It’s becoming clear who carries the risk when things go wrong: customers do. It sure seems like we are in the dark when it comes to any accountability for how the utility treats its customers. Privatization works well for shareholders, but not so much for others. So it’s been another week in the life of Nova Scotia Power as the Energy Board began hearings into the cyberattack. We learned that a copy of almost 30 years of customer records was stored in a Microsoft system starting in 2021. It was supposed to be deleted within 90 days, but it was not. A company official called this an “oversight.” The copy was never updated. This meant it still included social insurance numbers that Nova Scotia Power had deleted from its systems between 2021 and 2024. Hackers were able to take that information.
The cyberattack began in March 2025 after an employee clicked on a pop-up. Surprisingly, the attackers stayed in the company’s systems for five weeks. Information belonging to about 375,000 current customers and 540,000 former customers was exposed. The attack also shut down the billing system. Some customers later received estimated bills that were three times as high as the previous year.
But what did all this cost the company? Sure, it paid some money to fix things, but Emera declared another dividend of 73.25 cents per share in July. So, back to who pays. Our residential power rates increased by 3.1 per cent this year. Another 3.9 per cent increase is planned for 2027. Nobody in senior management appears to have lost a job because of the “oversight,” and shareholders are doing OK. To make matters even worse, Nova Scotia Power has missed the regulator’s performance standards for eight years in a row. The company has received several fines. But for a private monopoly with more than 500,000 customers, fines can become just another cost of doing business. It’s not like we can go out and choose another power company.
We also seem to suffer more power outages that continue to affect thousands of people. A January snowstorm knocked out power to about 140,000 customers. More than 13,000 were still without power the next afternoon. In July, failed equipment at a Halifax-area substation left more than 44,000 customers without power during a heat wave. Those are just a few of the many outages across the province.
In my opinion, the utility’s staffing needs deserve some serious attention. Nova Scotia Power proposed adding 507 full-time positions in 2026. The government asked the Energy Board to examine whether those jobs were needed, suggesting it reduce its planned hiring. Let me repeat that: the government asked the Energy Board to examine whether those jobs were needed and suggested it reduce its planned hiring.
This raises a simple question: How can our government demand better service while questioning the number of workers the utility says it needs? These workers maintain the power system and restore electricity during storms. I think most would agree that, to provide good service, you need workers to do it. But I digress. In July, about 1,000 electrical workers represented by IBEW Local 1928 filed a 48-hour strike notice before the company improved its offer. Yes, the workers who climb power poles at three in the morning during a storm had to threaten job action to get a fair agreement. All the while, the shareholders simply collect their dividends, no matter what happens, good or bad.
Remember, it was Donald Cameron’s government that privatized Nova Scotia Power in 1992. Nova Scotians were promised greater efficiency. Instead, we got a private monopoly, repeated rate increases and years of missed service standards. I think it’s all clear as mud. Privatized services, such as Nova Scotia Power and its subsidiaries, have performed well for shareholders. When things go right, they collect the profits. When things go wrong, customers pay and pay while shareholders keep collecting more and more.
That is not accountability. It is a system working exactly as it was designed.
These are my opinions written to get you thinking about what actually matters in this province: fairness, accountability, who gets helped and who gets left out. Agree with me or don’t. But let’s have a respectful conversation.
This article was first published on Danny Cavanagh’s Substack on August 22, 2026. View the original Substack post. It has been lightly edited for spelling, grammar and Canadian usage.
