NDP criticizes Premier Tim Houston for silence during power rate hearings

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s NDP is criticizing Premier Tim Houston for not making any official submissions on Nova Scotia Power’s proposed power rate hike, but the premier says his government will do so before the deadline.

Nova Scotia Power is seeking a 3.8 per cent increase, retroactive to Jan. 1, and another 4.1 per cent bump that would go into effect on New Year’s Day 2027.

The New Democrats said at last week’s regulatory hearings that the utility lost the trust of its customers during last year’s cyber attack and that household budgets are stretched enough.

On Thursday the party’s house leader, Lisa Lachance, said Houston has been missing from the discussions and called for a full government review of Nova Scotia Power.

“The minister of energy, the premier, has been completely absent from recent discussions about rate increases and not really offering Nova Scotians a break when it comes to power costs,” Lachance said.

Houston, who made himself the energy minister last year, did not attend the rate hearings and his government hasn’t filed anything in writing.

Houston told reporters Thursday his government’s opposition to the increase is well known and that it will make closing submissions before the deadline at the end of the month.

“We don’t support a power rate increase. We’ve been pretty clear on that. We’ve taken a number of steps as a government to try to keep power rates down,” Houston said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2026.

The Canadian Press