Consumer Advocate and Small Business Advocate file Information Requests challenging Nova Scotia Power's $11.36M authorization to overspend on D055 Planned Replacement of Deteriorated Equipment

M12898 · Nova Scotia Power Inc. - Distribution Routines CI Various- D055 – Planned Replacement of Deteriorated Equipment (ATO) - $11,359,8222025 ACE Plan – Routine Capital - Authorization to Overspend (ATO):Distribution Routines – Non-Confidential • D055 – Planned Replacement of Deteriorated Equipment: ATO amount $11,359,822

AI summary

The Consumer Advocate (CA) filed 12 Information Requests (IR-1 through IR-12) and the Small Business Advocate (SBA) filed 1 Information Request, both directed to Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, with responses due July 28, 2026, in Matter M12898.
The CA requests five years of budget-versus-actual data (2021–2025) for all distribution routines (IR-1, IR-2, IR-3), with particular focus on Capital Expenditures breakdowns by labour, overtime, contracts, and materials for the D055 routine.
A significant line of inquiry targets the sharp escalation in field-driven work order costs — from $1,481 per order in 2022 to $19,664 in 2024 (IR-4) — and the adequacy of NS Power's cost management and Procurement Practices for contracts and materials (IR-5, IR-6).
Both intervenors probe the variance explanation in Exhibit N-1 (ATO Application, p. 1 of 1), specifically the $10.2M increase attributed to advancement of higher-priority "Bin Work" from the feeder inspection program (including Glace Bay projects) and the $1.7M increase attributed to unspecified "deficiencies" in regional operations and engineering (SBA IR-1; CA IR-9, IR-10).
The CA also seeks project-level comparison of the 2025 2025 Ace Plan ACE Plan discrete projects (Figure 45, pp. 70–71) against actual expenditures, including schedule, priority, and cost variance data for delayed, cancelled, or on-schedule projects (IR-11), as well as an explanation of NS Power's Asset Management Project Delivery Model as applied to D055 (IR-7).

Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI from the filings it describes. We take care to make it accurate, but errors are possible - and it isn't advice. Only the filings themselves are the record: if you're relying on something here, confirm it against the source documents or the Nova Scotia Energy Board's own record. Full disclaimer →

What was filed

Documents filed on this day

102658 SBA (NSPI) IR 1 other_documents
102665 CA (NSPI) IR 1 to 12 other_documents