Nova Scotia Power filed responses to three Board information requests in the Coxhead DRO billing appeal, addressing meter history, estimated billing during a 2025 wildfire evacuation, and a growing equal billing arrears balance exceeding $7,000.

M12804 · NSPI DRO Appeal - Billing Issues - Jillian Coxhead

AI summary

Meter testing and replacement (IR-1): NS Power confirmed analog meter #1071472 was installed June 21, 2022 and was not tested at installation or account startup, stating this is not standard practice; the utility disclosed that analog meters are being phased out industry-wide due to ceased manufacturing, and will be replaced with non-communicating digital meters for remaining analog customers.
Estimated billing and wildfire context (IR-2): Four estimated bills issued between June 2025 and February 2026 were calculated using prior-year consumption averages; NS Power acknowledged it was unaware of Ms. Coxhead's wildfire evacuation and power outage in August–September 2025 when producing estimates, and confirmed it no longer has access to historical usage data prior to end of December 2025 due to a cyber incident.
Equal billing plan mechanics (IR-3): NS Power detailed that Ms. Coxhead's equal billing amount progressed from $489/month (May 2024) to $550/month (set by DRO decision, April 2025), calculated by combining ~$364/month in current usage with ~$161/month in arrears amortized over 36 months; the $550 amount is a fixed settlement and will not be recalculated in July 2026.
Arrears trajectory and payment options (IR-3): With a total account balance of $7,071.21 as of June 15, 2026, NS Power modelled that $550/month payments would take approximately 37 months to retire the arrears alone, and rejected a $300/month scenario as non-viable since it falls below average monthly usage of $364, which would grow arrears to approximately $10,176 over 24 months.
Late fees and interest (IR-3): NS Power has not announced when it will reinstate late fees, interest charges, or disconnection, but confirmed the rate remains 1.5% per month when applied, and committed to notifying customers before reintroducing any such charges.

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

S-4 NSPI (NSEB) RIR-1 to RIR-3 (redacted) exhibits