would suggest otherwise." Contact: Dennis M. Browne, Q.C., Tel: (709) 754-1800, Fax: (709) 754-2701, E-Mail: mgk@roadrunner.nf.net
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