BILL NO. 129
(as introduced)
1st Session, 65th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
4 Charles III, 2025
Private Member's Public Bill
Electric Utility Reliability Standards Act
The Honourable Derek Mombourquette
Sydney–Membertou
First Reading: September 23, 2025
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
An Act to Strengthen
Electric Utility Reliability Standards
1 This Act may be cited as the Electric Utility Reliability Standards Act.
"Board" means the Nova Scotia Energy Board;
(a) an outage affecting more than 100 customers for more than 48 hours;
(b) an outage affecting more than 1000 customers for more than 24 hours; or
(c) an outage affecting more than 10,000 customers.
"reliability standard" means any measure adopted by the Board respecting the adequacy, security and continuity of the electrical system;
(a) Nova Scotia Power Incorporated; or
(b) any other person who owns, operates, manages or controls any plant or equipment for the production, transmission, delivery or furnishing of electric power or energy either directly or indirectly to or for the public, as regulated by the Public Utilities Act.
3 (1) Every utility shall, within 30 days after the end of each quarter, file with the Board a service reliability report containing
(a) outage frequency and duration by customer class and service territory;
(b) a cause analysis of each major outage event;
(c) compliance with performance standards set under the Public Utilities Act; and
(d) corrective actions taken or planned to address deficiencies.
(2) The Board shall publish every service reliability report on its website within 15 days of its filing.
4 (1) Every utility shall maintain and implement a vegetation management plan, approved by the Board.
(2) A vegetation management plan must include
(a) inspection cycles not exceeding three years for all distribution and transmission lines;
(b) standards for minimum clearances consistent with Canadian Electrical Code requirements;
(c) record-keeping and reporting of vegetation-related outages; and
(d) an independent audit of compliance at least once every five years.
(3) The Board may issue directives to amend a utility's vegetation management plan if deficiencies are identified.
5 (1) Every utility shall annually file with the Board an emergency response plan that sets out
(a) staffing and mutual-aid arrangements for restoration;
(b) protocols for coordination with provincial and municipal emergency management agencies; and
(c) procedures for priority restoration of critical infrastructure.
(2) The Board may require a utility to conduct exercises or simulations to test the utility's emergency response plan.
6 (1) Every utility shall, every three years, file with the Board a storm hardening investment plan that
(a) identifies system vulnerabilities to severe weather;
(b) proposes capital investments and timelines for hardening measures, including pole replacements, undergrounding, flood protection and smart grid enhancements; and
(c) includes a cost-benefit analysis.
(2) The Board may approve, amend, or reject a storm hardening investment plan, and may direct the utility to undertake specific hardening measures.
7 (1) Every utility shall implement and maintain a customer notification system to provide timely and accessible outage information.
(2) A customer notification system must provide
(a) estimated service restoration times that are updated at least every two hours during outage events; and
(b) priority notifications for customers.
(3) A customer notification system must make outage information available through multiple channels of communication, including telephone, text, online portal and mobile application.
8 (1) Failure to comply with this Act or the regulations constitutes a contravention of the Public Utilities Act.
(2) The Board may impose administrative penalties of up to $25,000 per day for failure to comply with this Act or the regulations, in addition to any penalties otherwise provided by law.
(3) A utility shall not recover any administrative penalty imposed on it under this Section through rates paid by customers.
9 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) prescribing the form and content of service reliability reports;
(b) prescribing standards for vegetation management, storm hardening and customer notification;
(c) respecting audits, inspections and reporting requirements;
(d) respecting administrative penalties;
(e) respecting any matter that the Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable to effectively carry out the intent and purpose of this Act.
(2) The exercise by the Governor in Council of the authority contained in subsection (1) is a regulation within the meaning of the Regulations Act.