Congratulations to NB Power for Starting to Issue Quarterly Financials

Congratulations to NB Power for starting to issue quarterly financial reports. The utility’s first quarterly statement can be found here.

I have been arguing publicly, including in appearances before the Crown Corporations committee of the Legislative Assembly, for this improvement in transparency since 1996.

The only remaining major utility in Canada that does not issue quarterly statements is Nalcor.

2 Comments

  1. That is one ugly looking balance sheet! D/E of 13:1 negative W/C. Thank god for the provincial guarantee!

    • Parker is absolutely right about NB Power having an ugly balance sheet. Note that NB Power has a history of restating earnings, erasing previously reported earnings. NB Power’s real equity may well be negative.

      Many of NB Power’s key assets have big question marks. Its largest hydro-electric station, called Mactaquac, which supplies about 20% of the province’s power and most of NB Power’s earnings, suffers from one of the worse known cases of alkali aggregate reaction, weakening the concrete structure of key components including the spill way and the power house. Here is a report discussing the problem.

      If the Point Lepreau refurbishment ends up with production and operating cost results like Bruce units 1 and 2, or even worse, if the results are like Pickering units 3 and 4, then NB Power’s financial problems will become overwhelming.

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