This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Office of the Registrar of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

This electronic version is copyright ©

, Province of Nova Scotia , all rights reserved. It is for your personal use and may not be copied for the purposes of resale in this or any other form.

Renewable Electricity Regulations

made under

Section 5 of the

Electricity Act

S.N.S. 2004, c. 25

O.I.C. 2010-381 (effective October 12, 2010), N.S. Reg. 155/2010

amended to O.I.C. 2025-75 (effective March 11, 2025), N.S. Reg. 54/2025

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Interpretation

Citation

Definitions for these regulations

Definitions for the Act and these regulations

Renewable Electricity Standards

Renewable electricity standard 2011

Renewable electricity standard 2013

Renewable electricity standard 2015

Renewable electricity standard 2020

Renewable electricity standard 2023

Renewable electricity standard 2025

Renewable electricity standard 2030

Shortfalls and overages

Forest biomass cap

Minister’s determination

Qualifying for renewable electricity standards

Applying for electricity standard approval

Incomplete application for electricity standard approval

Criteria for approval of application for electricity standard approval

Issuance of electricity standard approval

Minister’s approval required to transfer electricity standard approval

Approved facility must continue to meet requirements

Transitional

Feed-in Tariff Program

Tariffs to be set by Board

Setting community feed-in tariff

Community feed-in tariff qualifications

Setting developmental tidal array tariff

Developmental tidal array tariff qualifications

Applying for feed-in tariff approval

Contents of application for community feed-in tariff approval

Application for developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval

Contents of an application for developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval

Designated representatives

Use of information

Incomplete application for feed-in tariff approval

Approval or rejection of application for feed-in tariff approval

Application to vary nameplate capacity of device in developmental tidal array

Minister’s approval required to transfer feed-in tariff approval

Approved applicant must continue to meet requirements

Interconnection queue

Standard power purchase agreement for feed-in tariff program

Minister’s consent required to assign power purchase agreement

Generator under feed-in tariff program must report to Minister

“One-window” committee for feed-in tariff program

Procurement of Renewable Low-Impact Electricity Under

Section 4B of the Act

Responsibility of procurement administrator

Request for proposals requirements

Proposal evaluation

Report on procurement

Requirement for request for proposals

Standard power purchase agreement for procurement

Net-Metering Program

Customer eligibility

Application requirements

Duties of public utility

Additional program requirements

Data collection and reporting requirements

Renewable energy certificates

Residential net metering

Records, Audits and Reporting

Renewable electricity standards progress reports

Books and records of renewable low-impact electricity generators

Audit or examination of renewable low-impact electricity generator

Duty of renewable low-impact electricity generator

Report by independent power producer

Enforcement

Minister’s powers

Order to comply

Compliance with order

Failure to comply

Penalties and enforcement respecting renewable electricity standard

Appeals

Appeals to the Board

Board powers

Interpretation

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Renewable Electricity Regulations .

Definitions for these regulations

(1) In these regulations,

“Act” means the Electricity Act ;

“co-firing” means the combusting of biomass and fossil fuels at the same time;

“designated lands” has the same meaning as in the Indian Act (Canada);

“device” means 1 or more turbines on a single frame or platform;

“distribution system” means a system for conveying electricity at voltages of less

than 69 kV;

“distribution zone” means all distribution feeders owned by a public utility

emanating from a single distribution supply transformer within a substation;

“electricity standard approval” means an approval issued under

Section 14 to

approve a generation facility as a renewable low-impact electricity generation

facility for the purposes of the renewable electricity standards;

“expected amounts to be paid”, in relation to a procurement, means the amounts

that a public utility would be required to pay to the owner of the generation facility

to purchase the procured electricity, net of the following:

(

i) any savings relating to costs that would have been incurred by the

public utility to produce, transmit, deliver or furnish any electricity

that would be displaced by the procured electricity, and

(ii) the value of any benefits or credits relating to the reduction of

greenhouse gases or air emissions or to the generation of electricity

from renewable resources;

“feed-in tariff program” means the program established by

Section 4A of the Act

under which a public utility permits a generator to connect an electricity generation

facility to the public utility’s electrical grid;

“feed-in tariff approval” means an approval issued under

Section 28 for an

electricity generation facility that qualifies for the feed-in tariff program;

“heritage renewable electricity” means all electricity that was contracted for or

supplied by a load-serving entity in the Province before January 1, 2002, and that,

in the opinion of the Minister, is generated from renewable sources;

“load-serving entity” means any one of the following:

(

i) NSPI,

(ii) a municipal electric utility that purchases any or all of its electricity

supply from a supplier other than NSPI,

(iii) an independent power producer that exports electricity;

“municipal electric utility” means any of the following:

(

i) the electrical utility for

(

A) the Town of Antigonish,

(

B) the Town of Berwick,

(

C) the former Town of Canso,

(

D) the Town of Lunenburg, or

(

E) the Town of Mahone Bay,

(ii) the Electric Light Commissioners for Riverport, in the County of

Lunenburg;

“Muskrat Falls Generating Station” means the generating facility proposed to be

constructed as part of the Lower Churchill Project in the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador;

“net-metering program” means a program developed under subsection 3A(2) or (3)

of the Act;

“NS Mi’kmaw band council” means an entity referred to in clause 4A(8)(

a) of the

Act;

“NSPI” means Nova Scotia Power Incorporated;

“primary forest biomass” means biomass produced from primary forest products

harvested in the Province and first used as a fuel;

“primary forest products” means primary forest products as defined in the Forests

Act ;

“procurement administrator” means a person appointed under subsection 4B(1) of

the Act to conduct a procurement of renewable low-impact electricity;

“renewable energy certificate” or “REC” means a document that provides proof

that a participant in a public utility’s electricity-related program, including a net-metering program or the Green Choice Program, owns the renewable attributes per

MWh of renewable energy generated;

“renewable low-impact electricity generation facility” means a facility in the

Province that generates renewable low-impact electricity and has received all

approvals and permits required under these regulations or any other applicable

enactment;

“renewable low-impact electricity generator” means a person who owns or

operates a renewable low-impact electricity generation facility in the Province;

“request for proposals” means a request for proposals for procurement of

renewable low-impact electricity under

Section 4B of the Act;

“residential net metering” means the process of generating renewable, low-impact

electricity by a customer for their own use in accordance with

Section 3AA of the

Act;

“run-of-the-river hydroelectric electricity” means electricity that is generated from

flowing water in a river with minimal environmental effect on the river course and

that may include the use of a dam structure;

“solar program” means the Solar Electricity for Community Buildings Program

established under

Section 37A;

“transmission system” means a system for conveying electricity at voltages of 69

kV or more;

“university” means any of the following institutions: Acadia University, Atlantic

School of Theology, Cape Breton University, Dalhousie University, Mount Saint

Vincent University, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Saint Mary’s

University, St. Francis Xavier University, University of King’s College or

Université Sainte-Anne;

“untreated organic material” means organic material that has not been treated or

organic material that has been treated in conformance with a government policy or

regulation respecting the material.

