DRO Don Farmer issued a Final Written Decision on March 10, 2026 upholding NS Power's billing of customer Jillian Coxhead and directing review of her Equal Billing Plan under Board Regulation 5.3.

M12804 · NSPI DRO Appeal - Billing Issues - Jillian Coxhead

AI summary

The Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) Don Farmer, P.Eng., found that Nova Scotia Power appropriately billed the customer under Board-approved Billing Procedures Regulation 5.1, after NS Power acknowledged an October 2025 meter underestimation that generated a $798.76 credit and was subsequently reconciled through a March 2, 2026 true read.
The DRO declined to order a meter accuracy test under Regulation 5.5 — which he described as the normal step in a Complaint Resolution consumption dispute — because the customer refused meter replacement and NS Power confirmed it no longer supports analogue meters; NS Power confirmed it will maintain the existing $550/month budget settlement agreement.
The DRO instructed NS Power to review the customer's Equal Billing Plan calculation for compliance with Regulation 5.3 or to establish a Payment Agreement under Regulation 6.5, but declined to arbitrarily reduce the monthly payment to the $300 the customer requested.
The filing documents a multi-year dispute history dating to at least April 2025, including a prior Part B DRO Decision requiring $550/month payments to avoid disconnection, a customer-declined meter test, and concerns about billing accuracy during a wildfire evacuation period and following a NS Power cybersecurity incident.
The customer retains the right to appeal the March 10, 2026 Final Written Decision to the NSEB within 12 days of receipt.

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What was filed

Documents filed on this day

S-2 DRO Decision d. March 10, 2026 (redacted) exhibits