Billing Process

Understanding Your Bill


We are continuing to work on restoring all regular services to our customers following the cyber incident.

While meters continue to accurately record energy usage, we are not currently able to retrieve this information remotely and apply it to your bill. As a result, we are continuing to provide billing in two ways: estimated bills and physical meter reads.

Estimated Bills


We know estimated bills are causing significant concerns for our customers, with some customer estimates appearing much higher than their energy use during the same billing period last year.

Our system is programmed to consider either a warm time of year or a cold time of year when estimating a bill. We are now at the time of year when the system has increasingly started to estimate bills as colder weather usage, which has resulted in estimates with higher amounts of energy than some customers are using.

We recommend paying the estimated amount, or the amount from the same billing period last year, to help manage account balances. It's important to remember that an estimate is just that—an estimate—and it will be reconciled on the bill when your meter is read by a meter reader. That means that in the end, you will only pay for the energy you actually use. We are not applying late charges or penalties on any outstanding balance, and we will communicate with customers before reintroducing any late fees on unpaid amounts.

If you are concerned about an estimated bill and have not had a physical meter read, you can take a photo of your meter display and send it to us. We’ll use this information to adjust your bill based on your actual usage. Submit a photo of your meter here >

Answering your questions about estimated billing

How to tell if your bill is estimated

Customers wanting to know if their bill was estimated can look here on their bill:

Bill featuring estimate message

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Location pin iconMeter Readers

We've hired 100 meter readers who are gathering energy use data from residential and business meters across the province.

Blue spark iconCustomer Service Team

We've hired additional Customer Service Agents to take your calls and help answer your questions.

Battery iconNo Interest Charges

We are not applying late charges or penalties on any outstanding balances, and we will communicate with customers before reintroducing any late fees on unpaid amounts.

Meter Read Bills


If a meter reader is able to take a physical read of your meter, your next bill will be adjusted to remove any estimated usage. This video highlights what you'll see on your next bill following a meter read.

Watch the video >

Meter Reading

We will attempt to get physical meter reads for most customers and provide a bill based on actual energy use. We have hired meter readers who are gathering energy use data from residential and business meters across the province. Reading a meter takes only a few minutes and you do not need to be home for your meter to be read.

Our meter readers wear Nova Scotia Power branded clothing and have a Nova Scotia Power identification badge with the word "Contractor" in the blue stripe at the bottom of the badge. Our contractor often uses rental vehicles for their work. These vehicles may have license plates from other provinces depending on the inventory that was available when the vehicle was secured.

If meter readers are unable to access your meter due to vegetation, pets, fencing, timing, or other circumstances, you will receive an estimated bill.

A meter reader looking at a power meter on a home

 

Frequently Asked Questions



Bills

How will you determine my bill amount?

We are continuing to provide billing to customers in two ways: physical meter reads and estimated bills. A meter read will provide you with a bill based on your actual energy use. If meter readers are unable to access your meter due to vegetation, pets, fencing, timing, or other circumstances, you will receive an estimated bill. Estimated bills are based on an average of the previous energy used at your property during a similar time of year.

What happens if you estimate my bill higher or lower than it’s supposed to be?

When we are able to retrieve your current energy use from your meter, your bill and account will be adjusted to reflect your accurate usage. Customers will never pay for power they do not use.

If the estimate is based on last year, my bill won’t be accurate. I have since installed a heat pump, bought an electric vehicle, etc.

Estimates will be based on last year's same time period usage and it may not reflect changes that have been made since then. When we are able to retrieve your current energy use from your meter, your bill and account will be adjusted to reflect your accurate usage. If you would like to discuss your bill, please call our Customer Care team at 1-800-428-6230.

How will I know if my bill was estimated?

At the top of your bill, there will be a note to confirm that your usage has been estimated for the billing period. Learn more about how to read your bill here >

Bill featuring estimate message

Are you charging late fees penalties?

We are not applying late charges or penalties on any outstanding balances, and we will communicate with customers before reintroducing any late fees on unpaid amounts.

I'm not comfortable paying an estimated bill. What are the other options?

Equal Billing remains an option for our customers. By signing up for Equal Billing, customers can spread out the cost of their annual bill over equal monthly payments. Making regular payments will help keep your bill balance from growing. We’re here to support you. Please talk to us if you have questions or would like to discuss payment options.

How long are you going to be estimating my bill?

We will attempt to get physical meter reads for most customers and provide a bill based on actual energy use. If meter readers are unable to access your meter due to vegetation, pets, fencing, timing, or other circumstances, you will receive an estimated bill. We will continue to provide further updates as more information on timing becomes available.