(2) In the definition of “device” in subsection (1), “turbine” means a rotating blade or

appliance that is designed to capture the kinetic energy of the ocean.

Definitions for the Act and these regulations

(1) In the Act and these regulations,

“biomass” means untreated organic material and includes material that has been

processed so as to change its size, shape, density, moisture level, or degree of

purity, and secondary waste by-products from its processing, but does not include

material for which other diversion methods are viable or the treated by-products of

manufacturing processes;

“community economic-development corporation” means a community

economic-development corporation as defined in the Equity Tax Credit Act ;

“cooperative” means a cooperative incorporated or continued under the Co-operative Associations Act or the Canada Cooperatives Act (Canada);

“developmental tidal array” means

(

i) a tidal generation facility consisting of a single device with a capacity

greater than 0.5 MW, unless the Minister approves a reduction in

nameplate capacity under

Section 28A, or

(ii) a tidal generation facility consisting of multiple devices, each of

which has a capacity greater than 0.5 MW, unless the Minister

approves a reduction in nameplate capacity under

Section 28A;

“independent power producer” means a renewable low-impact electricity generator

(

i) of which no more than 49% of the securities entitling the holders to

vote for the election of its directors are held by a public utility in

combination with any affiliate of the public utility, and

(ii) that sells electricity

(

A) in the Province to public utilities for retail sales to the utilities’

customers, or

(

B) for export outside of the Province;

“municipality” means a regional municipality, a town or a county or district

municipality located in the Province;

“not-for-profit body corporate” means a corporation that

(

i) qualifies as a non-profit organization under paragraph 149(1)(

l) of the

Income Tax Act (Canada), or

(ii) is a registered charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada);

“Province” includes the lands and submarine areas within the limits of the offshore

area described in

Schedule I to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum

Resources Accord Implementation (Nova Scotia) Act as amended by the

Schedule I

(Offshore Area Limits) Amending Regulations made under that Act;

“renewable electricity” means all of the following:

(

i) heritage renewable electricity,

(ii) renewable low-impact electricity generated after December 31, 2001,

(iii) imported electricity that in the opinion of the Minister is generated

from renewable resources;

“renewable electricity standard” means a target share or amount of renewable

electricity to be supplied by a load-serving entity as prescribed by the regulations.

“renewable low-impact electricity” means electricity produced from any of the

following:

(

i) solar energy,

(ii) wind energy,

(iii) run-of-the-river hydroelectric energy,

(iv) ocean-powered energy,

(

v) tidal energy,

(vi) wave energy,

(vii) biomass that has been harvested in a sustainable manner,

(viii) landfill gas,

(ix) any resource that, in the opinion of the Minister and consistent with

Canadian standards, is able to be replenished through natural

processes or through sustainable management practices so that the

resource is not depleted at current levels of consumption;

“small-scale in-stream tidal” means a tidal generation facility that

(

i) consists of 1 or more devices, each of which has a capacity of 0.5

MW or less, and

(ii) is capable of being interconnected with the electrical grid through a

distribution system.

(2) For the purposes of subclause (

i) of the definition of “independent power

producer” in subsection (1),

(

a) a corporation is deemed to be an affiliate of another corporation if 1 of them

is the subsidiary of the other or if both are subsidiaries of the same

corporation or if each of them is controlled by the same person;

(

b) a corporation is deemed to be controlled by another person or by 2 or more

corporations if

(

i) voting securities of the 1st-mentioned corporation carrying more than

50% of the votes for the election of directors are held, other than by

way of security only, by or for the benefit of the other person or by or

for the benefit of the other corporations, and

(ii) the votes carried by those securities are entitled, if exercised, to elect

a majority of the directors of the 1st-mentioned corporation; and

(

c) a corporation is deemed to be a subsidiary of another corporation if

(

i) it is controlled by

(

A) that other, or

(

B) that other and 1 or more corporation, each of which is

controlled by that other, or

(C) 2 or more corporations, each of which is controlled by that

other, or

(ii) it is a subsidiary of a corporation that is that other’s subsidiary;

(

d) NSPI may not own any securities or equipment in the generator or

generation facility.

Renewable Electricity Standards

Renewable electricity standard 2011

(1) In each of the calendar years 2011 and 2012, each load-serving entity must supply

its customers with renewable low-impact electricity produced by renewable low-impact electricity generation facilities operated by independent power producers in

an amount equal to or greater than 5% of the total amount of electricity supplied to

its customers as measured at the customers’ meters for that year.

(2) To meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1), a municipal electric

utility that purchases any of its electricity supply from a supplier other than NSPI

must ensure that at least 5% of that non-NSPI electricity supply is supplied by a

renewable low-impact electricity generator.

Renewable electricity standard 2013

(1) In each of the calendar years 2013 and 2014, each load-serving entity must supply

its customers with renewable low-impact electricity produced by renewable low-impact electricity generation facilities in an amount equal to or greater than 10% of

the total amount of electricity supplied to its customers as measured at the

customers’ meters for that year.

(2) Each load-serving entity must meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection

(1) as follows:

(

a) by continuing to at least supply 5% of its total annual sales from

independent power producers; and

(

b) by acquiring the additional renewable low-impact electricity required to

meet the standard from either independent power producers or from its own

renewable low-impact electricity generation facilities.

(2A) NSPI must maintain the Port Hawkesbury biomass power generation plant

available as a base load cogeneration facility and NSPI must operate the plant on

an economic dispatch basis or as required for system reliability.

(2B) [repealed]

(3) To meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1), a municipal electric

utility that purchases any of its electricity supply from a supplier other than NSPI

must ensure that at least 10% of that non-NSPI electricity supply is supplied by a

renewable low-impact electricity generator.

