Top row, left to right: Lisa Forsey, Ciuin Shirkey; Bottom row, left to right: Colin Walker, Darcie Hessie

A voice for our communities

“We represent the voice of the customer”, explains Lisa, Reliability Advisor for Northeast Nova Scotia. “I’m working directly with communities to hear their concerns and take action. We’re focused on providing customers with helpful information—from storm preparedness tips to outage restoration updates, to news about the work we’re doing in their community that will make a difference.”

“This role was born out of feedback from our customers”, adds Colin, our Reliability Advisor for Cape Breton Island. “We know they have questions about the work we do to keep the lights on—we’re here as their local contact.” 

For Ciuin, based out of the Digby area as our Reliability Advisor for Western Nova Scotia, the role is important because it enables us to remove barriers and better support customers that live in rural communities. 

“We need to be where our customers are. Our headquarters are in Halifax, but it’s critical that we understand perspectives from across the province. There may be different challenges in rural communities than what customers experience in HRM. We get to listen and speak directly to customers and leaders in our regions and provide them with the information they need.”

Supporting work in the field 

Based in the Sydney area, Colin understands both the challenges and opportunities that come with working in a rural region.

“Cape Breton is beautiful and rugged, but the landscape can bring accessibility challenges for our crews—from lines that run through remote or forested areas that are hard to reach, to muddy, rocky terrain. It’s rewarding to be able to show customers where we’re putting boots to the ground, installing stronger equipment that can stand up to storms, or sending vegetation management trucks to trim trees back from our lines.”

The experience of getting out in the field is one that Darcie, our Reliability Advisor for the Metro region, which includes HRM, Windsor, and Chester, finds gratifying too.

“It’s exciting to dig into a problem and be a part of solving it”, she says. “I spend my days visiting crews to understand what they’re working on, checking where our tree trimming work is happening, and getting familiar with the performance of our lines and equipment. If there’s a line that’s experiencing more frequent interruptions, I’ll look into it and work with our operations teams to ensure there’s a plan to address it.”

Investing in our system 

The addition of our Reliability Advisors is just one way we’re listening to the concerns of our customers and working to reduce power outages. This year, we’re investing $230 million in our electrical system. This includes replacing deteriorated equipment, clearing trees from our lines, and upgrading our infrastructure so that it can better withstand the extreme weather we’re experiencing more often—like installing stronger, more resilient poles.  

It’s work that Lisa feels will make a positive impact for customers.  

“We’re working hard behind the scenes to prioritize the areas that need improvements. I hope to meet with more customers at upcoming community events and meetings. We’re here for you and we’re eager to listen.”

Want more information about how we're investing in service reliability? Learn more >