Premier asks regulator to formally investigate Nova Scotia Power

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

The premier is using his role as energy minister to call for a formal investigation into Nova Scotia Power.

In a letter sent to the Nova Scotia Energy Board on Wednesday, Tim Houston says he has deep concerns about the utility’s estimated billing practice.

Nova Scotia Power has said it’s been estimating bills because it’s lost connection to smart metres in the aftermath of this year’s cyberattack. Some customers have said they feel they’ve been overcharged.

“This is an incredibly serious issue,” Houston wrote. “It’s not lost on me or the Board that knowingly over-billing would constitute regulatory fraud and misreporting revenue to the markets is a form of securities fraud.”

Related:

• Cyberattack was likely ‘Russia-based threat actor’: Nova Scotia Power CEO
• Nova Scotia Power working to restore connection to smart meters amid estimate concerns
• Tim Houston takes over as Minister of Energy in late-year cabinet shuffle

The premier says an investigation should look into the legality of the estimated billing methodology, and determine whether Nova Scotia Power can be subject to financial penalties.

What was behind the breach, according to officials

The CEO of Nova Scotia Power says an unidentified group based out of Russia is believed to have been behind a cyberattack earlier this year.

Peter Gregg made the comment at a legislative committee meeting on Tuesday, to which he had been summoned to answer questions around billing concerns from the utility’s customers.

“This incident was an unprecedented, sophisticated and targeted attack,” Gregg told MLAs on the committee. “Based on expert assessments and intelligence, there’s a high degree of confidence that the activity was associated with a Russia-based threat actor group.”

size=2 width=”100%” align=center>

Gregg said the company has made investments in cybersecurity, but added that organizations around the world are facing these kinds of threats

On the impact of that cyberattack, Gregg says changes have been made in connection to concerns raised in its aftermath.

“We no longer collect social insurance numbers, and we’re on track to complete their removal from our system by March 31,” he said. “We are on track to reconnect customer meters with our billing system by the end of March.”