(3A) Electricity supply purchased by a municipal electric utility that is sold to NSPI as

spill energy under the Wholesale Market Non-Dispatchable Supplier Spill Tariff

counts towards the municipal electric utility’s renewable electricity standard under

subsection (1) if

(

a) an equivalent amount of electricity is purchased from NSPI as backup/top-up energy under the Wholesale Market Backup/Top-Up Service Tariff; and

(

b) the supply is consumed within the same calendar year as it is purchased.

Renewable electricity standard 2015

(1) Each year beginning with the calendar year 2015 until 2020, each load-serving

entity must supply its customers with renewable electricity in an amount equal to

or greater than 25% of the total amount of electricity supplied to its customers as

measured at the customers’ meters for that year.

(2) To meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1), NSPI must

(

a) continue to supply at least 5% of its total annual sales from independent

power producers; and

(

b) acquire at least 300 GWh from independent power producers in addition to

the renewable low-impact electricity required to meet the requirements of

Sections 4 and 5.

(3) [repealed]

(4) In meeting its obligations under subsections (1) and (2), NSPI may include other

sources of renewable electricity, including:

(

a) contributions from distribution system connected renewable energy

generators;

(

b) contributions of 150 GWh or less from co-firing non-primary forest biomass

at its generation facilities;

(

c) contributions from renewable electricity generating facilities that it owns or

operates.

(5) To meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1), a municipal electric

utility that purchases any of its electricity supply from a supplier other than NSPI

must ensure that a minimum of 25% of that non-NSPI electricity supply is

renewable electricity.

(6) Electricity supply purchased by a municipal electric utility that is sold to NSPI as

spill energy under the Wholesale Market Non-Dispatchable Supplier Spill Tariff

counts towards the municipal electric utility’s renewable electricity standard under

subsection (1) if

(

a) an equivalent amount of electricity is purchased from NSPI as backup/top-up energy under the Wholesale Market Backup/Top-Up Service Tariff; and

(

b) the supply is consumed within the same calendar year as it is purchased.

Renewable electricity standard 2020

6A

(1) Each year beginning with the calendar year 2020, each load-serving entity must

supply its customers with renewable electricity in an amount equal to or greater

than 40% of the total amount of electricity supplied to its customers as measured at

the customers’ meters for that year.

(2) NSPI must meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1) by

(

a) continuing to meet the requirements in clauses 6(2)(

a) and (b);

(

b) continuing to meet the requirements of subsection 6(4); and

(

c) directly or indirectly acquiring, to deliver to customers in the Province, 20%

of the electricity generated by the Muskrat Falls Generating Station if the

Muskrat Falls Generating Station and associated transmission infrastructure

is completed and in normal operation and the UARB has approved an

assessment against NSPI under the Maritime Link Act and its regulations.

(3) Electricity generated by the South Canoe Wind Power Project and the Sable Wind

Project is considered renewable, low-impact electricity produced by an

independent power producer.

(4) To meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1), a municipal electric

utility that purchases any of its electricity supply from a supplier other than NSPI

must ensure that a minimum of 40% of that non-NSPI electricity supply is

renewable electricity.

(5) Electricity supply purchased by a municipal electric utility that is sold to NSPI as

spill energy under the Wholesale Market Non-Dispatchable Supplier Spill Tariff

counts towards the municipal electric utility’s renewable electricity standard under

subsection (1) if

(

a) an equivalent amount of electricity is purchased from NSPI as backup/top-up energy under the Wholesale Market Backup/Top-Up Service Tariff; and

(

b) the supply is consumed within the same calendar year as it is purchased.

Renewable electricity standard 2023

6AA

(1) In each of the calendar years 2023 and 2024, and in January and February of 2025,

NSPI must acquire at least 135 GWh of dispatchable renewable electricity from a

renewable low-impact electricity generation facility located in the Province.

(2) NSPI must meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1) by continuing

to meet the requirements in clauses 6A(2)(a), (

b) and (

c) and any alternative

compliance plans already in force.

(3) In meeting its obligation under subsection (1), NSPI

(

a) may only acquire dispatchable renewable electricity from a biomass

generation facility if the electricity is produced from secondary waste

by-products that result from the processing of untreated organic material;

and

(

b) must pay $30/MWh for all dispatchable renewable electricity acquired from

a biomass generation facility in addition to any price specified in any

existing power purchase agreement, up to a maximum of $4.05 million per

year.

Renewable electricity standard 2025

6AB

(1) In each of the calendar years 2025, 2026 and 2027, NSPI must acquire at least

160 GWh of dispatchable renewable electricity from a renewable low-impact

electricity generation facility located in the Province.

(2) NSPI must meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1) by continuing

to meet the requirements in clauses 6A(2)(a), (

b) and (

c) and any alternative

compliance plans already in force.

(3) In meeting its obligation under subsection (1), NSPI

(

a) may only acquire dispatchable renewable electricity from a biomass

generation facility if the electricity is produced from secondary waste

by-products that result from the processing of untreated organic material;

and

(

b) beginning March 1, 2025, must pay an amount equal to the amount

established by the UARB under subclause 18(2)(a)(ii) on all dispatchable

renewable electricity acquired from a biomass generation facility.

(4) For greater certainty, the amount required to be paid under clause (3)(

b) overrides

any other payment amount specified in any existing power purchase agreement.

Renewable electricity standard 2030

6B

(1) Each year beginning with the calendar year 2030, each load-serving entity must

supply its customers with renewable electricity in an amount equal to or greater

than 80% of the total amount of electricity supplied to its customers as measured at

the customers’ meters for that year.

(2) NSPI must meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1) by

(

a) continuing to meet the requirements in clauses 6A(2)(a), (

b) and (c); and

(

b) acquiring at least 1100 GWh from independent power producers in addition

to the renewable low-impact electricity required to meet the requirements in

Sections 4, 5, 6 and 6A.

(3) In meeting its obligations under subsections (1) and (2), NSPI may include other

sources of renewable electricity, including:

(

a) contributions from energy procured in relation to a program established

under

Section 4BA of the Act;

(

b) contributions from renewable low-impact electricity acquired from a source

outside of Nova Scotia.

(4) To meet the renewable electricity standard in subsection (1), a municipal electric

utility that purchases any of its electricity supply from a supplier other than NSPI

must ensure that a minimum of 80% of that non-NSPI electricity supply is

renewable electricity.

(5) Electricity supply purchased by a municipal electric utility that is sold to NSPI as

spill energy under the Wholesale Market Non-Dispatchable Supplier Spill Tariff

counts towards the municipal electric utility’s renewable electricity standard under

subsection (1) if

(

a) an equivalent amount of electricity is purchased from NSPI as

backup/top-up energy under the Wholesale Market Backup/Top-Up Service

Tariff; and

(

b) the supply is consumed within the same calendar year as it is purchased.

