street-light fight pits city vs. hydro - solar street light design

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This article was published on May 5, 2010. (3333 days ago)
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The City Hall believes it was blackmailed when it paid for the electricity of Winnipeg's 71,000 streetlights.
It will initiate an audit to determine-
The latest twist in an unusual battle between Manitoba and the Manitoba Hydropower Station.
The city has issued tenders requiring auditors to review its street and lane lighting billing system and to carry out a "resumption audit" to identify and repair the wrong payments they believe have been made in the past five years.
This is a problem that has plagued cities for many years, and City lawyers have repeatedly asked regulators like the Public Utilities Commission to raise street lamp rates to levels consistent with the actual costs of hydropower production and delivery of electricity.
On Wednesday, no one in the city's financial or legal departments commented on the audit.
Manitoba Hydropower will hold a hearing in September, when the city of Manitoba may produce an audit report proving that the Streetlight Act is unfair.
The city did the same at its last hearing two years ago.
Doug Buhr, a retired city attorney for Manitoba Hydro, said that for 30 years, Manitoba Hydro charged municipalities for street lamps, which cost taxpayers nearly $50 million.
"These are taxpayer's money, and the elected representatives of the city should decide how best to use it, not Manitoba hydropower," Bull told the bar at the time.
"This is unfair and unreasonable, and it is not in the public interest.
"Each type of customer-
Commercial, residential and road lighting-
Expenses close to 100% of the actual cost of electricity should be paid as far as possible.
But for decades, cities and towns have paid more than their share. -
Sometimes up to 132%.
The city hall's street lights cost about $10 million a year.
The City pays about 620,000 dollars a year more than its share.
Hydro has long argued, however, that it is slowly trying to balance the competitive environment by making street lighting classes more in line with actual service costs.
This is why the rate of interest rate increase of street lamps is often lower than that of owners and enterprises.
Bob Brennan, chief executive of hydropower, said accelerating the pace of relocation meant that other taxpayers, such as homeowners, might see higher bills and be hit by interest rates.
Audits have also exacerbated recent friction between city halls and utility companies.
In February, the city filed a lawsuit alleging that water and electricity owed the city more than $10 million in improper taxation.
The current problem is that hydropower levies urban electricity and gas taxes on households and entrepreneurs, and then remits them to cities.
Municipal Government Calls Routine Audit-
It's like the one designed for street lights. -
In the past decade, hydropower companies have found many mistakes in the way they levy taxes.
Their audit showed that the city hall was in short supply of water and electricity to $10.
Six million, the city used to balance the budget.
On Tuesday, Hydro filed a brief defence statement saying it had collected and handed over taxes to the city.
Even if not, Hydro argues that over the past decade, the city should have found this mistake through audits and reviews, especially since Hydro levies taxes as it did when it owned Winnipeg hydropower. maryagnes. Welch@freepress. mb.