Audit ordered after soaring N.B. Power bills anger thousands of customers

N.B. Power will undergo an independent audit after thousands of customer complaints about December power bills, which for many were hundreds of dollars higher than expected.

Announcing the audit Tuesday afternoon,  Energy Minister René Legacy told reporters he had asked NB Power to have the findings ready for public accounts by Feb. 18. 

The date of NB Power's appearance at public accounts is not yet confirmed and will be set by the committee. 

Premier Susan Holt said the government had been working for a week to understand why increases of $200 to $500  — or up to 1,500 kilowatt hours — had shown up on power bills.

"We've been listening to New Brunswickers and we share your concerns about expensive power bills," Holt told reporters.

"We heard from a large volume of New Brunswickers … with really significant spikes in power bills that were unexpected, that didn't go to trend and we want to get to the bottom of this."

WATCH | N.B. Power billing to get independent scrutiny: 

External review coming as N.B. Power customers question sudden spike in bills

8 hours ago

Duration 2:45

The province and utility are getting complaints from customers about bills showing an unexpected spike in power usage, spurring the government and board of directors to launch an independent audit.

She said her caucus met with N.B. Power representatives on Jan. 20 to get a better understanding of the issue, but "that conversation left us with more questions." 

Legacy said he had meetings with the N.B. Power board over the last 10 days, and the utility has agreed to an independent review. 

"They also share the concern that if there are any significant concerns from New Brunswickers, whether their system is compromised, that is an issue for them too, so they want to get to the bottom of it," Legacy said.

Holt said the Liberal government isn't ruling anything out now, but this could simply have been a "perfect storm of pain for New Brunswickers." 

Earlier in the day, Lori Clark, the president and CEO of the Crown corporation, said system audits suggested a change in consumption by N.B, Power's customers was the cause.

She said December was the first cold month since rates increased by 9.8 per cent last spring. December was also on average three degrees colder than the December before, and the billing cycle for some customers was as long as 33 days, she said.

Information Morning - Fredericton15:03NB Power bills

Well, the reaction to power bills has been overwhelming. So many people have contacted usand their elected representatives about their power bills. Jeanne Armstrong spoke to Lori Clark, President and CEO from NB Power.

A one-time debit of $11 was added for some customers last month, to comply with the Energy and Utilities Board's order to keep distinct service charges for rural and urban customers.

When asked if she would consider a freeze on power rates, Holt said her focus is figuring out what happened in this situation first. 

"Right now we need to get to the bottom of this issue, because if there's an issue here that we can learn from it's something that we have to address urgently," she said.