Shortfalls and overages

(1) A load-serving entity that is unable to meet a renewable electricity standard for a

period of 12 months or less, because independent power producers or other parties

cannot provide contracted electricity supplies at the contracted times or because of

problems arising from the load-serving entity’s own renewable generation assets,

must supply enough renewable electricity from other sources to make up the

shortfall during the period.

(2) A load-serving entity that will be unable to meet a renewable electricity standard

for longer than 12 months must apply to the Minister, who, if satisfied that the

entity will be unable to meet the standard as described in subsection (1) for longer

than 12 months, may permit the entity to supply enough renewable electricity from

the Minister.

(3) The Board must allow a public utility to recover the costs of the public utility’s

own renewable generation assets on the basis approved by the Board under the

Public Utilities Act , together with the recovery of the costs of tariffs allowed under

subsection 4A(6) of the Act and the costs of the public utility’s contracts allowed

under subsection 4B(13) of the Act, to a maximum of costs in relation to a supply

of renewable low-impact electricity of no more than the following:

(a) 133% of the minimum renewable electricity standard in

Section 5;

(b) 125% of the renewable electricity standard in

Section 6.

(4) For greater certainty, nothing in subsection 7(3) affects

Section 6 of the Order of

the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board dated September 12, 2012, in Matter

M04862, which remains in effect unless and until modified by the Board.

Forest biomass cap

(1) No more than 350 000 dry tonnes annually of primary forest biomass over the

average amount of primary forest biomass consumed annually in the Province for

the years 1995 to 2005, that average being 3.285×10 6 dry tonnes, may be used to

attain any renewable electricity standard.

(2) For the purposes of a renewable low-impact electricity generation facility that uses

primary forest biomass, only the amount of electricity the Minister determines is

generated from the use of primary forest biomass as permitted by subsection

(1) qualifies for any renewable electricity standard.

Minister’s determination

9 For each calendar year starting with the year 2011, the Minister must determine, for each

load-serving entity,

(

a) its total electricity sales;

(

b) the total amount of renewable low-impact electricity that it produced; and

(

c) the proportion of its total supply of renewable low-impact electricity that

was produced by independent power producers.

Qualifying for renewable electricity standards

(1) Electricity purchased by a public utility under the feed-in tariff program qualifies

for any renewable electricity standard.

(2) Any person other than a person who has been issued a feed-in tariff approval may

apply to the Minister for an electricity standard approval.

Applying for electricity standard approval

11 An application for an electricity standard approval must

(

a) be submitted to the Minister in a form required by the Minister;

(

b) be completed and signed by an authorized signatory of the applicant; and

(

c) for a biomass project, include a biomass fuel procurement plan outlining

how the applicant intends to ensure that its fuel supply will meet sustainable

harvesting requirements.

Incomplete application for electricity standard approval

(1) If an application for an electricity standard approval is not complete or additional

information is required, the Minister must notify the applicant in writing no later

than 90 days after receipt of the application and request the information necessary

to make the application complete.

(2) If the information requested under subsection (1) is not provided by the applicant

within 90 days of the request, the Minister may reject the application and, if so,

must immediately notify the applicant in writing that the application has been

rejected.

Criteria for approval of application for electricity standard approval

(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister must approve an application for an

electricity standard approval if the generation facility

(

a) is to be located in the Province;

(

b) will produce renewable low-impact electricity; and

(

c) if it was constructed before December 31, 2001, has increased its output

since December 31, 2001,

(

i) by having expanded or through technology upgrades, or

(ii) by having undergone a major rebuild in lieu of retirement.

(2) For a facility described in clause (1)(c), only the output that exceeds the capacity of

the facility before the expansion, upgrade or major rebuild qualifies for the 2011

and 2013 electricity standards in Sections 4 and 5.

(3) Before being approved under subsection (1), an applicant who is requesting

approval of a biomass generation facility must satisfy the Minister that their

biomass fuel procurement plan demonstrates that the applicant will meet

sustainable harvesting requirements.

Issuance of electricity standard approval

14 On approving an application for an electricity standard approval, the Minister must issue

Minister determines are appropriate.

Minister’s approval required to transfer electricity standard approval

15 An electricity standard approval must not be transferred without the prior written

approval of the Minister.

Approved facility must continue to meet requirements

16 A renewable low-impact electricity generation facility that is issued an electricity

standard approval must meet all of the following requirements:

(

a) it must continue to meet the requirements of these regulations;

(

b) its electricity sales must not exceed its electricity production;

(

c) if the electricity is to qualify for a renewable electricity standard, all

emission credits or allowances arising from the use of renewable sources for

electricity produced by the facility and sold to a public utility must be

transferred or assigned to the public utility purchasing the electricity.

Transitional

17 A certification issued under

Section 7 of the Renewable Energy Standard Regulations

made under the Act is continued as an electricity standard approval.

Feed-in Tariff Program

Tariffs to be set by Board

(1) For the purposes of clause 4A(7)(

e) of the Act, a run-of-the-river hydroelectricity

generation facility is a class of generation facility to which a tariff applies.

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the Board must set a tariff for all of the

following classes of electricity generation facility:

(

a) all of the following, as required by clauses 4A(7)(

a) to (

d) of the Act:

(

i) wind power,

(ii) biomass,

(iii) small-scale in-stream tidal devices,

(iv) developmental tidal arrays;

(

b) run-of-the-river hydroelectricity.

(3) The Board must set separate tariffs for wind power with a capacity greater than 50

kW and wind power with a capacity of 50 kW or less.

(4) The tariff for biomass must apply only to the electricity produced from a combined

heat and power plant.

(5) The Board must set separate tariffs for developmental tidal arrays with a single

device and developmental tidal arrays with multiple devices, and may set multiple

tariffs for either type of developmental tidal array.

Setting community feed-in tariff

(1) In this

Section and in Sections 20 to 35, “community feed-in tariff” means a tariff

set by the Board for any class of generation facility referred to in

Section 18 except

for a developmental tidal array.

