type subsidiary industry energy predecessor nova scotia power commission nova scotia light and power company limited founded 1972 as nova scotia power corporation headquarters halifax nova scotia canada area served nova scotia key people robert hanf president & ceo 1 products electricity owner publicly traded tse mse number of employees 1700 2013 2 parent emera website www.nspower.ca nova scotia power inc. tsx nsi.pr.d is a vertically integrated electric utility in nova scotia canada . it is privately owned by emera tsx ema and regulated by the provincial government via the nova scotia utility and review board nsuarb . 3 nova scotia power inc provides electricity to 500 000 residential commercial and industrial customers in nova scotia . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 20th century 1.2 21st century 1.2.1 nb power controversy 1.2.2 maritime link 1.2.3 2012 audit 2 energy conservation 2.1 programs administered by nova scotia power 2.2 independently administered programs 3 smart grid proposals 3.1 municipal utilities 3.2 time of day power rates 4 generating facilities 4.1 thermal power stations 4.2 combustion turbines 4.3 tidal 4.4 wind 4.5 hydroelectric 4.6 purchased power 5 major customers 5.1 provincial 5.2 industrial 5.3 municipal utilities 5.3.1 relationship with nova scotia power 5.3.2 renewable energy plans 6 references 7 external links history edit 20th century edit emera head office the nova scotia power commission was formed in 1919 by the provincial government following the lead of several other canadian provinces in establishing crown corporation electrical utilities . the commission constructed and opened its first hydro plant at tantallon the following year . throughout the 1920s 1960s the commission grew as private and municipal owned hydro plants and electrical utilities went bankrupt or sold their assets . in 1960 nova scotia was connected to the new brunswick electric power commission in the first electrical inter connection between provinces in canada . the nova scotia power commission underwent unprecedented expansion during the late 1960s when five new thermal generating stations were constructed to meet the growing residential and industrial demand in the province . on january 27 1972 the government of nova scotia acquired nova scotia light and power company limited nslp an investor owned utility leasing its assets to the renamed nova scotia power corporation nspc . 4 in 1984 nspc opened the world s first tidal power generating station on the annapolis river at annapolis royal . this technology similar to hydroelectric dams did not become globally widespread . in 1992 nspc was privatized by the provincial government of premier donald cameron in what was then the largest private equity transaction in canadian history . cameron s government had been under heavy pressure to control provincial deficits and debt servicing thus the controversial decision to sell the crown corporation . this privatization created nova scotia power incorporated nspi . on december 2 1998 nspi shareholders voted to restructure the company to create a holding company which would be shareholder owned with the regulated utility being a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company . on december 9 1998 nspi received approval to establish ns power holdings incorporated and nspi shareholders exchanged their shares in nspi for shares in ns power holdings inc. on a one to one basis on january 1 1999 . common shares in ns power holdings inc. began trading on the toronto stock exchange and montreal stock exchange on january 6 1999 . the ns power holdings inc. name was changed to emera incorporated on july 17 2000 . 21st century edit in the wake of major winter storms in 2004 5 ns power came under increasing criticism from the union of nova scotia municipalities energy oriented public interest groups and provincial political parties for a perceived lack of investment in the monitoring preventive maintenance and instrumenting of its electric grid . a study was eventually commissioned from snc lavalin to explore a regional system operator to relieve ns power of the control of the grid 6 but nova scotia power remains a single vertically integrated utility as of 2014 . in december of 2013 and again in the spring of 2014 two men would break into ns power and steal copper wiring . the two were arrested during their second attempt and are now serving two year probation sentences . 7 nb power controversy edit further information proposed sale of nb power concerns were raised by the nova scotia government regarding the future of nova scotia power and the province s renewable energy strategy in the aftermath of a tentative c 4.8 billion deal for the sale of most assets of nb power to hydro qu bec on october 29 2009 . the government of nova scotia was concerned that the deal could affect its plan to develop renewable energy sources for exports to new england in competition with quebec s publicly owned utility as all existing transmission routes were through new brunswick . 8 the sale was reduced in scope due to public pressure in nb then dropped entirely . the shawn graham government fell partly as a result of the failure of these deals and the lack of public consultation prior to pursuing them . in partial response to concerns about being cut off from the new england market ns premier darrell dexter began to pursue a loop strategy for nova scotia s electric interconnection connecting muskrat falls in labrador to cape breton thence to mainland nova scotia and via subsea dc transmission cable new england . this would connect nl ns and potentially pei with its peers in ferc eastern interconnection directly without relying on quebec or new brunswick . thus any future deal to extend quebec s ownership or quebec s interconnection could not prevent dealings between peers in the eastern interconnection . nova scotia power has not announced any plans for a direct interconnection with the united states as of 2014 . maritime link edit main article lower churchill project on november 18 2010 nova scotia power s parent company emera announced a 6.2 billion deal with newfoundland and labrador s nalcor energy to develop the phase 1 of the lower churchill project including transmission infrastructure to bring power to nova scotia from muskrat falls labrador . 