Smart meters coming to Nova Scotia Power customers

Nova Scotia Power has received regulatory approval to install digital smart meters, which will collect data on customers’ power usage.

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) has approved Nova Scotia Power’s plan to upgrade all of its customers. The technology will log customers’ energy use in intervals as frequently as 15 minutes. That data will then be sent to the utility though “a safe, secure, and private wireless network that will be built as part of the project.”

That means the meters will not require manual in-person readings, and the number of staff who read meters will be reduced by about 72 people.

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The new meters will not increase power rates because the $133-million project is expected to be offset by savings over its 20-year life.

That includes an estimated $27 million saved by offering lower power rates for customers who use power at times when demand is low.

“This is an important step forward that will enable our company to better serve our customers,” said Karen Hutt, Nova Scotia Power’s president and CEO, in a news release.

“Smart meter technology will allow us to create a more modern energy grid capable of supporting future innovation for years to come and help drive our objective of providing the best customer experience possible.”

The utility says it will spend the next year building and testing the secure communication network needed for the project.

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Customers will be contacted “well in advance” of installation, which is expected to begin in late 2019 and finish by the end of 2020.

Those who do not want the meters can opt out and Nova Scotia Power will have to provide up front information on the costs of doing so.

In the past, the implementation of the devices has been controversial in certain provinces, including Saskatchewan and Ontario, where utilities have dealt with malfunctioning meters, cost overruns and fires.

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