(2) In setting a community feed-in tariff, the Board must determine, for each class of

generation facility, the cost of the physical assets of a facility and may make

allowances for any of the following matters:

(

a) depreciation;

(

b) cost of labour and supervision;

(

c) necessary working capital;

(

d) organization expenses;

(

e) overhead costs for engineering, superintendence, legal services, taxes and

interest during planning and construction, and similar matters not included

in the cost of the physical assets;

(

f) costs in whole or in part of land acquired in reasonable anticipation of future

requirements;

(

g) costs to interconnect the generation facility with the electrical grid;

(

h) return on investment;

(

i) additional matters that the Board considers appropriate.

Community feed-in tariff qualifications

(1) For the purposes of clause 4A(8)(

f) of the Act, in addition to the entities listed in

clauses 4A(8)(

a) to (

e) of the Act, each of the following entities qualifies as a

generator for a community feed-in-tariff:

(

a) a university;

(

b) a wholly owned subsidiary of a municipality;

(

c) a privately owned biomass combined heat and power plant that uses a

portion of the heat produced;

(

d) an entity that

(

i) is registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, and

(ii) is a joint venture among 2 or more of any of the generators referred

to in clauses 4A(8)(

a) and 4A(8)(

c) to (

e) of the Act and clauses (

a) and (

b) who have contributed equity to the joint venture;

(

e) an entity that

(

i) is registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, and

(ii) 1 of the generators referred to in clauses 4A(8)(

a) and 4A(

c) to (

e) of

the Act or in clauses (

a) and (

b) owns more than 50 % of the voting

shares or holds majority control of the entity;

(

f) the Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office.

(2) In addition to the eligibility qualifications in subsection 4A(8) of the Act and

subsection (1), a generator must meet the following requirements to qualify as a

generator for a community feed-in-tariff:

(

a) if it is a not-for-profit body corporate or a co-operative, a majority of its

members must reside in the Province and at least 25 members must reside

in the municipality where the generation facility is located;

(

b) if it is a community economic-development corporation, at least 25

shareholders must reside in the municipality where the generation facility is

located.

(3) To qualify as a generator for a community feed-in tariff, a generator must own a

generation facility, and the generation facility must meet all of the following

requirements:

(

a) it must be a generation facility in a class to which a community feed-in tariff

applies under subsection 19(1);

(

b) if it uses biomass, it must be a combined heat and power generation facility;

(

c) it must interconnect with the electrical grid through a distribution system;

(

d) it must be located in the Province;

(

e) if it is wholly owned by a municipality or a wholly owned subsidiary of a

municipality, it must be located within the boundaries of that municipality

or the boundaries of an immediately adjacent municipality;

(

f) if it is wholly owned by an NS Mi’kmaw band council, it must be located

on designated lands or lands acquired by an NS Mi’kmaw band council

through a transfer of fee simple or a lease;

(

g) it must have been issued a feed-in tariff approval under

Section 28.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (2), a generator owns a generation facility if it holds

at least a majority ownership in the generation facility.

(5) For greater certainty, subsection (4) does not apply to a municipality.

(6) The ownership requirements in subsection 4A(8) of the Act and in subsection

(2) do not apply to a combined heat and power generation facility described in clause

3(

b) if the heat is consumed or used by the generator or an affiliate generator.

Setting developmental tidal array tariff

21 In setting a tariff for developmental tidal arrays, the Board must take into account those

matters described in subsection 19(2) on a normal amortized basis, including the costs

for the manufacture, deployment and operation of the developmental tidal array, but

must not make any allowance for any of the following matters:

(

a) costs covered or reimbursed through any government grant;

(

b) costs to interconnect the generation facility with the electrical grid.

Developmental tidal array tariff qualifications

(1) For the purposes of clause 4A(8)(

f) of the Act, in addition to the entities listed in

clauses 4A(8)(

a) to (

e) of the Act, a privately owned developmental tidal array

qualifies as a generator for a developmental tidal array tariff.

(2) To qualify as a generator for a developmental tidal array tariff, a generation facility

must meet all of the following requirements:

(

a) it must be located in the Province;

(

b) it must meet the definition of “developmental tidal array” in these

regulations;

(

c) it must interconnect with the electrical grid;

(

d) it must have been issued a feed-in tariff approval.

Applying for feed-in tariff approval

23 An application by a generator feed-in tariff approval must be

(

a) submitted to the Minister in the form or manner required by the Minister,

which may include filing electronically through the Internet; and

(

b) completed and signed by an authorized signatory of the applicant.

Contents of application for community feed-in tariff approval

24 An application for a community feed-in tariff approval must include all of the following

information or documentation:

(

a) the name, address, e-mail address and telephone and fax number of the

applicant and the name, title and address of the person to be contacted about

the application;

(

b) if applicable, proof of current registration with the Nova Scotia Registry of

Joint Stock Companies;

(

c) evidence that the applicant qualifies for the feed-in tariff program;

(

d) a project concept identifying both of the following for the proposed

generation facility:

(

i) the type of facility,

(ii) the location;

(

e) documentation demonstrating that the applicant has knowledge of the

municipal by-laws that apply to the project and a commitment to comply

with them;

(

f) documentation identifying the lands of any local NS Mi’kmaw band council

that may be impacted by the project and demonstrating an acceptable means

of engaging those Mi’kmaw communities to identify any of their concerns

or interests, including interests in participation as owners, investors or

suppliers;

(

g) evidence of community support for the project, which may include

(

i) a municipal council resolution from the municipality within which

the project is to be located indicating support for the project, and

(ii) letters or other written evidence of support for the project from

members of the community in which the project is to be located;

(

h) documentation demonstrating the applicant’s knowledge and understanding

of the type and scope of environmental approvals required for the project,

including a statement of the environmental impact of the project;

(

i) a business case that

(

i) includes a resource assessment,

(ii) demonstrates the financial viability of the project at the appropriate

tariff rate, and

(iii) includes the projected capital costs of the project, including

interconnection costs and the cost of and expected sources of capital;

(

j) documentation demonstrating the applicant’s knowledge of the

requirements for an archaeological or heritage site review, including a plan

for completing the review with cost and timing implications for the project;

(

k) documentation demonstrating the applicant’s knowledge of the land

ownership and access issues for the proposed project site;

(

l) evidence of discussions with NSPI on the technology requirements for the

project, including the availability of capacity on the distribution or

transmission system for the project, as the case may be;

(

m) documentation demonstrating an understanding of the detailed technical

studies required for the project, including the costs of the studies;

(

n) documentation demonstrating compliance with the ownership requirements

in subsection 4A(8) of the Act and, if applicable, of subsection 20(3);

(

o) for a biomass project, a biomass fuel procurement plan outlining how the

applicant intends to ensure that its fuel supply will meet sustainable

harvesting requirements;

(

p) any additional information or documentation required by the Minister.

