N.S. government wants fine for power outages to increase to $25M
Although current maximum is $1M, Nova Scotia Power has never been fined that amount
Nova Scotia Power may soon face stiffer fines if the provincial regulator deems the utility needs to be sanctioned for the number of power failures its customers had to endure in any given year.
The current maximum is $1 million but a bill introduced Tuesday in the Nova Scotia legislature would increase that amount to $25 million.
"At the very least Nova Scotians should receive reliable, clean electricity in exchange for the price that they pay for it," said Tory Rushton, minister of natural resources and renewables. "Their outage performance is trending worse, not better."
"This will help make Nova Scotia Power more accountable for things like power outages and reliability."
During the past five years, the Utility and Review Board (UARB) has fined the company a total of $625,000 for not meeting performance targets. In three of the last five years the utility has not been fined.
It is up to the UARB, not the province, to determine the amount of the fines.
| Year | Performance | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 12 of 13 targets met | $0 |
| 2018 | 11 of 13 targets met | $0 |
| 2019 | 7 of 13 targets met | $250,000 |
| 2020 | 11 of 13 targets met | $0 |
| 2021 | 9 of 13 targets met (targets were updated in 2020) | $375,000 |
The proposed law also creates a new fund which, according to the province, will amass some of the money collected in fines to compensate those who incur losses as a result of a power failure.
Nova Scotia's opposition party leaders are sceptical that increasing possible fines will have any impact on the utilities ability to provide "energy that is affordable, reliable and green."
"The million dollar fine that is on the books now has not helped them do that, has not incented them to do that, not punished them to do that," said NDP Leader Claudia Chender. "Will a $25 million fine help? Maybe if it's every levied. We'll have to see."
"Nova Scotia Power was never fined up to the million-dollar mark so I don't know what difference this is going to be," said Liberal Leader Zach Churchill. "I think it's more political theatre than anything.
"To show they're being tough but the fact of the matter is if Nova Scotia Power was ever fined $25 million, where's that coming from? It's going to come from the ratepayers."
Rushton said any fines would have to be paid from NSP profits to shield ratepayers.
A second bill introduced by Rushton would open up energy storage to companies other than the utility, which currently has the exclusive right to large-scale energy storage projects.
Once the bill becomes law, the province plans to issue a request for proposals for "energy storage solutions."
"If an innovative project comes to our table that is good for the ratepayers of Nova Scotia, that's good for the renewable energy sector that we're trying to develop in Nova Scotia, then we wanted the ability to to try that," Rushton told reporters during a briefing explaining the proposed law.
"Similar to a pilot project, similar aspects took place with the windmill development when we're getting off the ground a decade or so ago."
Rushton said a number of companies interested in the field asked the province to make the change.
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