Sussex food bank pushing for cheaper power rates for N.B. charities

The Sussex Sharing Club currently pays full price for power, but president Alfie Smith has been working on getting a cheaper power rate.

A food bank in Sussex, N.B. is hoping to change the way NB Power calculates rates for charitable organizations.

While donations are steady, the need is growing, and those working behind the counter at the Sussex Sharing Club say they would rather spend money on food than electricity.

“When we were on our old site we had a residential rate for NB Power,” says Alfie Smith, president of the Sharing Club. “When we moved in here we ended up with power on demand, which was general service.”

The food bank currently pays full price for power, but Smith has been working on getting a cheaper power rate since he received the first bill more than three years ago.

“The revenue’s coming in, but I’d rather spend $9,000 on food than I would on NB Power,” he says. “We have to pay for power, there is no question of that, in paying for power, but what I’m after is trying to get off of power-on-demand.”

Smith says Nova Scotia food banks get a cheaper rate and he would like to see the same done for food banks in New Brunswick.

“So what has to happen is EUB starts to look at giving all charitable organizations residential rates, or they do a full analysis and give a special rate to all the charitable organizations in the province of New Brunswick,” says Smith.

The food bank typically serves around 1,300 people a month and Smith says that number is on the rise.

Staff at the Sussex Sharing Club say numbers have increased over the past year and especially since January, when the Potash Mine closed, putting more than 400 people out of work.

“The Sussex Sharing Club has been very, very vital for the Sussex area. As everybody knows, the mine shut down here Jan. 19 and they have seen, not really from the mine workers themselves, but from the spinoff operations that were dependent on the mine,” says local MLA Bruce Northrup.

“It’s just not there anymore, so they’ve seen an uptake of customers coming through the door of the Sharing Club, so it’s even more important now than it was in the past.”

Northrup says he supports the Sharing Club and hopes NB Power will lower its rate for the organization.

“We’re hopeful that the EUB and NB Power will take a serious look at this and my understanding it’s within the next three months, but hopefully they’ll be able to come up with an answer before that,” says Northrup. “I think it’s a great thing for the Sharing Club and the non-profit organizations, not only here in Sussex, but for the whole province.”

Smith says the New Brunswick Energy and Utility Board told him he should receive an answer within three months.

NB Power was not available for comment.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Blackford