Application for developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval

24A

(1) An application for a developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval may be made

only in response to

(

a) an invitation from the Minister to apply for an approval; or

(

b) a public call for applications from the Minister.

(2) The Minister may invite or make a public call for an application for a

developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval

(

a) at any time and in respect of any location that the Minister considers

appropriate; and

(

b) subject to subclause 18(2)(a)(iv) and

Section 32, on any terms and

conditions that the Minister considers appropriate.

Contents of an application for developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval

24B

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), an application for a developmental tidal array

feed-in tariff must include all of the following information or documentation:

(

a) the information and documentation listed in clauses 24(

a) to (f);

(

b) a project plan, including all of the following:

(

i) details about the previous applicable experience of the generator,

(ii) a detailed description of the proposed facility,

(iii) a resource and site assessment,

(iv) a site plan,

(

v) a

schedule identifying key milestones in the construction and

deployment of the developmental tidal array;

(

c) a stakeholder and public engagement plan;

(

d) a full description of the proposed technology to be deployed, including all of

the following:

(

i) a description of the devices and ancillary equipment to be used,

(ii) the total nameplate capacity,

(iii) evidence of ownership or licence to use the technology,

(iv) evidence of any applicable certifications;

(

e) a business plan that demonstrates the financial viability of the project,

including all of the following:

(

i) a detailed financial analysis based on the applicable tariff set by the

Board under

Section 4A of the Act and

Section 18,

(ii) projected costs, revenue and cash flow over the life of the

developmental tidal array;

(

f) a risk management plan, including descriptions of all of the following:

(

i) any risks to health, safety and the environment,

(ii) any risks relating to the construction, operation and

schedule for the

developmental tidal array,

(iii) any risks relating to technology failures;

(

g) detailed plans to manage any risks described under clause (

f) using industry

best practices;

(

h) information demonstrating how the proposed developmental tidal array will

contribute to each of the following:

(

i) building and maintaining public trust in the use of the marine

environment to generate tidal energy,

(ii) developing approaches and technologies for generating tidal energy

that are technically, economically and environmentally sustainable,

(iii) building a tidal energy industry, and developing Nova Scotia skills,

experience and technology relating to tidal energy;

(

i) any plans the applicant has for future tidal energy development in the

Province;

(

j) any additional information required by the Minister in the invitation or

public call for an application for a developmental tidal array feed-in tariff

approval.

(2) The Minister may waive, in whole or in part, a requirement for any of the

information or documentation to be provided by an applicant under subsection

(1) if the Minister is satisfied that the applicant has already provided the Department

of Energy with information or documentation that meets the requirement.

Designated representatives

(1) An applicant for a feed-in tariff approval must designate a representative in writing

in a form required by the Minister and file the designation with the Minister.

(2) Once designated, a representative of an applicant or approval holder has sole

responsibility on behalf of the applicant or approval holder for

(

a) corresponding with the Minister with respect to any application or approval

or the administration of these regulations, whether by written or electronic

means; and

(

b) any additional duties that are specified in a feed-in tariff approval issued to

the applicant or approval holder.

(3) An applicant or approval holder is responsible for advising its representative of the

representative’s obligations under these regulations.

(4) An applicant or approval holder is liable for the acts or omissions of its

representative with respect to any matter to which the authority of the

representative extends.

(5) A representative continues as a representative unless another representative is

substituted as provided for in subsection (8).

(6) The Minister may rely, without detriment, on any representations made or actions

taken by a representative.

(7) An applicant or approval holder is deemed to have notice of all correspondence

from the Minister that is directed through the representative.

(8) An applicant or approval holder may, on giving the Minister 30 days’ notice in

writing, substitute another representative by filing a new designation with the

Minister, and on filing, the former designation is revoked.

(9) A reference in these regulations to an applicant or the holder of a feed-in tariff

approval includes the representative of the applicant or the approval holder.

Use of information

26 In order to complete the application process and for the purposes of the “one-window”

committee identified in

Section 35, the information in an application for a feed-in tariff

approval may be shared with another department or agency of the Government of Nova

Scotia, a department or agency of another provincial government or the Government of

Canada, or a load-serving entity.

Incomplete application for feed-in tariff approval

(1) If an application for a feed-in tariff approval is not complete or additional

information is required, the Minister must notify the applicant in writing no later

than 90 days after receipt of the application and request the information necessary

to make the application complete.

(2) If the information requested under subsection (1) is not provided by the applicant

within 90 days of the request, the Minister may reject the application and, if so,

must immediately notify the applicant in writing that the application has been

rejected.

Approval or rejection of application for feed-in tariff approval

(1) The Minister may approve or reject an application for a feed-in tariff approval if

(

a) the application satisfies the requirements of the Act and these regulations;

and

(

b) the Minister determines that the application is consistent with the

Department of Energy’s policies and objectives for the development of

renewable low-impact electricity resources and industries.

(1A) In deciding whether to approve or reject an application for a feed-in tariff approval,

the Minister may take into account any matter that the Minister considers relevant

and in the public interest.

(2) For wind power generation facilities with a capacity of 50 kW or less, feed-in tariff

approvals must be issued for no more than a maximum of 5 mW total capacity.

(3) On approving or rejecting an application, the Minister must notify the applicant

accordingly.

(4) On approving an application, the Minister must issue the applicant a feed-in tariff

appropriate.

Application to vary nameplate capacity of device in developmental tidal array

28A

(1) The holder of a developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approval may apply to the

Minister to reduce the nameplate capacity of 1 or more devices within the

developmental tidal array.

(2) An application made under subsection (1) must include all the information that the

Minister considers necessary to decide on the application.

(3) On receiving an application made under subsection (1), the Minister may allow the

holder of a developmental tidal-array feed-in tariff approval to reduce the

nameplate capacity of 1 or more devices in the developmental tidal array, even if

the resulting nameplate capacity of a device is 0.5 MW or less.

Minister’s approval required to transfer feed-in tariff approval

29 A feed-in tariff approval must not be transferred without the prior written approval of the

Minister.

Approved applicant must continue to meet requirements

30 An applicant that has been issued a feed-in tariff approval must continue to meet the

applicable requirements of these regulations and must diligently pursue the construction

and completion of the applicant’s project.

