Premier Tim Houston speaks to reporters at One Government Place in Halifax (Jacob Moore/Acadia Broadcasting)
Nova Scotia’s premier is raising concerns about a leadership change at Nova Scotia Power, saying the move may not address long-standing issues with reliability and affordability.
Nova Scotia Power has announced that Vivek Sood will take over as the utility’s new President and CEO effective March 1, replacing current leader Peter Gregg.
In a statement, Premier Tim Houston said, “While I wish the new CEO more success than his predecessors, I am concerned this announcement is less about real change and more about deflecting from a long-standing pattern of failure.” He added that successive leaders have been “unable to deliver reliable, affordable power for Nova Scotians.”
The transition comes as the independent Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board considers the utility’s latest request for a rate increase.
Houston emphasized the regulator operates at arm’s length from government, describing it as “essentially the judge and jury in this situation” that makes its own independent decisions.
Despite that independence, Houston said his position remains firm. “The Board should reject the requested power rate increase that they are currently considering,” he said.
The premier also pointed to concerns raised in the public record of the rate case, including the proposed return on equity, depreciation planning he says did not reflect changing climate policy or technology, and growing capital spending while more renewable generation is financed by independent developers.
He further questioned a request to add more than 500 full-time positions in a single year.
Looking beyond the current decision, Houston said the province must pursue a broader shift in how energy is produced and supplied. “The real opportunity is to create options and competition,” he said, pointing to wind, tidal power, natural gas under renewed study, offshore potential, and increased adoption of customer-owned technologies such as heat pumps, solar panels, and batteries.
