HALIFAX - It's soon going to cost Nova Scotians more to turn on the lights and heat their homes.
The province's Utility and Review Board announced a price hike today of 6.1 per cent for residential customers to offset revenue shortfalls from two of the utility's major clients, NewPage Port Hawkesbury and Bowater Mersey Paper.
The mills will receive a special discount called a load retention rate, which lasts three years. The discount isn't as steep as the two companies requested, but if the two mills use the same amount of electricity as they previously were, they could save nearly $60 million.
The NewPage mill in Point Tupper shut down in September and the Bowater mill in Brooklyn has said it will be forced to close down unless it gets provincial aid and lower power costs.
