Nova Scotia Power filed an Authorization to Overspend application for the L5541 Water Crossing Upgrades transmission project, seeking $2,265,295 against an approved budget of $1,047,074 — a $1,218,221 overrun driven by significantly higher-than-estimated steel monopole and foundation costs.

M12960 · Nova Scotia Power Inc. - CI C0052654 – L5541 Water Crossing Upgrades - $2,265,295 (ATO)

AI summary

Nova Scotia Power filed CI C0052654 on July 13, 2026, requesting an Regulatory Approval Processes Authorization to Overspend (ATO) of $1,218,221 (116% above the 2023 ACE Plan approved amount of $1,047,074), bringing the total project estimate to $2,265,295 for replacement of deteriorated assets on 7 structures at two water crossings on the 69kV L5541 transmission line near Deep Brook.
The primary driver of the overrun is sharply higher contractor costs for specialized steel monopole foundations and towers: original budget assumed $100,000 combined for both, while final engineering produced contractor estimates of $1,293,667 for foundations and $404,000 for steel towers — NSP acknowledges it lacked historical experience with these foundation types and, in hindsight, should have awaited final engineering before the original submission (Reason for Variance section).
Capital Expenditures overrun was partially mitigated through coordination with the Mersey Wind Interconnection Project (L-6554): by implementing a shared double-circuit crossing for structures 008–011, foundation costs borne by NSP were reduced from $1,293,667 to $646,833 and steel tower costs from $404,000 to $202,000, saving approximately $848,833 compared to constructing independent crossings.
The project is classified as a Class 3 estimate with 81% of required deliverables complete and a 15% contingency ($208,609) applied to contract costs, covering risks including shortened outage windows, unforeseen contract cost increases, and access difficulties at the water crossing structures (Contingency Statement).
Contract costs constitute the largest single cost category at $1,390,730 (61% of total), with steel tower contracts alone at $990,177; Power Infrastructure asset retirement is categorized under Accounting Policy 6420, representing 0.2% of the Transmission Plant – Towers and Fixtures asset pool with an estimated 45-year asset life.

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What was filed

Documents filed on this day

N-1 CI C0052654 – L5541 Water Crossing Upgrades - $2,265,295 exhibits