9 by providing long term guaranteed access to a block of hydroelectric power at a fixed price 10 the deal served the longstanding policy goal of reducing nova scotia s dependence on coal fired generation . 9 a new regulated utility registered in nova scotia nova scotia power maritime link incorporated nspml was formed to build and maintain the maritime link including overhead power lines between the granite canal hydroelectric generating station and cape ray newfoundland and a submarine power cable across the cabot strait . in 2013 nova scotia power signed an agreement to act as the agent of nspml in commercial relationships with neighbouring utilities . 11 16 nova scotia power also agreed to provide transmission services for nalcor energy in nova scotia allowing electricity to be traded among all four atlantic provinces . 11 17 2012 audit edit an audit commissioned by the nova scotia utility and review board nsuarb and conducted by liberty consulting group in 2012 found that nsp overcharged its customers by 21.8 million because it paid too much for fuel over a two year period . 12 the audit was heavily redacted when first released in july 2009 but the nsuarb ordered the release of the unredacted report in september 2009 arguing that it would not harm nsp s ability to carry on its business . 13 energy conservation edit programs administered by nova scotia power edit as ns implemented its climate and demand side management strategies lobbyists questioned whether the nova scotia power could be trusted to administer a province wide conservation program designed to prevent having to build any large new power plant . citation needed its integrated resource plan of 2007 indicated that energy conservation is an important element to meet the future electricity needs of nova scotia . citation needed ns power began implementing energy efficiency & conservation programs eec for customers in 2008 . 14 conservation programs for large commercial and industrial electricity users were the first to be launched by nsp in may 2008 . 15 although electric utilities across canada commonly administer similar programs 16 17 18 lobbyists accused nsp of potential conflicts of interest citation needed because it was both a vendor of electricity and also the administrator of programs that if successful would reduce energy sales . the utility spent 11.9 million on conservation programs in 2008 and 2009 . a third party evaluation confirmed that the programs had saved over 85 million kilowatt hours of electricity exceeding the utility s goal of 66 million kilowatt hours . 19 in april 2009 the utility applied to the nova scotia utility and review board for approval to spend 23 million on conservation programs in 2010 . 20 the spending was offset by a reduction in power rates under nova scotia s fuel adjustment mechanism due to lower than expected oil and gas prices in 2009 . 21 independently administered programs edit public consultations held in nova scotia in 2008 produced a report recommending the creation of an independent demand side management administration . 22 3 conserve nova scotia a government agency founded in 2006 23 13 was recast as the agency responsible for the planning development and co ordination of policies and programs for energy efficiency and conservation including public education and behavioural change in 2009 . 24 a new non profit agency efficiency nova scotia was created in 2010 to offer demand side management programs previously offered by nova scotia power . 25 3 the agency is led by an independent board of directors and regulated by the nova scotia utility and review board . 26 its programs are funded by a dsm cost recovery rider dcrr on customers power bills that varies according to each customer s rate class and energy consumption . the average residential customer pays 63 per year for conservation programs as of 2014 . 27 average payments by medium industrial customers dropped from over 200 month in 2012 to just over 100 in 2013 and 2014 . 28 for 2012 ens claimed that it helped nova scotians save 100 million in electricity costs . energy savings totalled 141.8 million kilowatt hours enough electricity to take 14 000 average homes off the grid on expenditures of 43.7 million a total cost under 0.31 per kilowatt hour for permanent savings that recur year over year . the cash on cash return on investment province wide is well over 100 % for the entire history of efficiency nova scotia . 28 smart grid proposals edit this section has an unclear citation style . the references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation footnoting or external linking . in particular external links should be changed to footnotes . august 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message in october 2013 nsp announced it would extend schneider electric s gis technology with embedded oms and dms technologies to efficiently monitor analyze and manage its network of nearly 500 000 customers for more rapid response to power outages . 1 . nsp accordingly appears to be following schneider s blueprint for grid evolution 2 . municipal utilities edit in 2013 the town of lunenburg electric utility tleu initiated a smart meter pilot project . participating customers were provided with meters that could record power consumption in real time and a wireless network was set up to communicate with the meters . 29 municipal electric utilities of nova scotia cooperative ltd. and the nova scotia department of energy had previously studied ways to reduce or shift demand during peak times as a way to reduce power costs for customers served by the municipal utilities . 30 nsp had not piloted smart meters as of april 2013 . time of day power rates edit as of