The Utility & Review Board has set aside the first week of May to hear evidence and make a decision about the Cowie Hill power line issue.

Things are coming to a head, so I thought this would be a good time to provide an update.

To understand the issue, we have to go back to when Cowie Hill was built in the early 1970s. Electrical wiring was buried in trenches. This left Cowie Hill without power poles or overhead wires, making the neighbourhood look good and cutting down on power outages.

NSP bankrolled the underground installation, and recouped its costs by charging a little extra on every resident’s power bill. This extra charge lasted for 30 years and has only just ended.

For the past several years, NSP has been saying that the underground electrical system must be replaced. Their position has been that they will replace the underground system with poles and overhead wires. NSP’s position has been that, if the residents want to keep an underground system, the residents will have to pay for it. The cost: over $2 million.

Needless to say, $2 million is a financial burden that the homeowners of Cowie Hill would find very difficult to bear.

Fortunately, Cowie Hill is organized into four condominium corporations. And the corporations have banded together to fight for fair treatment of Cowie Hill’s homeowners.

A few representative homeowners filed a complaint with the Utility & Review Board, which has to approve NSP’s capital spending. After several lenghty delays, the hearing has been set for May 1-5, 2006. Since I have taken a great personal interest in this issue, I applied to be a “formal intervenor”, meaning I have the right to present evidence, question witnesses and make submissions. It also means I get a copy of all documents pertaining to the hearing. With the support of Councillor Linda Mosher, whose district includes Cowie Hill, the Halifax Regional Municipality is also a formal intervenor.

Let me compliment the Boards of Directors of the four corporations for their professional approach. Among other things, they jointly hired a lawyer. Most importantly, they have united to protect their members’ interests.

Recently, NSP very substantially revised its proposal. I do not have the space here to describe the new proposal in detail. Let me say only that, if the condo corporations and the UARB reach agreement, it will leave most of the wiring underground, at a very low or possibly no cost to Cowie Hill homeowners. There are still some questions about the proposal that need to be answered, but it is a big, big improvement over what was on the table before.

I very much encourage any Cowie Hill homeowner who may be reading this to pay very close attention to any information you get from your condominium corporation about the NSP proposal. Your Board of Directors has been working hard to get NSP to this point and they need you to help “close the deal.”

And then, once and for all, the Cowie Hill power line issue will be resolved.