The Public Utilities Board is continuing its examination of Newfoundland Power’s general rate application — a proposed rate hike for customers in this province.
At the same time, the utility’s parent company, Fortis Inc., has released a detailed report on its financial result for 2012 to investors.
Fortis pulled in $315 million for its shareholders in the last year, or $1.66 per common share, it states.
That is compared to $311 million, $1.71 per share, in 2011.
Newfoundland Power’s earnings were $5 million more in 2012 when compared to 2011, it notes, “largely due to lower effective income taxes.”
“Our Canadian regulated utilities, led by strong growth at FortisAlberta, achieved approximately 11 per cent growth in earnings year over year,” stated Stan Marshall, president and chief executive officer for Fortis Inc.
As well, “Fortis Properties delivered earnings of $22 million compared to $23 million for 2011,” the financial report states.
Spending on hydro, US utility acquisition
On the other side of earnings, Fortis companies spent more than $1 billion on capital projects during the last year.
The largest project currently underway is the Waneta Expansion hydroelectric generating facility — a new, 335 megawatt power plant — on the Pend d’Oreille River in British Columbia. Fortis has a 51 per cent interest in the project.
“Approximately $436 million in total has been spent on the Waneta Expansion since construction began in late 2010, with a further $227 million expected to be spent in 2013,” the company update states. The plant is expected to come online in 2015.
Meanwhile, with the approval of the New York State Public Service Commission of Fortis’ acquisition of CH Energy Group, under a settlement agreement, the Canadian-based company expects the deal to be closed in the second quarter of 2013.
“Serving our customers well is our utmost priority. We are also focused on closing the CH Energy Group acquisition,” Marshall stated.
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Obviously these are the words of a highly paid employee or a selfish shareholder. He must have forgotten about the recent power outages and the threat of ongoing anticipated rotating power outages. Much want smore but often gets less. I ask you, why do we always have to compare our rates with other provinces? Why can't we start setting some standards and have others follow us. Same old NL mentality, got to do like they do on the mainland. It's time to stop that. Comparatively speaking, how does Stan Marshall's annual compensation compare with other like (similar in size) utility companies? Over the moon I expect.