Interconnection queue

31 At the request of an applicant that has been issued a feed-in tariff approval, NSPI must

place the applicant’s generation facility in the next available place in the queue for

interconnection with the electrical grid.

Standard power purchase agreement for feed-in tariff program

(1) The Minister, in consultation with NSPI, must prepare a standard form of power

purchase agreement to be used for the feed-in tariff program and must have the

form of power purchase agreement approved by the Board.

(1A) A separate standard form of power purchase agreement may be prepared and

approved for any class of generation facility to which the feed-in tariff program

applies.

(2) When a feed-in tariff approval is issued, the applicant and NSPI are deemed to

have entered into a power purchase agreement in the form provided for in

subsection (1) effective from the date of the approval.

(3) The intended parties to a power purchase agreement may agree to changes to the

standard power purchase agreement provided for in subsection (1) and, if so, the

form of power purchase agreement as agreed to by the parties must be provided to

the Minister.

feed-in tariff approval at the time of commercial operation and the Minister must

issue a letter to NSPI indicating the expected annual output of the project.

Minister’s consent required to assign power purchase agreement

33 A power purchase agreement entered into under the feed-in tariff program must not be

assigned without the prior written consent of the Minister.

Generator under feed-in tariff program must report to Minister

34 Within 30 days of the interconnection of a renewable low-impact electricity generation

facility with the electrical grid under the feed-in tariff program, the renewable low-impact electricity generator that owns or operates the facility must provide a report to the

Minister that details all of the following:

(

a) the total capital costs for the project;

(

b) for each project expenditure for goods or services in the amount of $50 000

or greater, the name and address of the supplier or contractor providing the

goods or services.

“One-window” committee for feed-in tariff program

(1) To coordinate applications for community feed-in tariff approvals, the Ministers of

the following departments or agencies must each designate 1 or more

representatives to serve on a “one-window” committee under the direction of the

Minister of Energy:

(

a) Agriculture;

(

b) Energy;

(

c) Environment;

(

d) Fisheries and Aquaculture;

(

e) Natural Resources;

(

f) Office of Service Nova Scotia;

(

g) Communities, Culture and Heritage;

(

h) Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

(1A) A separate “one-window committee” must be established to coordinate

applications for developmental tidal array feed-in tariff approvals under the

direction of the Minister of Energy, and must include 1 or more designates from

each of the following departments or agencies:

(

a) Energy;

(

b) Environment;

(

c) Fisheries and Aquaculture;

(

d) Natural Resources;

(

e) Labour and Advanced Education;

(

f) Office of Aboriginal Affairs;

(

g) any department or agency of another provincial government or the

committee at the request of the Minister of Energy.

(2) The “one-window” committee must coordinate the providing of timely advice to

applicants under the feed-in tariff program about permits or approvals necessary

from the respective departments for applicants’ projects, and the estimated time for

the processing of permits and approvals.

Procurement of Renewable Low-Impact Electricity Under

Section 4B of the Act

Responsibility of procurement administrator

35A The procurement administrator must ensure that a procurement under

Section 4B of the

Act is fair, transparent and competitive, and subject to subsection 37(2) that the power

purchase agreement deemed to have been entered into by the bidder with the public

utility is consistent with the request for proposals.

Request for proposals requirements

35B

(1) Except as provided in subsection (4), the primary basis for evaluating bids under a

request for proposals is the degree to which the proposal provides the best value

from renewable electricity for electricity ratepayers, and this requirement must be

clearly indicated in any request for proposals.

(2) A bidder, other than a bidder under the solar program, must include the following

in their proposal:

(

a) how the proposed project will comply with the requirements of these

regulations;

(

b) how the proposed project will be economically viable;

(

c) proof that it has the technical capacity necessary to undertake and complete

the proposed project;

(

d) the anticipated in-service date for the renewable low-impact electricity

generation facility;

(

e) any previous experience the bidder has with renewable electricity projects.

(2A) A bidder under the solar program must include all of the following in their

proposal:

(a) [repealed]

(

b) the proposed nameplate capacity of the generation facility;

(

c) the amount of electricity proposed to be delivered;

(

d) the proposed location and orientation of solar panels;

(

e) a solar site assessment;

(

f) an estimate of the total cost to develop the generation facility that separately

identifies the costs for significant components of the development, including

costs for solar panels, inverters, the balance of system hardware, labour and

permitting;

(

g) an estimate of the annual operating and maintenance costs for the generation

facility;

(

h) an estimate of the total amount of indebtedness expected to be incurred to

develop the generation facility, the average length of the term for repaying

the indebtedness and the average interest rate;

(

i) an estimate of the amount of any incentives or grants that the bidder expects

to receive to develop the generation facility;

(

j) any information the procurement administrator requires to assess whether

the proposal meets the requirements of the Act and these regulations.

(3) The requirements set out in subsections (2) and (2A) must be clearly indicated in

any request for proposals.

(4) The primary basis for evaluating bids under a request for proposals for the solar

program is the price for the proposed electricity, and this requirement must be

clearly indicated in any request for proposals.

(5) A procurement administrator must not award a contract to a bidder under a request

for proposals for the solar program if the bid price is too high, taking into account

the relative amounts of the bid prices received from all other bidders who

responded to the request for proposals and any other factor the procurement

administrator considers appropriate.

(6) Responses to a request for proposals for the solar program must be submitted to

the Minister or the procurement administrator electronically through the Internet

through an online application form established for the program.

Proposal evaluation

35C

(1) In evaluating proposals submitted under a request for proposals under

Section 4B

of the Act, the procurement administrator must

(

a) respond to any concerns or questions from bidders in a timely manner;

(

b) undertake the evaluation required by subsection 4B(10) of the Act in a

timely fashion; and

(

c) provide the written decision required by subsection 4B(10) of the Act no

later than 7 days after making the decision.

(2) The procurement administrator must exclude any proposal from further evaluation

if the administrator is not satisfied of any of the following:

(

a) that the proposal is technically feasible;

(

b) that the bidder has the financial capacity or support to construct and operate

the proposed generation facility.

