The Member for Thebacha requested the total cost incurred in fiscal years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-00 by all departments, boards and agencies, including housing authorities, education boards and health and social service boards, for the purchase of fuel, electricity and other energy.
I have provided to Members a breakdown of estimated expenditures for 1998-99 only. The expenditures total $33,043,970. It is expected that expenditures for 1997-98 and 1999-00 are comparable, although some variations may occur as a result of changes in asset inventories, price changes, weather conditions and energy management initiatives.
Purchasing, payment and accounting for energy and other utilities are the responsibility of individual departments, boards and agencies. Expenditure records are not maintained centrally. Precise numbers for each year and all agencies would require considerable resources to assemble.
The listing is based on actual expenditures recorded in the government's Financial Information System, and budget or formula information for those boards and agencies that do not use the Financial Information System. The figures in the table may not capture all costs since the government pays for some energy and utilities indirectly through contracts and leases. Tax-based communities are block funded and are also not included in the table.
The government also subsidizes fuel and water/sewer services. Consequently, these figures do not reflect the full cost of providing the services.