HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative government is remaining noncommittal about the party’s campaign promise to cap power rate increases to the Canadian average.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy would not directly answer a question from The Canadian Press on whether the government planned to fulfil that pledge from the November 2024 election campaign.
Alicia Doyle said in an email the department is looking at all options for Nova Scotians to get clean and affordable electricity, but would not say if capping rates is one of those options.
Premier Tim Houston had promised to cap rates to the “Canadian average increase” but his party’s election platform didn’t specify exactly what that meant.
Doyle noted that the government in 2024 absorbed $117 million of the provincial power utility’s fuel costs and prevented a 19 per cent rate hike in 2025 by securing a $500-million federal loan.
Liberal member Iain Rankin says it’s disappointing but unsurprising that Houston’s government is no longer committing to cap rate hikes.
Rankin says he believes that pledge was made without any intent to fulfil it and the government is not doing enough to address the rising costs of power.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2026.
