Chris Lanteigne, Nova Scotia Power’s director of customer care, said that the back up estimation system within their customer information system was never meant to be used long term like it had been used following the 2025 cyberattack Photo by Ryan Taplin /The Chronicle HeraldArticle contentNova Scotia Power says its legacy billing system contributed to inaccurate estimates last November by using cold weather consumption periods to estimate billing in periods that included warmer months. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThe utility told the Nova Scotia Energy Board it can’t make changes in the estimation program in its customer information system without risking critical functions like billing. A replacement for the current system is not expected until at least 2029.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentHow the power estimates workedArticle contentNSP’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is normally what tracks energy use from smart meters, and that information is then used by the customer information system (CIS) to produce a bill. Article contentAt times when there’s a small gap due to meter readings being unavailable, the AMI system typically can estimate the readings that were missed. Article contentWhen that system was unavailable following a cyberattack, the utility had to turn to an older estimation program built within the CIS. Article contentThe program divides the year into warm and cold seasons, meaning it takes historical data to estimate consumption and applies it to a season depending on when a bill is issued. Article contentThe backup estimation system encountered problems in early November 2025. Article content“The period of time that was being billed against the colder weather usage did cause some of those estimates in the first few weeks of November to be higher,” Chris Lanteigne, NSP’s senior director of customer care, said Wednesday. Article contentArticle contentSince November bills were issued in a colder season, it took those rates and applied it to energy used in September and October, when it’s warmer.Article contentArticle contentLanteigne said that, according to customer feedback, the season transition period was when a lot of issues with overbilling came about. Article content“Coming in at the start of November . . . for some customers it would have been a higher estimate than they would have been expecting.” Article contentStacking estimationsArticle contentAnother problem with using the customer information system backup estimator in the long term is that it was never meant to produce consecutive estimates for an extended period. Article content“It wasn’t just the one estimation,” Lanteigne said. “It was that they might have had multiple ones in a row. “ Article content For the estimated 3.5 per cent of Nova Scotia Power customers who opted out of having a smart meter, the company’s customer information system (CIS) does produce estimations when needed. NSP is planning to apply for approval of a new CIS with the Nova Scotia Energy Board by the end of 2026, with implementation likely finalized sometime in 2029. FileArticle contentHe added that the amount of time Nova Scotia Power relied on estimated bills caused issues and concerns from customers, especially in the case of underestimations where some customers ended up getting large readjustments after the utility got an actual reading.
Nova Scotia Power says outdated billing system caused inaccurate estimates
