Nova Scotia Power Penalties: UARB Service Standards

Nova Scotia —

Nova Scotia Power Penalties empower the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to levy financial sanctions for missed customer service standards, reliability and storm response metrics, ensuring compliance with costs borne by shareholders, not ratepayers.

What This Means

Regulatory fines up to $1M per year if Nova Scotia Power misses service reliability or storm response standards.

Board can fine NS Power up to $1M yearly for missed standards
Penalties target shareholders, not ratepayers
Standards cover reliability, storm response, customer service
Rates touted as stable amid climate action and past hike debates

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board now has the authority to impose financial penalties on Nova Scotia Power for not meeting customer service standards.

Government proclaimed this last section of the Electricity Plan Implementation Act today, Nov. 16, as the board continues with the process of setting performance standards, and as the minister says the province can't order rate cuts under the utility's regulatory framework.

In 2015, Nova Scotia's electricity plan introduced performance standards for service reliability and storm response, and customer service.

"Nova Scotians told us they want Nova Scotia Power to be held more accountable and that they want the electricity system to work better for them," said Minister of Energy Michel Samson. "That's why performance standards were a cornerstone of our electricity plan and why we made sure penalties will be paid by Nova Scotia Power shareholders, not ratepayers."

Nova Scotia Power could face penalties of up to $1 million annually if it does not meet performance standards when they are in place, while some jurisdictions have provided relief through a lump-sum electricity bill credit for consumers. The penalty provision for reliability and storm response standards is already in force.

Predictable and stable power rates, and bringing innovation and competition into the electrical system are other commitments of Nova Scotia's electricity plan, Our Electricity Future, which stands in contrast to seasonal rate proposals in New Brunswick that risk consumer backlash.

Rates did not change for most Nova Scotians in 2015 and they went down in 2016, while the Premier urged regulators to reject a 14% hike during subsequent proceedings. For the first time ever Nova Scotians will have stable rates, well under the rate of inflation, for the next three years, even as the regulator later approved a 14% increase affecting electricity bills. This has been achieved while Nova Scotia takes aggressive action on climate change.