NB Power to withdraw plan of ‘weather tax’

New Brunswick’s power utility has announced its plan to withdraw a controversial rate adjustment that critics have billed as a “weather tax.”

NB Power announced on Friday that it has now submitted a request to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board that will withdraw an application which would have allowed the utility to adjust rates as a result of “significant weather events.”

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“NB Power has heard from our shareholders and our customers who are anxious about the impact of the adjustment mechanism, and we are listening to those concerns,” Gaëtan Thomas, CEO and president of NB Power, said in a statement.

“We recognize that our customers are uncomfortable with the uncertainty an adjustment mechanism may create.”

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The plan was first outlined last year when one of the utility’s expert advisers proposed it adopt the adjustment mechanism.

The proposal was submitted as part of the 2018-2019 general rate application.