NSPI seeks $11.4M Authorization to Overspend on D055 deteriorated equipment replacement after a 2025 cyber incident obscured forecast accuracy and feeder inspections revealed greater asset deterioration than anticipated.

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

Ns Power filed responses to information requests from the NSEB, Consumer Advocate, and Small Business Advocate in Matter M12898, covering an ATO of $11,359,822 for Routine D055 (Planned Replacement of Deteriorated Equipment) — a 107% overspend versus the approved 2025 Ace Plan budget of approximately $10.6M against actuals of $21.98M.
NS Power attributes the overrun primarily to an $10.2M surge in Bin Work driven by higher-than-expected feeder inspection findings — notably on feeders 103C-314 and 50N-410 and a ~$4M project in Glace Bay replacing over 160 poles across 7 feeders — compounded by a $1.7M increase in Field Driven Work from deteriorated equipment identified by regional operations and engineering staff.
A Cybersecurity incident earlier in 2025 disrupted financial reconciliation, causing NS Power to underestimate D055 forecast spend when responding to IRs in the related M12319 proceeding in August 2025; the company states that all individual work decisions remained consistent with its Asset Management framework regardless of budget impact.
NS Power's risk-based feeder prioritization uses a formal scoring model combining condition factors (inspection findings, outage frequency/duration via CKAIFI/CKAIDI, loading, forestry condition) and criticality factors (customer count, energy usage, performance standards) to produce a 1–25 risk score that guides Distribution Planning investment timing.
NS Power confirmed it does not plan to revise D055 forecasting methodology but is developing enhanced feeder-level tracking for 2026 reporting; confidentiality was requested for contractor pricing details in CA IR-5 (the PowerTel/Connect Atlantic services agreement) to protect competitive procurement terms.

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

N-2 NSPI (CA) RIR 1 to 12 - Redacted exhibits
N-2(C) NSPI (CA) RIR 1 to 12 - Confidential exhibits
N-3 NSPI (NSEB) RIR 1 to 10 exhibits
N-4 NSPI (SBA) RIR 1 exhibits
102981 Letter NSPI re: RIRs & Request for Confidentiality other_documents
102982 Confidential Undertaking other_documents