‘The public has lost trust’: MLA slams Nova Scotia Power over estimated bills

Customers and politicians are demanding answers from Nova Scotia Power.

Angry customers and frustrated politicians are demanding answers from Nova Scotia Power as they receive high bills that are based on estimated readings.

“Many constituents from my constituency have called our office with great concerns on the estimated power bills that Nova Scotia Power has sent out and I’m very concerned about it as an MLA and a member of the Houston government,” said Colchester-Musquodoboit MLA Scott Armstrong, who is also attorney general for the province.

Nova Scotia Power has been estimating bills since June, after it fell victim to a cyberattack in March.

The utility admits it is hearing concerns from customers over the estimated bills and is seeing an increase in calls.

Chris Lanteigne, director of customer care for Nova Scotia Power, says power meters on customer’s homes are accurately recording their energy usage – the issue is that the utility has “lost the ability to communicate with those meters remotely.”

“What we’ve done since then is we have added meter readers, we’ve hired about 100 that are on the field reading meters on homes, but we are still estimating a lot of bills,” said Lanteigne.

“When a customer’s home actually has a meter read completed, that will true up any usage that was actually consumed at the customer’s home, and will be reflected on the bill.”

However, customers like Krista Peterson-Brannen say their bills don’t make any sense.

She recently moved into a small one-floor home that has new appliances, new doors and smart thermostats. Her power bill was estimated at $600, compared to $238 at her previous home, which was roughly double in size from her new place.

“I don’t understand how that’s happening,” said Peterson-Brannen. “I started wondering, what have we left on? What are doing? I’m pretty careful about what I’m doing.

“I said no, something’s seriously wrong here.”

Peterson-Brannen says she talked to Nova Scotia Power and was told her last two bills had been estimated. She says she was told to pay the bill and come back later and dispute it.

“I’ve since learned there’s another process that we can go through, however, if I was senior living and doing this type of thing … I probably would go ahead and pay that bill and try to get that money back,” she said.

Armstrong says he has heard similar stories from frustrated constituents and the provincial government will be calling on Nova Scotia Power President and CEO Peter Gregg to testify in front of the Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee.

“Here we have a company that is asking Nova Scotians to pay an increased power rate, meanwhile they’re just recovering from the biggest data breach we’ve ever seen in our province, and they’re sending out bills which are inaccurate, and they’re asking constituents across Nova Scotia to trust them, and I just don’t think Nova Scotians are prepared to trust Nova Scotia Power at this point,” Armstrong told CTV News Atlantic.

Nova Scotia Power is seeking to raise residential rates by 3.8 per cent in 2026 and 4.1 per cent in 2027 – a move Armstrong calls “incredibly tone deaf.”

“Nova Scotia Power has to be held accountable,” he said. “I believe the public has lost trust.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Callum Smith

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