Nova Scotia’s opposition parties are criticizing the Progressive Conservative government for remaining noncommittal about the premier’s campaign promise to cap power rate increases to the Canadian average.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy would not directly answer a question from The Canadian Press on whether the government planned to fulfil that pledge from the November 2024 election campaign.
Alicia Doyle said in an email the department is looking at all options for Nova Scotians to get clean and affordable electricity, but would not say if capping rates to the national average is one of those options.
Premier Tim Houston had promised to cap rates to the “Canadian average increase” but his party’s election platform didn’t specify exactly what that meant. The Tories won a resounding second mandate on Nov. 26, taking 43 of 55 seats.
Doyle noted that the government in 2024 absorbed $117 million of the provincial power utility’s fuel costs and prevented a 19 per cent rate hike in 2025 by securing a $500-million federal loan.
Claudia Chender, leader of the official Opposition NDP, said it’s worrisome that Houston has not done more to address energy affordability. “After campaigning on a promise to prevent these huge increases, the Houston government has failed to take action to ensure Nova Scotians can afford their power bills,” Chender said in a statement Tuesday.
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“People need help. We have a proposal to lower Nova Scotians’ bills by 10 per cent with an immediate rebate, but this government refuses to implement it,” she said.
Liberal member Iain Rankin said in an interview Tuesday it’s disappointing but unsurprising that Houston’s government is no longer committing to cap rate hikes.
“Similar to other (campaign) promises, they were made without any real intent or plan to deliver on that promise …. We’ve seen, over the term of this government, annual (power rate) increases that are unaffordable for ratepayers,” he said.
Rankin said he hears from constituents who are concerned about the cost of electricity “almost daily.” He said among Nova Scotians “there’s a lack of confidence that the government understands how important this issue is.”
A provincial energy board hearing is set to begin Wednesday to address Nova Scotia Power’s proposed rate hike for residential customers. The province’s largest private utility has proposed residential rate hikes of 3.8 per cent this year and 4.1 per cent on Jan. 1, 2027.
Nova Scotia Power has said such rate increases are needed to support its $1.3-billion plan to strengthen the grid, expand tree-trimming and vegetation management to reduce outages, and improve its storm response.
After the Emera-owned utility announced its rate hike proposal in September, the premier issued a critical statement saying Nova Scotia Power was “out of touch.”
“After overseeing one of the largest data breaches in our province’s history, asking Nova Scotians to pay more should not be the utility’s first move,” Houston said on Sept. 2, referring to the cybersecurity incident that may have impacted all 550,000 of the utility’s residential customers.
“We still feel betrayed by Nova Scotia Power. This is not the time for a rate increase. This is a time for Nova Scotia Power to show they understand Nova Scotians and withdraw or significantly reduce their application,” Houston said.
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