HALIFAX — Residential power rates in Nova Scotia are going up, but not quite as much as the biggest utility in the province was hoping.
The provincial regulator has issued a lengthy decision on Nova Scotia Power’s rate proposal.
The privately owned utility was seeking a 3.8 per cent rate hike retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, and another 4.8 per cent increase on Jan. 1, 2027.
The Nova Scotia Energy Board said Wednesday in a 300-page decision that it’s prohibiting Nova Scotia Power from charging customers for millions of dollars worth of expenses.
The ruling reduces the amount of executive compensation the utility is allowed to recover from power rates. The decision also requires the utility to reduce some of its spending by nearly $10 million.
The board says the adjustments will mean slightly lower rates than the Emera subsidiary was seeking, but it did not provide hard numbers.
“We’re committed to improving reliability and delivering service our customers can count on while keeping rates as low as possible — and we have concrete plans in place to meet these commitments,” Nova Scotia Power CEO Vivek Sood said in a statement.
“As we’ve seen this winter, continued investments in the electricity grid are critical, both in terms of the reliability of our system during storms and the supply of electricity during extreme cold snaps.”
Sood said the decision would allow the utility to pursue those investments.
Nova Scotia Power is expected to use Wednesday’s ruling to recalculate the impact to customers within two weeks. After a period for stakeholder comments, the board would make a final rate decision in about a month.
NDP leader Claudia Chender slammed Premier Tim Houston, who is also the province’s energy minister, for being absent while power rates are going up. The premier is attending an energy conference in Houston this week.
“(The board doesn’t) have the legal authority to disallow the recovery of costs to make life more affordable,” she told reporters at the legislature on Wednesday. “At difficult times like these, Nova Scotians need to be able to look to their government for leadership, for compassion and for support. The energy minister, our premier, needs to act immediately.”
Liberal leader Iain Rankin said the government has the ability to bring down power rates through legislation, including cutting Nova Scotia Power’s guaranteed profit, which is currently set at nine per cent. He called for a full independent review on other potential savings.
“The premier has lost control of power rate increases in the province,” said Rankin. “So while he’s down in Texas talking about oil and gas, presumably, we need him here to address this with Nova Scotians on why power rates have gone up by over 20 per cent in the last number of years, why the budget is out of control, and we’re not getting any answers from the energy minister on what he’s prepared to do.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.
The Canadian Press
