Nova Scotia Power is holding its first community session to answer customers’ questions about their power bills in Yarmouth on Thursday, in light of the cyberattack and estimated bills. The doors open at 3 p.m. at the Yarmouth Fire Hall on Pleasant Street. The utility is holding a series of similar sessions to allow customers to ask questions about their power bills and help them understand their options related to the estimated bills. A member of the utility’s customer care team will attend the sessions in person. Nova Scotia Power said it first found issues with its system on April 25. It later learned a “threat actor” had gained unauthorized access to parts of its network on or around March 19. The utility informed customers about the breach in early May. Since the breach, the utility has been estimating power bills for a number of customers. Chris Lanteigne, director of customer care for Nova Scotia Power, previously said the meters on customers’ homes are accurately recording their energy usage, but the utility’s ability to “talk to those meters” was lost after the cyberbreach. Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg said the utility has been sending meter readers around the province to get accurate readings, noting about 75 per cent of customers should be receiving accurate bills, while the rest are receiving estimates. The customer care team is also available for customer support over the phone at 1-800-428-6230. “These sessions are designed to give customers another option to speak with a member of our Customer Care team in person,” a release from Nova Scotia Power said. With files from CTV Atlantic’s Andrea Jerrett, Sean Mott and Natalie Lombard For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
