Key takeaways:
- The firm is keen to release some data, including bonuses and government lobbying.
- Nova Scotia Power claims that some of its data, including executive pay, should be kept secret as it pursues a rate hike.
Nova Scotia Power opposes keeping studies on executive pay hidden during proceedings on its application to hike electricity rates by 10 percent.
On Friday, the utility said two investigations by Mercer Consulting on executive compensation paid to NSP executives should stay secret despite protests from intervenors in the rate case, including the Province of Nova Scotia.
NSP lawyer Blake Williams questioned the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for ignoring the objections.
He said the firm is ready to release “the market comparable total amount of total direct compensation included in the Mercer Reports to show that the compensation contained in the General Rate Application is below market.”
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The remainder of the reports are irrelevant, he said, since legislation restricts the part of NSP executive compensation recovered from ratepayers to the level of regional deputy ministers.
“NS Power is no longer allowed to seek full recovery of its executive compensation costs. There is no explanation or justification to reveal information about the Government Pay Plan Cap amounts. If NS Power aimed to recover the full amount of executive compensation, it would reveal the full amount, just as before introducing the Government Pay Plan Cap,” Williams wrote.
Where NSP has fallen, confidentiality claims
The firm did draw many of its confidentiality claims after lawyer Nancy Rubin resisted them on behalf of the Industrial Group, representing NSP’s largest buyers and Dalhousie University.
Source – cbc.ca
