Topic:"Program Evaluation" in M12619

1 6.1.5 Commercial Net Metering 2 3 April 2022 amendments to the Electricity Act (Nova Scotia) established the framework for a new 4 net metering program. October 2022 amendments to the Renewable Energy Regulations 29 required 5 that NS Po...

AI summary Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NS Power) implemented the Commercial Net Metering Program (CNMP) following 2022 legislative amendments. The program allows customers to generate renewable energy and export excess to NS Power, with energy credits applied annually. As of 2024, 4,140 kW of solar PV was installed, with 82% of requests for Class 1 service (up to 100 kW).

NON-CONFIDENTIAL 2026 ACE Plan Condition Inputs 10 11 • No well-defined criteria on which customers and/or communities should be 12 included. Would require potentially sensitive data collection to identify customer 13 groups or circuits. 1...

AI summary The 2026 ACE Plan is criticized for lacking well-defined criteria for customer and community inclusion, potentially requiring sensitive data collection. NS Power is collaborating with industry groups to identify new metrics and will address the issue further during the Five-Year Reliability Plan Review (M12558). The NSEB directed NS Power to report on customer-level reliability data, including metrics like CELID-8 and CEMI-4/5, which are not widely used by other utilities.

Summary:

AI summary The document provides a summary of the proceeding, outlining key issues and stakeholders involved. It highlights the need for regulatory oversight and compliance with energy policies, including the discussion of cost recovery mechanisms and program evaluations.

Standardized Data, Reporting & Analytics Standardized reporting and analytics improvements in the first year achieved full benefits in year 1 instead of year 3. Real-time reports and dashboards now provide quick access to information on up...

AI summary Standardized data and reporting improvements in the first year achieved immediate benefits, including reduced manual effort, enhanced operational visibility, and robust benchmarking capabilities. Real-time dashboards now provide quick access to information on tasks, compliance, and productivity opportunities.

2026 ACE Plan U-20 Attachment 1 Page 1 of 1 1 00 11 CEA Description 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Adverse Environment 28,221 43,814 4,248 4,293 22,088 523,852 9,856 428 Adverse Weather 1,581,023 6,823,122 448,261 394,965 9,627,40...

AI summary The document presents a table with data on various types of customer interruptions, including adverse weather, defective equipment, and loss of supply, across multiple years from 2018 to 2025. The data includes numerical values for each category, indicating the frequency or impact of these interruptions over time.

2.3.3.1 Findings [60] The Board considers this an important measure of program effectiveness. The Board accepts that increased D055 expenditure may not immediately result in a cost reduction in D005. However, over time, NS Power should be...

AI summary The Board emphasizes the importance of assessing D005 and D055 expenditures together over time to evaluate program effectiveness, noting that increased proactive investment may eventually reduce asset failure rates and other operational costs.

2.4.1.1 Findings [87] Given the growth and evolution of the Routine Program, the Board considers that interested party review of the CEJC Routine provisions is warranted. Among other matters, that review should consider whether enhanced ju...

AI summary The Board recommends a review of the CEJC Routine Program due to its growth and evolution, emphasizing the need for enhanced justification in cases of significant changes in expenditure, work, or standards.

hould require enhanced justification where a Routine experiences significant year-over-year expenditure growth or materially evolves in its work categories, standards, objectives or system capability. - 8. Upon identifying a change to proj...

AI summary The Order outlines requirements for NS Power to justify significant expenditure growth and changes in project deliverables, and mandates coordination with IESO Nova Scotia regarding the 2027 ACE Plan and The Path to 2030 Update .

forecast that is significantly higher than that provided in the 2025 ACE Plan Figure 59. Please discuss the changes to this project’s forecast budget. In reference to Impact of Reliability Projects. 1. On pdf page 92 of the application, NS...

AI summary The text requests clarification on budget forecasts for a project in the 2026 ACE Plan and asks for details on how T&D projects will impact performance standards. It also questions the use of the term 'net' in the context of potential negative impacts from some projects and references the CEATI Grid Resiliency working group.

Request IR-17: - Please refer to the Application Page 99 of 782, Line 8-9, Metrics. - a) Did NS Power consider or evaluate the potential use of the following customer centric metrics: - i) Customers Experiencing Multiple Momentaries (CEMM)...

AI summary The document contains a series of requests (IR-17 to IR-28) directed at NS Power, focusing on outage metrics, event days, definitions, and governance milestones. It asks for clarifications on customer-centric metrics, outage causes, figures, and directives related to energy infrastructure and regulatory compliance.

If NSPI does not agree, please explain. 3. Please confirm whether NSPI intends to apply the updated definitions in future CI filings and scope change determinations in 2026. If not, please explain. Reference: N-1, 2026 ACE Plan, page 29, l...

AI summary The document requests clarification from NSPI regarding the application of updated definitions in future filings, the status of capital projects deferred or cancelled in 2025, the impact of a 2025 cybersecurity breach on capital decisions, and the implications for NSPI's cybersecurity risk profile.

LISR] technology," and encouraged NS Power "to develop 46 metrics to measure and validate the technology's performance." Please describe any steps Date Filed: January 23, 2026 CA (NSPI) Page 11 of 14 1 that NS Power has taken or plans to t...

AI summary The document outlines several requests directed at NS Power, including the development of performance metrics for LISR technology, the responsibility for reviewing PDM documentation, and the provision of post-project reviews conducted over the past 18 months. These requests are part of a regulatory proceeding.

n plans (pre- and post-storm), and other elements of the plan necessary to provide a fulsome evaluation. Request IR-28: With respect to Appendix G, Section 5.3 and Exhibit N-7, RIR-12 in M12012: 1. Is NS Power a member of Grid Assurance’s...

