NS Power dismisses premier’s claim that utility could be breaking regulatory laws

Nova Scotia’s largest utility is responding to a stinging letter from Premier Tim Houston by insisting it hasn’t broken any laws.

The statement came after Houston sent a letter to the chair of the utility’s board, calling for an investigation and questioning why some customers were overbilled in the aftermath of a cyberattack.

In the letter, Houston noted that knowingly overbilling customers could be considered regulatory fraud while misreporting revenue to the market could be considered securities fraud.

In an emailed statement Wednesday night, a Nova Scotia Power spokesperson says the utility is complying with all securities and regulatory laws, and dismisses any suggestion to the contrary.

Nova Scotia Power, a subsidiary of Halifax-based Emera Inc., has said the personal and financial data belonging to 280,000 ratepayers were accessed by an unauthorized party as early as March 19.

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Since then, the utility has said it can no longer rely on remote meter readings and is estimating electricity consumption for some customers’ billing.

As a result, Houston says customers have been dealing with inflated bills, consecutive charges within short periods, and a lack of communication about billing adjustments.