News
Release
Mayor Calls for Independent Audit of
Nova Scotia Power
(Monday, November 15/04)-- The Nova Scotia Government should order
an independent, comprehensive audit of the province’s largest
power utility to determine its emergency preparedness and its
communications with the public during major weather events, Mayor
Peter Kelly said today.
Mayor Kelly said Nova Scotia Power is not living up to its commitment
to keep its customers better informed when there are major power
outages in HRM and other parts of Nova Scotia.
He said the corporation’s performance over the weekend was
wholly inadequate and unsatisfactory, and as a result, many frustrated
power-users were calling the HRM Corporate Call Centre looking
for information about the outages.
The Mayor said the privately-held power utility has a track record
of being a very poor communicator during times of emergency, and
he cited the Hurricane Juan disaster, White Juan last February,
and recently, during the pre-winter storm over the weekend.
“Nova Scotia Power has been admonished by the Utilities
Review Board, it customers, and many others for its state of readiness
and response during times of emergency, and its poor customer
service during these major events. They just don’t seem
to get it-- good communication with their customers is everything
during a natural disaster or a public emergency,” Mayor
Kelly said “How many more times do they have to hear it,
and how many more winter storms and other major weather events
do we have to go through, before things with Nova Scotia Power
improve?”
Mayor Kelly said many Nova Scotians are beginning to question
the structural integrity of Nova Scotia Power’s infrastructure
and are becoming more critical of the Utility’s ability
to respond effectively during times of emergency.
He said he was astounded at the attitude of NSP President Ralph
Tedesco, who was quoted Sunday as saying “we know the power
is out” and told customers not to contact the corporation’s
call centre for information.
“When Nova Scotia Power shuts down its call centre, those
inquiries usually ended up with the HRM Corporate Call Centre
because people want information in times of emergency,”
the Mayor said. “We try our best to provide information
to those callers, but it’s not our place to be answering
questions about power outages--- and Nova Scotia Power has been
quick to point that out to us. When residents call HRM about power
outages, that ties up our lines for
people calling in about the services we, as a municipality, provide.
We can’t be doing the Power Corporation’s work for
them.”
Mayor Kelly continued “Other utilities seem to be able to
operate successful customer inquiry lines during times of emergency;
HRM is able to handle most of its calls and keep our residents
up-to-date. What’s wrong with Nova Scotia Power? Yesterday
wasn’t the first time they stopped answering the phones.”
-30–
Mayor Peter Kelly
(902) 490-4010
