Mawhinney: Town of Lunenburg Looking for Fixed Power Costs

The town of Lunenburg's mayor says the entire province is feeling the same pain when discussing power rates. The cost of electricity went up across the province on January 1st and Laurence Mawhinney explains its something everyone has to deal with. The town is able to offer residents a lower cost for power because it buys electricity in bulk from Nova Scotia Power and operates its own utility. However, Mawhinney says that doesn't mean the town isn't searching for lower costs from alternate energy suppliers. "What we said in our strategic plan is that we wanted to get a new source of energy that was greener and more efficient and was more in line with fixed costs - I do believe we are moving in that direction and I'm optimistic in the not too distant future, we'll be able to put the plank down for the public," The town is one of five municipal units in the province who operate their own utility. Mahone Bay, Riverport, Berwick and Antigonish are the others. The town of Canso also operates it's own utility but is in the midst of amalgamating with the Municipality of Guysborough.