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Nova Scotia Power says it plans to resume charging late fees this October for the first time since a cyberattack disrupted billing last spring.
About 280,000 customers had their personal data, including financial information and social insurance numbers, breached in the April 2025 ransomware attack.
Chris Lanteigne, Nova Scotia Power’s customer care director, says the utility chose not to charge late fees on outstanding balances because of billing concerns with their smart meter connectivity, which he says the company felt “was the right thing to do.”
“We’ve worked really hard to ensure the billing experience returned to normal,” he said Wednesday.
“Meters were reconnected with the first bills being issued back in December, and over the course of the last four months, we’ve seen normal operations.”
He says late fees will not be charged on balances owing prior to Oct. 1.
Currently, about nine per cent of Nova Scotia Power customers are behind on payments, which is double the amount before the cyberattack.
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Lanteigne says the utility is confident their meters are accurate now, but asks anyone who needs help with their bills to reach out.
“It is very important to acknowledge that if customers have been behind on their bills, there is support available,” he said.
“There are options to help them and we encourage them to call us because they can maintain an interest-free approach with that outstanding balance with up 24 months interest-free payment plans from Nova Scotia Power.”
However, many Nova Scotia Power users Global News spoke with expressed frustration when they heard late fees are being reintroduced.
“This is just another unaffordable cost for a lot of households that unfortunately put a burden that’s maybe not affordable on people,” said Hannah Zilke.
“So I think it’s unfair and there should be other ways to manage that cost.”
Fellow resident Nancy Smith said the utility was “greedy.”
“It’s just Nova Scotia Power being greedy, you know. And unfortunately, they’re the only game in town as far as power utilities,” she said.
“So what are you going to do?”
The utility announced Wednesday it is also setting up a community energy fund of half a million dollars to support organizations that help customers in need, through a matching program with other organizations.
Chris Benjamin, co-chair of the Affordable Energy Coalition, says it’s a good investment but with the province having the highest rate of energy poverty in the country, he was disappointed to see the late fees return.
“So it will impact people. And that is my first thought. It’s unfortunate that we even have such a thing as late fees or that we punish people for situations that they really have no control over,” he said.
“I lament and I regret the fact that they even charge penalties … that’s an example of a corporation providing an essential service and where they have to make a certain a guaranteed profit rate. So that’s the flaw in that system.”
He says he believes the only way to adequately address the problem of energy poverty would be through government legislation.
“Government action is really warranted here. Energy poverty is a persistent and crisis-level problem in this province, and government needs to act on that with investment and support for the people who really need it,” he said.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
