Nova Scotia Power given $1.25-million fine for failing to meet performance standards

Nova Scotia Power is being fined for the third time in four years for failing to meet annual performance targets for the reliability of its energy grid.

The province’s Utility and Review Board says in the decision released today it is levying a $1.25-million penalty on the subsidiary of Emera Inc. for shortfalls in 2023.

The board’s latest fining of the private utility is the largest to date, after it imposed penalties of $750,000 in 2022, $375,000 in 2021 and $250,000 in 2019, while there was no financial sanction in 2020.

It says it is not acceptable that the failures to meet performance standards “has become a normal occurrence” for the utility.

Nova Scotia Power failed in 2023 to meet two reliability targets for outage frequencies and duration, and four of five elements in the standards for new service connection times.

The board acknowledged the firm is spending $45 million annually to trim trees and that the utility is installing stronger poles and gear, but says the expected reliability improvements haven’t been met despite those efforts.

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“Targets have not been met for three consecutive years, certain customer service targets have not been met for two consecutive years, and there has not been a single year since establishing the standards in 2017 that Nova Scotia Power has been able to satisfy all of the performance standards,” the report says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.