Public opinion

The public have been very critical of Nova Scotia Power since it has been privatized. There have been eight rate increases over the last decade, with a more increases currently proposed.

These rate increases have been proposed with the claim to cover investments in renewable energy, grid maintenance, environmental efficiencies in its coal generating stations and increased costs of purchasing cleaner coal.[19] With each increase, however, stockholder dividends have increased and the power outage frequency has not improved. In some cases, the utility has lost power in otherwise normal seasonal weather blaming such things as "salty fog" and "wet snow" for outages, leading to further frustration among the public.[20]

While debates on Nova Scotia's electricity industry usually focus on Nova Scotia Power as a vertically integrated near-monopoly, there are six communities entirely outside its distribution area, all of which have the authority to buy wholesale from other sources. These cooperate as the Municipal Electric Utilities of Nova Scotia. These are increasingly active advocates of community economic development, and have consistently opposed granting NS Power more control of the province's electric rate structure and regulatory system. They seem to be impotent in my opinion.

Infrastructure updating has been an ongoing issue since privatization leading the utility to fall behind its neighbours in New Brunswick and Newfoundland in creating a "smart grid" to allow more competition into the market, ability to offer other services and efficient method for transmitting energy.[21] Given the monopoly held by the utility on providing power, the rate increases are seen as a way to increase profit share to its stockholders at the cost of businesses and private ratepayers in the region. The utilities largest energy customer, NewPage in Cape Breton has recently laid off workers citing inability to make a profit in the current environment, specifically citing the constant power rate increases as the number one concern.[