Province Paves Way for Clean Energy Projects

The Province continues to pave the way for clean energy projects and the jobs and investments they bring for Nova Scotians.

The Powering the Offshore Act, introduced today, September 26, updates legislation related to offshore wind, tidal energy and the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick intertie.

“We’re unleashing Nova Scotia’s untapped potential to make our province a clean energy and economic powerhouse,” said Energy Minister Trevor Boudreau. “This means good jobs, stronger communities and more opportunities right here at home. And it means we can pay for the investment our province needs in areas like healthcare, highways and homes.”

The act changes three pieces of energy legislation:

• Changes to the Electricity Act will allow power purchase agreements to keep all options open for using the tremendous resource of Nova Scotia’s offshore wind, including domestic use. Through Wind West, the Province is calling on the federal government to support the transmission infrastructure needed to export most of that energy.

• Another amendment will change the generation facilities section of the Electricity Act, which has been used to designate clean energy projects outside of government procurements. Because supporting too many projects could pose a risk to ratepayers, the amendment will cap energy from these projects at their current volume of 1,140 megawatts so that no new project can be added unless another does not proceed.

• Changes to the Marine Renewable-energy Act will create the ability to merge licences for tidal energy projects. This follows changes made last year that created the ability to split licences. Both changes are based on industry feedback and make the licensing process more responsive to changing business needs.

• Changes to the Public Utilities Act will make it clear that Nova Scotia Power is exempt from municipal taxation and building code requirements for its capital assets – including when the utility co-owns an asset, such as the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick intertie. Municipalities receive payments in lieu of taxes from the utility for all the electricity infrastructure it owns.

Quick Facts:

• the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator is starting the first phase of a licensing process to tap into Nova Scotia’s offshore wind to produce 62 gigawatts of clean energy
• new sources of clean electricity added to the grid must be in the best interests of Nova Scotia ratepayers
• housekeeping amendments to the Electricity Act include removing programs that have closed; tasking the Department with procurement administrator contract and fee negotiations, which is current practice; updating with neutral language; and renumbering the clauses
• utilities are typically exempt from municipal taxes; the exemptions for Nova Scotia Power have been in place since it was a Crown corporation and then through the Nova Scotia Power Privatization Act since 1992

Additional Resources:

Bills tabled in the legislature are available at: https://nslegislature.ca/legislative-business/bills-statutes/bills/assembly-65-session-1

Electricity Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/electricity.pdf

Marine Renewable-energy Act : https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/marine%20renewable-energy.pdf

Public Utilities Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/public%20utilities.pdf

Wind West: https://novascotia.ca/wind-west/

Department of Energy on X: https://x.com/NS_Dept_Energy