Rhino
May 3rd, 2006, 08:25 PM
N.S. to regulate gasoline prices from July 1
Updated Wed. May. 3 2006 12:23 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Nova Scotia has announced it will regulate its own gasoline and diesel fuel prices from July 1.
"Nova Scotians want more stable gas prices and they want to know those prices are justified," provincial Service Minister Richard Hurlburt said in a release Wednesday.
Hurlburt said responsibility for setting fuel prices will be left up to the province's Utility and Review Board after a hearing process this fall.
"Nova Scotia will soon be the only province east of Ontario that does not regulate gasoline and that's a reality we have to respond to," he added.
The regulation plan, based on the Prince Edward Island model, calls for consumers to be given a warning about price increases.
Regulations will hold prices steady over two-week intervals and consumers will be told when they are about to change.
However, if international fuel prices spike up or down significantly, oil companies will still be able to contact the province and request an interruption to the two-week cycle in order to raise or lower the price.
Premier Rodney MacDonald said the decision was made "in the best interest of Nova Scotians" and to small, independent gas retailers.
But he cautioned that regulation did not mean the end of high fuel prices.
"I have said from day one that this does not mean lower prices, but we will do everything we can to keep those prices as close to what they are today as possible," he told reporters Wednesday.
Nova Scotia becomes the last Atlantic province to regulate fuel prices. Many Nova Scotia provincial MPs have been calling for a regulated market for years.
Hurlburt said the regulatory regime will be reviewed annually.
"As government, we have to continually review the situation and make the changes that are best for the public once you balance all sides of the equation," he said.
A litre of regular was selling Wednesday for about $1.15 a litre in the Halifax area.
I called it ! :)
Updated Wed. May. 3 2006 12:23 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Nova Scotia has announced it will regulate its own gasoline and diesel fuel prices from July 1.
"Nova Scotians want more stable gas prices and they want to know those prices are justified," provincial Service Minister Richard Hurlburt said in a release Wednesday.
Hurlburt said responsibility for setting fuel prices will be left up to the province's Utility and Review Board after a hearing process this fall.
"Nova Scotia will soon be the only province east of Ontario that does not regulate gasoline and that's a reality we have to respond to," he added.
The regulation plan, based on the Prince Edward Island model, calls for consumers to be given a warning about price increases.
Regulations will hold prices steady over two-week intervals and consumers will be told when they are about to change.
However, if international fuel prices spike up or down significantly, oil companies will still be able to contact the province and request an interruption to the two-week cycle in order to raise or lower the price.
Premier Rodney MacDonald said the decision was made "in the best interest of Nova Scotians" and to small, independent gas retailers.
But he cautioned that regulation did not mean the end of high fuel prices.
"I have said from day one that this does not mean lower prices, but we will do everything we can to keep those prices as close to what they are today as possible," he told reporters Wednesday.
Nova Scotia becomes the last Atlantic province to regulate fuel prices. Many Nova Scotia provincial MPs have been calling for a regulated market for years.
Hurlburt said the regulatory regime will be reviewed annually.
"As government, we have to continually review the situation and make the changes that are best for the public once you balance all sides of the equation," he said.
A litre of regular was selling Wednesday for about $1.15 a litre in the Halifax area.
I called it ! :)