Nova Scotia·NewThe Nova Scotia Energy Board has ordered Nova Scotia Power to refund more than a million dollars because of a shutdown at a coal-powered plant that critics say was avoidable, but it will likely amount to just two or three dollars per customer.Staff made an error at a coal plant that resulted in a costly multi-day shutdownTaryn Grant · CBC News · Posted: Oct 18, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoNova Scotia Power has to refund more than a $1 million to customers for costs associated with an outage at a coal plant in 2023. (Mark Crosby/CBC)The Nova Scotia Energy Board has ordered Nova Scotia Power to refund more than a million dollars because of a costly shutdown at a coal-powered plant that critics say was avoidable.But before anyone gets dollar signs in their eyes, know that the refund will likely amount to just two or three dollars per customer.The board ordered the refund following an audit of energy costs Nova Scotia Power downloaded to customers in parts of 2022 and 2023. It acted on the recommendation of the consumer advocate, who reviewed the audit and highlighted a failure at the Trenton power plant in early 2023.According to the board’s report, staff at the Trenton plant closed a pump valve in the course of a boiler pressure test to fix a leak. They should have reopened it before moving onto the next step, but did not.“As it turns out, the suction valve was not opened prior to starting the pump, leading to pump damage and failure,” the report says.The error led to two shutdowns at the plant totalling more than 11 days. During that time, Nova Scotia Power had to rely on more costly sources of energy, which added up to about $1.14 million.The Trenton power plant burns coal to generate electricity for Nova Scotia Power customers. (Google)The consumer advocate said the incident happened because of “numerous failings,” including human error, equipment problems and procedural failings. It argued the cost of the outage should be refunded to customers, and the board agreed.The board will add interest to the refund, but it has not yet said how that will be calculated. Nova Scotia Power has about 525,000 customers, most of which will qualify for the refund. Before interest is applied, the payout would amount to a little over $2 per customer.Following the last audit of this kind, the board ordered a refund because of a fuel spill. The refund had a base value of $2.61 million, but it accrued to $3.64 million with interest.The new refund is a small fraction of the total energy costs Nova Scotia Power charged to customers for the audit period. The total was about $1.7 billion.MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORTaryn Grant covers daily news for CBC Nova Scotia, with a particular interest in housing and homelessness, education, and health care. You can email her with tips and feedback at taryn.grant@cbc.ca
Nova Scotia Power customers to get refund, but likely only a couple bucks apiece