AI summary The text contains several regulatory requests directed at NS Power regarding its participation in spare transmission equipment programs, reliability performance from FLISR projects, and the review process for PDM documentation. These requests aim to evaluate NS Power's preparedness, transparency, and compliance with regulatory expectations.

of risks that were overlooked, overstated, or successfully mitigated; and 3. Staff response to emerging problems, such as whether internal communication was effective and whether mid-course action mitigated those problems. 4. If, for any o...

AI summary The text requests a review of NS Power's post-project reviews, focusing on risk management, internal communication, and quality control. It also asks for actions taken since April 2024 to assess the acquisition of historical and forecast distribution cost data across various categories.

1. Five-Year Reliability Plan: Year 2 Updates Within the last ACE Plan proceeding, the Board directed NSPI to provide annual updates on the progress of its Reliability Plan[.](#page-1-0) 4 Accordingly, NSPI has filed its Reliability Plan -...

AI summary The document discusses the lack of updates or changes to NSPI's Five-Year Reliability Plan, despite the Board's directive for annual progress reports. NSPI claims no new information necessitated changes, but critics argue that no robust evaluation was conducted to assess the Plan's effectiveness or justify its static investment approach.

eviation within a Routine right-of-way program) could be interpreted as a scope change, applying such a low threshold in practice would be unreasonable and administratively burdensome. That is agreed. To address this, materiality threshold...

AI summary The text discusses the interpretation of 'scope change' within a Routine right-of-way program, suggesting that applying a low threshold would be impractical. It proposes establishing materiality thresholds to differentiate between minor and significant changes, and outlines a two-step notification process recommended by the Consumer Advocate's consultant, John Wilson, to manage scope changes effectively.

CONCLUSION The Industrial Group respectfully requests that the Board: - 1. Direct NSPI to provide a more complete Year 3 update to the Five-Year Reliability Plan, including a reconciliation of planned versus actual spending, an explanation...

AI summary The Industrial Group requests the Board to direct NSPI to provide more detailed updates to the Five-Year Reliability Plan, revise the Scope Change definition, enhance cost-variance disclosure, and improve stakeholder engagement and coordination with IESO-NS in future filings.

- administrative matter for the Board and stakeholders to consider in future proceedings. - Specifically, NS Power respectfully submits that there may be value in reassessing the extent of - information and the number of figures included i...

AI summary NS Power suggests that the 2026 ACE Plan may benefit from a reassessment of the information included, particularly in Section 11.1.4, due to potential confusion and lack of probative value. It also proposes moving reliability-related information to the Five-Year Reliability Plan update to consolidate and streamline data presentation for the Board and stakeholders.

o be appropriate for routine work as the work is very repetitive in nature and managed by a small group of people on each individual initiative that are already aligned on key elements of the project, issues, risks and opportunities, and t...

AI summary The Consumer Advocate (CA) supports NS Power's 2026 ACE Plan but raises concerns about the cost-effectiveness of NS Power's Five-Year Reliability Plan. NS Power maintains its position on recommendations from John Wilson and argues that existing systems like WAM, Maximo, and Salesforce are already optimized for efficiency and that additional reporting would provide limited value.

nd service days, a scheduling improvement initiative intended to reduce travel time and therefore travel costs associated with appointment booked work including renovations which are included in D004. [54] However, contractor activities pr...

AI summary The document discusses the need for NS Power to improve contractor efficiency and cost tracking, particularly in projects like vegetation management. It highlights a lack of detailed data on contractor costs and productivity, despite NS Power's efforts to use software like Maximo/Salesforce for efficiency improvements.

2.3.3.1 Findings [60] The Board considers this an important measure of program effectiveness. The Board accepts that increased D055 expenditure may not immediately result in a cost reduction in D005. However, over time, NS Power should be...

AI summary The Board emphasizes the importance of evaluating program effectiveness, noting that increased D055 expenditure may not immediately reduce D005 costs but should lead to long-term benefits such as reduced asset failure rates. The Board recommends reporting D005 and D055 on a comparable basis for assessment over time.

2.4.1.1 Findings [87] Given the growth and evolution of the Routine Program, the Board considers that interested party review of the CEJC Routine provisions is warranted. Among other matters, that review should consider whether enhanced ju...

AI summary The Board recommends a review of the CEJC Routine Program due to its growth and evolution, emphasizing the need for enhanced justification in cases of significant changes, increased expenditure, or adoption of new standards.

2.4.2 Directives [88] The Board finds that the sustained growth and evolving composition of the Routine Program require requires enhanced prospective transparency. The additional information is intended to preserve the regulatory efficienc...

AI summary The Board requires NS Power to enhance transparency and reporting for the Routine Program, including detailed financial and operational data, to ensure regulatory efficiency and proper cost justification. This includes rolling five-year comparisons, cost breakdowns, and explanations for changes in expenditures.

normal part of managing a program of this magnitude. 1 And so we would anticipate, within a 13 forecasted programs. The ACE Plans that we come here 14 every year to support is made on a bottom-up condition 15 assessment risk profile to the...

AI summary The discussion revolves around the management of a large-scale program, specifically the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Plans, which involve bottom-up risk assessments and updates to project conditions. There is a focus on forecasting, program adjustments, and the importance of documenting changes to avoid filling a fixed spending envelope without proper amendments.

NS POWER PANEL 225 Cr-ex, (Rudderham) 1 BY MS. RUDDERHAM: 19 MS. RUDDERHAM: I think it's most 1 important if it's clear to NSPI as to what they're doing, 2 so it's a comparison of what was done what projects 3 were anticipated for the 2025...

AI summary The discussion focuses on providing an update on the 2025 ACE Plan, comparing anticipated and actual project completions, costs, and carryforward expenses to 2026. It also references performance standards and evaluations related to outages and equipment failures.