Nova Scotia Power’s (NSP) new President and CEO says in a letter shared with customers that he is personally committed to rebuilding their trust through transparency, accuracy, and accountability.
Vivek Sood took over operations on March 1 following the resignation of NSP’s previous CEO, Peter Gregg who will become Executive Vice President of Emera Inc, the parent company of Nova Scotia Power.
As the company’s new leader, Sood promises to reconcile customer bills, address situations where customers may have paid too much or now find themselves owing more, finish reconnecting meters to the billing system, and continue restoring many internal systems after public backlash surrounding last year’s damaging cyberattack. He assures that most meters are back online, and workers are on track to have the rest up and running by the end of March.
An offer to waive late and interest fees was introduced for customers until systems are fully restored. He says anyone left with an outstanding balance accumulated during the estimated billing period can access interest-free payment plans and equal billing options to help manage debt.
The letter was shared on Nova Scotia Power’s social media, and customers in the comments section aren’t holding back their skepticism, with some pointing out concerns about the company’s continued reliance on digital forms of receiving data.
One online commenter says, “[NSP] needs to be sending out human meter readers again. Our problems started long before the security breach that supposedly took the autoreading system down; it started with the installation of Smart Meters and autoreading! Power bills immediately started being overcharged! Then when that system crashed it was NSP’s responsibility to send out meter readers instead of making up inflated numbers!”
Sood concludes the letter by ensuring Nova Scotian’s know the company will cooperate with ongoing investigations by the Nova Scotia Energy Board and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and that he will take appropriate action once investigations are complete.
