Nova Scotia’s largest utility is responding to a stinging letter from Premier Tim Houston by insisting it hasn’t broken any laws.
The statement came after Houston sent a letter to the chair of the utility’s board, calling for an investigation and questioning why some customers were overbilled in the aftermath of a cyberattack.
In the letter, Houston noted that knowingly overbilling customers could be considered regulatory fraud while misreporting revenue to the market could be considered securities fraud.
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In an emailed statement Wednesday night, a Nova Scotia Power spokesperson says the utility is complying with all securities and regulatory laws, and dismisses any suggestion to the contrary.
Nova Scotia Power, a subsidiary of Halifax-based Emera Inc., has said the personal and financial data belonging to 280,000 ratepayers were accessed by an unauthorized party as early as March 19.
Since then, the utility has said it can no longer rely on remote meter readings and is estimating electricity consumption for some customers’ billing.
As a result, Houston says customers have been dealing with inflated bills, consecutive charges within short periods, and a lack of communication about billing adjustments.
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