Nova Scotia Power Inc. says late fees will return for first time since cyberattack

A Nova Scotia Power Inc.- owned electric vehicle is shown charging in Halifax on Wednesday July 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Devin Stevens

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Power Inc. says it will begin charging late fees in the fall for the first time since a cyberattack disrupted its billing system last spring.

Chris Lanteigne, director of customer care at the privately-owned utility, told reporters Wednesday that fees on overdue bills will return on Oct. 1. The company stopped charging late fees when it discovered a cyberattack in April 2025 that saw the personal data of more than 280,000 customers stolen and disrupted its automated billing system.

“We feel that October 1st of 2026 does provide two-and-a-half months notice for customers,” said Lanteigne.

“If they do have concerns with their outstanding balances, if they do have concerns with their energy use as we head into the winter months… there are options available to help them manage those balances and maintain them in an interest-free state, including interest-free payment plans that go up to 24 months.”

Lanteigne says about nine per cent of customers at the Emera Inc.-owned utility are behind, with the average overdue amount at about $1,300. He said that’s about double the four to 4.5 per cent of customers who were historically late with payments before the hack.

Late fees are 1.5 per cent per month, up to a maximum of 19.56 per cent per year, he said.

He also announced the creation of a new $500,000 program that will see Nova Scotia Power match funds for low-income customers who are receiving financial help from a charity or other organization. There’s also an existing program to waive late fees for low-income customers receiving financial support, which has been extended for another 18 months.

Nova Scotia Power discovered the ransomware attack in April 2025, with the company’s former CEO later saying Russian-based actors were likely behind it. The company said no ransom was ever paid.

The attack saw the theft of customer data such as credit card and social insurance numbers. Some contractors went unpaid as the utility had to process invoices manually. The company also lost contact with its smart meters at customer properties, causing it to estimate bills without actual usage data.

In the months that followed, customers began complaining their bills were inflated. Provincial regulators and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada both launched investigations and the utility agreed to delete all the SIN numbers it had on file.

Premier Tim Houston said in November he was disappointed in the company’s explanation to customers and that his government was considering fines. The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Lanteigne says smart meters were back online by March and all customer bills have been corrected. He said some customers’ bills may have been higher than expected because of underestimation during the outage or because the customer wasn’t making payments throughout the disruption. He said last winter was also colder than usual, increasing heating costs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press