How many days are included in my bill?

In most cases, bills will be based on a similar ~60 day billing cycle that customers are used to seeing. There may be some exceptions. Please refer to your bill for more details.

Why are there adjustments on my bill. What do they mean?

When we resumed billing, we provided an estimated bill. For many customers, we are now able to provide a bill based on actual usage through a physical meter read. An adjustment for the actual power used will be reflected on your latest bill. Details on the billing period and charges for usage in kilowatt hours are outlined on your statement. Your adjustment also accounts for taxes and the provincial energy rebate.

I’m on Equal Billing. How does this affect me?

Customers on Equal Billing will continue to be billed their current monthly amount. The regular mid-year review of your account that we do to verify if your monthly equal billing payment is in line with your actual usage will be delayed.

I’m on the Time Varying Pricing Rate Pilot (Time-of-Use, or Critical Peak Pricing). What does this mean for me?

All Billing Process and Meter Reading updates above remain the same for your rate, however it is important to note the following:

In response to the cyber incident, the rate pilots have been temporarily paused for 2025-2026. You will be reverted to the appropriate Standard Rate until we restore full functionality to operate the rate pilot again. Once functionality is restored customers will be contacted with advance notice (at least 15 days), and your power rate will automatically return to the pilot rate. 

Applications for new participants of Time-of-Use Rate Pilot and Critical Peak Pricing Rate Pilot are closed. Join our mailing list to be the first to hear when applications reopen. 

 

How do I sign up for Equal Billing?

It’s easy to sign up for Equal Billing. Call our Customer Care team at 1-800-428-6230 to learn more.

Can I switch to paperless or create a new MyAccount?

If you want to create a new MyAccount profile and go paperless, please give us a call at 1-800-428-6230 to start the process.


Payments

Did you get my payment?

Payments made through MyAccount, or your bank, will be applied to your account and reflected on your MyAccount dashboard and on your next bill. You may also confirm a recent payment by calling 1-800-428-6230 and using our self-service menu. Please have your account number ready to use this option.

Will my future automated payments be processed on time?

Yes. All payments moving forward will be processed as expected.

Can I cancel my pre-authorized debit arrangement?

Yes, if you wish to cancel or modify your payment method, please contact Customer Care. If you make automated payments through MyAccount, you have full control over your payments. Just login to MyAccount to view or adjust your scheduled payments or make changes to your payment preferences.

Should I trust Nova Scotia Power with my bank account information on payments?

We are working hard to continue strengthening the security of our systems by implementing additional safeguards to help prevent similar incidents in the future. There are numerous options to pay your Nova Scotia Power bill including through your bank via online banking.

How do I change my MyAccount password?

We do recommend updating your password to help keep your account safe.

The MyAccount login page has a new look, and we’ve added some helpful features. After you sign in, you can update your password and security question on your new profile page. If you just want to view or pay your bill, select View & Pay Your Bill.


Meters & Data

Why is my meter saying “noSynch”?

Meters have continued to work and measure usage accurately throughout the cyber incident. The meters are not yet able to communicate the data to our systems and that is why the meter display may say "noSynch".

When my meter starts providing usage data again how will you know it's accurate?

Meters have continued to work and measure usage accurately throughout the cyber incident. The issue is with the sending of the data to our internal systems. When meters are once again able to communicate with our systems the data will transfer from the meter to us.

Will you be hiring meter readers to do physical meter reads?

Yes. To provide customers with a bill based on their actual energy use, we have hired meter readers who will be gathering energy use data from residential and business meters beginning in July 2025.

What should I expect if a meter reader is coming to my property?

Reading a meter takes only minutes and you don’t have to be home to have your meter read. In most cases our meter readers will access your meter through your property.

What happens if a meter reader can’t access the meter on my property?

If vegetation, pets, fencing or anything else is blocking access to your meter, you will receive an estimated bill based on an average of the previous energy used at your property during a similar time of year.

Where is MyEnergy Insights?

MyEnergy Insights remains unavailable. We continue working to restore access to MyEnergy Insights. We appreciate your patience as we work to restore all services following the cyber incident.

Do the hackers have access to my meter information?

The types of impacted personal information varied by individual customer and may have included your customer account history, such as power consumption, service requests, payments, billing and credit history, and customer correspondence.

I have opted out of smart meters and have an analog/digital meter. How does this affect me?

Your meter will continue to be read as part of the same process that has been in place for opt-out customers.