Nova Scotia Power tells hearing that affordability is a ‘concern’

The CEO of Nova Scotia Power found himself under fire on overbilling on Tuesday at a hearing in Province House.

At a meeting of the natural resources and economic development committee, Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg fielded questions from MLAs about inflation and the ransomware attack that hit the corporation last March.

At the meeting, Opposition Leader Claudia Chender and Progressive Conservative MLA David Bowlby read constituent comments out loud to Gregg and Nova Scotia Power’s director of customer care, Chris Lanteigne.

“I have to be worried about my identity and credit for the rest of my life due to no fault of my own, but Nova Scotia Power gets to send me a bill for twice what I owe,” Chender read from a constituent email.

Nova Scotia Power lost the ability to read power meters following a cyberattack last March. Gregg said at the hearing that the attack was likely carried out by a Russian operation.

Since then, Nova Scotia Power has been estimating bills — and some Nova Scotians have reported estimates at double, triple or four times their usual amount.  

Bowlby said a constituent of his reported a charge four times more than that of the previous year.

When asked why Nova Scotia Power isn’t issuing bill amounts in line with previous years, Lanteigne said, “We cannot just make a change to pick the same bill amount from the previous year.”

The power corporation has directed users to report inaccurate bills, but has since received complaints saying it’s difficult to contact customer service.

Gregg and Lanteigne said that Nova Scotia Power will not charge interest on unpaid bills while the company recovers operations.

However, MLA Danny MacGillivray said some of his constituents have reported interest charges. MLA Susan Leblanc said one her constituents was sent to collections for a missing payment.

Also at the committee meeting, Gregg said Nova Scotia Power is talking with the Department of Energy about the cost of power. “(Affordability is) always a concern of ours. I know it’s a concern of the government’s,” said Gregg.

Premier Tim Houston appointed himself minister of energy in October, but has yet to address power costs in Nova Scotia, said Leblanc.

“The Houston government likes to pretend that they have nothing to do with soaring power bills, and they can’t help Nova Scotians struggling with the cost of power,” said Chender, who is leader of the NDP.

“But that’s just not the case. The sky-high bills, the privacy breach, the overcharging — all of these are issues that this government should be addressing.

The sky-high bills, the privacy breach, the overcharging – all of these are issues that this government should be addressing.

Claudia Chender

“The premier just appointed himself as energy minister, but he’s refusing to answer any questions about what his government is doing about the cost of energy or how he regulates the utility.”