Nova Scotia Power wants customers to pay $1.7M interest on leftover Fiona bill, documents show

Nova Scotia Power has provided details on a plan to have ratepayers pick up a $24.6-million bill left over from post-tropical storm Fiona — including nearly $2 million in interest charges.

The brutal September 2022 storm is long gone but cleanup costs are still on the books. 

On Friday, Nova Scotia Power proposed collecting the $24.6 million from ratepayers over a five-year period starting in 2025, after a provincial government rate cap expires. That would cost customers another $1.7 million in interest, according to documents submitted to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

Nova Scotia Power argued it should not have to cover the costs because they were prudently incurred and could not have been predicted.

Nova Scotia Power said utilities in other jurisdictions have been granted similar deferrals for storm costs.

It also issued a warning to regulators.

"Depending on the rationale, an adverse decision in this matter could further impact the financial health of the utility and lead to a further downgrade of NS Power's credit rating to below investment grade which would be unprecedented for NS Power and Canadian utilities in general," the utility stated.

Fiona was the most expensive storm ever for Nova Scotia Power, costing it $114 million.

Nearly $90 million was booked as a capital cost, an asset that allows the company to charge ratepayers interest on its spending.

The $24.6 million left over — for items like overtime, meals and travel — are considered an operating, maintenance and general cost and paid from rates collected that year.

By the time Fiona came ashore, the company had already blown through its storm budget by $10 million.

Had it paid all the costs in 2022, Nova Scotia Power says it would have lowered its regulated return on equity to 7.3 per cent. Instead, the company made a return of 8.6 per cent that year.