Topic:"Billing Procedures" in M12784

Period Estimates % Monthly YTD % Estimates Cumulative Estimates Pre-Cyber Incident 6,939 0.54 January 1,486 0.43 0.43 February 1,783 0.53 0.48 March 1,857 0.54 0.50 April 1,813 0.70 0.54 Post-Cyber Incident 1,514,830 55.20 April 1,292 2.05...

AI summary The document presents data on estimated bills before and after a cyber incident, showing a significant increase post-incident. Reasons include manual meter readings due to weather challenges and remote locations. NS Power met estimated bills metrics through early 2023.

r reading in November was affected by a number of poor weather days affecting 6 travel and access. 7 8 Figure 9 shows that NS Power met the Estimated Bills metric through the first four months of 9 the year, prior to the cyber incident. Ho...

AI summary NS Power's billing processes were disrupted by a cyber incident on April 24, 2025, leading to a temporary pause in billing. The incident forced reliance on estimated billing for the remainder of the year, with billing resuming in June using manual methods and AMI systems.

2025 Annual Performance Standards Report (NSEB M12784) NSPI Responses to Nova Scotia Energy Board Information Requests NON-CONFIDENTIAL 1 Request IR-6: 2 3 (a) Did any of the opt-out customers receive an estimated bill in 2025? 4 5 (i) If...

AI summary NSPI confirmed that opt-out customers received estimated bills in 2025 due to redeployed meter reading capacity post-cyber incident. ~49% of opt-out bills and ~56% of all bills were estimated during May-December 2025, affecting 17,315 distinct accounts with an average of 2.5 estimated bills per customer.

2025 Annual Performance Standards Report (NSEB M12784) NSPI Responses to Nova Scotia Energy Board Information Requests NON-CONFIDENTIAL 1 Request IR-23: 2 3 Page 25 of the report and Appendix A and Appendix B 4 5 (a) Please confirm, or exp...

AI summary NSPI confirms a correlation between reduced service levels (June 2025) and increased billing concerns starting May 2025. The cyber incident significantly impacted customer service complexity, requiring manual resolution due to system outages. Billing confusion and estimate inaccuracies drove elevated call volumes, with 2023-2024 baselines referenced for comparison.

(c) Customer concerns with the billing experience represented a significant component of call 30 volume to the customer care centre. Relative to the average baseline in 2023-2024, Billing Date Filed: May 29, 2026 NSPI (NSEB) IR-23 Page 1 o...

AI summary Customer concerns with billing accuracy and understanding estimated bills led to a 46% increase in call volume at NSPI's customer care centre in 2025 following a cyber incident, according to NSPI's responses to NSEB information requests in Matter M12784.

1 Request IR-1: 2 3 Refer to M12784, Exhibit N-1, Nova Scotia Power Incorporated ("NS Power") 2025 Annual 4 Performance Standards Report Non-Confidential (the "2025 PSR Report"), Section 3.1 5 Customer Service Standards and Targets, Figure...

AI summary The document contains a request (IR-1) asking NS Power about customer engagement in community forums, billing practices related to delayed payments, impacts on credit ratings, status of 2025 bills affected by a cyber event, and the timeline for restoring billing systems. NS Power's response indicates that customer attendance at forums was not classified by customer class and that many attendees were residential customers with billing concerns.

(b) Following the cyber incident in April 2025, all collections cycles relating to NS Power bills were paused, including reminders, notices, and late fees. Customers were encouraged to pay the estimated bill amount, or an amount they deeme...

AI summary Following a cyber incident in April 2025, NS Power paused all collections cycles, including late fees and reminders, to avoid penalizing customers during the estimated billing period. Customers were encouraged to pay estimated amounts, and the system does not allow restating bills once processed, leading to 'trued-up' usage in subsequent bills.

time cannot be ascribed to the date of use. Instead, the first bill with a meter read date indicated that customers received following an estimated bill period would have effectively 'trued-up' usage. (e) As of March 31, 2026, meter connec...

AI summary Meter connections to NS Power's billing system were restored by March 31, 2026, enabling accurate energy usage reconciliation. Previously estimated bills were adjusted to reflect actual meter reads once available, ensuring billing alignment with true consumption.

Document: 330133 Date Filed: May 7, 2026 Page 2 1 Request IR-5: 2 Since 2020 through 2025, please provide the total number of planned outages along with the total 3 outage duration. 4 5 Request IR-6: 6 a) Did any of the opt-out customers r...

AI summary The document contains information requests (IR-5 to IR-7) directed at Nova Scotia Power (NSP). IR-5 seeks outage data from 2020-2025, IR-6 investigates estimated billing practices for opt-out customers in 2025, and IR-7 requests detailed reliability plan performance metrics, including outage reductions, infrastructure data, and project expenditures across NSP’s four operating regions.

Page 1 of 4 1 Request IR-1: 2 Refer to M12784, Exhibit N-1, Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (“NS Power”) 2025 Annual 3 Performance Standards Report Non-Confidential (the “2025 PSR Report”), Section 3.1 Customer 4 Service Standards and Targe...

AI summary The document contains two information requests (IR-1 and IR-2) related to Nova Scotia Power's (NSP) 2025 Performance Standards Report. IR-1 asks about customer participation in forums, delayed bill payments, credit rating impacts, and cyber event effects on billing. IR-2 inquires about the preparation of reliability data figures and their sources. Topics include customer service, billing procedures, cybersecurity, and system reliability.

bills were estimated, customers were encouraged to pay the estimated bills, but that there were no negative credit implications experienced by those customers who 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 failed to pay their estimated bills. NS Power further noted th...

AI summary The text discusses NS Power's handling of estimated bills and the potential credit implications for customers who failed to pay them. It notes that no negative credit implications were experienced during the period when data batches were suspended, but emphasizes the importance of informing customers about potential consequences once billing resumes. NS Power also highlights that customer service standards were affected by a one-time cyber incident in April 2025, but systems were restored by March 31, 2026.