Report on procurement

35D For each procurement, a procurement administrator must provide a final report in writing

to the Minister no later than 60 days after the notice provided for in clause 35C(c), that

includes all of the following:

(

a) a

summary of the request for proposal process;

(

b) details of the steps the procurement administrator took to ensure a fair,

transparent and competitive process;

(

c) a comparative economic analysis of the bids received;

(

d) details of any relevant considerations that support the procurement

administrator’s selection of the successful bidder;

(

e) for any contract awarded to a bidder,

(

i) the price for electricity under the contract,

(ii) the nameplate capacity of the generation facility under the contract,

and

(iii) the annual amount of electricity expected to be generated by the

generation facility under the contract;

(

f) if more than 1 contract is awarded in the procurement,

(

i) the total, mean and median prices for electricity under all contracts,

(ii) the total, mean and median nameplate capacity of generating facilities

under all contracts awarded, and

(iii) the total, mean and median amounts of electricity expected to be

generated by the generation facilities under all contracts awarded;

(

g) for a procurement under the solar program,

(

i) the expected amounts to be paid by a public utility using the

assumptions set out in subsection 37E(7), and

(ii) an assessment of any impacts on the expected amounts to be paid by

NSPI because of the limits in subsection 37E(4);

(

h) any issues or trends relating to the procurement process that the

procurement administrator considers relevant.

Requirement for request for proposals

36 If a request for proposals under

Section 4B of the Act includes a request for a primary

forest biomass renewable low-impact electricity generation facility, the request for

proposals must require that a proponent provide a biomass fuel procurement plan that

outlines how the proponent intends to ensure that its fuel supply will meet sustainable

harvesting requirements.

Standard power purchase agreement for procurement

(1) Except as provided in subsection (1A), a procurement administrator must, in

consultation with NSPI, prepare a standard form power purchase agreement to be

used for procuring renewable low-impact electricity under

Section 4B of the Act

and must have the form of power purchase agreement approved by the Board

before any procurement.

(1A) The Minister must, in consultation with NSPI, prepare a standard form power

purchase agreement to be used for procuring renewable low-impact electricity from

a generation facility connected to the electrical grid of a public utility under a

program established under

Section 4C of the Act and must have the form of power

purchase agreement approved by the Board before any procurement.

(1B) For a procurement under the solar program, the standard form power purchase

agreement must incorporate all of the following terms:

(

a) the owner of the generation facility must be permitted to designate a

commercial operation date for the generation facility that is no later than 24

months after the date the agreement was awarded by the procurement

administrator;

(

b) the term of the agreement must end 20 years after the commercial operation

date, except that the agreement may give a party to it the right to terminate

earlier if there is a default by the other party;

(

c) before the commercial operation date, the owner must be permitted to

change the design of the generation facility from the design proposed in its

response to the request for proposals for the solar program, unless the

change would

(

i) result in the generation facility not meeting the requirements in

Section 37C for a procurement administrator to award a contract

under the solar program,

(ii) move the generation facility from the location identified by the owner

in its response to the request for proposals,

(iii) increase the price bid identified by the owner in its response to the

request for proposals, or

(iv) increase the amount of electricity proposed to be delivered by the

owner in its response to the request for proposals;

(

d) except as provided in clause (e), the price for electricity output from the

generation facility at the delivery point must be as follows:

(

i) for net output from the generation facility before the commercial

operation date, no payment may be made,

(ii) for net output from the generation facility that is 110% or less of the

annual amount of electricity proposed to be delivered in the response

to the request for proposals, the price bid in the response,

(iii) for net output from the generating facility that is greater than 110%

of the annual amount of electricity proposed to be delivered, an

amount in $/MWh that is equal to the public utility’s cost of

generating or purchasing 1 more MWh of electrical energy from

sources other than the generation facility as calculated by the public

utility averaged over the 12-month period immediately preceding the

relevant time;

(

e) for a generation facility that is conveyed to an entity that is not eligible to

participate in a request for proposals under

Section 37B or for a generation

facility whose owner ceases to be an entity that is eligible to participate in a

request for proposals, the price for electricity output from the generation

facility at the delivery point must be as follows:

(

i) for net output from the generation facility before the commercial

operation date, no payment may be made,

(ii) for net output from the generation facility that is 110% or less of the

annual amount of electricity proposed to be delivered in the response

to the request for proposals, 70% of the price bid in the response,

(iii) for net output from the generating facility that is greater than 110%

of the annual amount of electricity proposed to be delivered, an

amount in $/MWh that is equal to the public utility’s cost of

generating or purchasing 1 more MWh of electrical energy from

sources other than the generation facility as calculated by the public

utility averaged over the 12-month period immediately preceding the

relevant time;

(

f) any benefits or credits relating to the reduction of greenhouse gases or air

emissions or to the generation of electricity from renewable resources must

accrue to the public utility;

(

g) the owner of the generation facility must not be required to provide the

public utility with any form of financial security for the performance of its

obligations under the power purchase agreement;

(

h) the requirements for generation facilities in subsection 37C(2).

(1C) When a contract is awarded by the procurement administrator to a bidder under a

request for proposals for the solar program, the bidder and the public utility are

deemed to have entered into a power purchase agreement in the form provided for

in subsection (1A) effective from the date of the award.

(2) The parties to a power purchase agreement may agree to changes to the standard

power purchase agreement provided for in this

Section and, if so, the form of

power purchase agreement as agreed to by the parties must be provided to the

Minister.

Net-Metering Program

Customer eligibility

37A

(1) A customer must meet all of the following requirements to participate in a net-metering program:

(

a) they must be in good standing with the public utility;

(

b) they must have installed or plan to install a renewable, low-impact

electricity generator;

(

c) they must be in compliance with, or will be in compliance with, the public

utility’s net-metering program’s requirements.

(2) The generator referred to in clause (1)(

b) and the customer’s meter must be within

the same distribution zone, but the generator is not required to be located on the

same parcel of land as the customer’s demand meter.

(3) A generator that was previously installed under NSPI’s Enhanced Net-Metering

Program may be used in the net-metering program.

Application requirements

which must contain all of the following:

(

a) the requirements for applying to participate in the net-metering program;

(

b) the grounds under which an application may be denied.

(2) The public utility must process a customer’s application to participate in the net-metering program in a timely manner and must notify the customer whether they

have been successfully enrolled in the net-metering program or their application

has been rejected.

(3) A public utility must approve a customer’s application to participate in the net-metering program unless there are reasonable grounds to deny the application.

Duties of public utility

37C

(1) A public utility that is seeking to implement a net-metering program must submit

all of the following to the Board before the Board may approve the program:

fees, regulations, rules or policies;

(

b) a standard form net-metering agreement between the public utility and a net-metering customer, which must include, at a minimum, the terms and

conditions respecting the sale of renewable, low-impact electricity to the

public utility.

(2) NSPI must provide the items listed in subsection (1) to the Board by November 25,

(3) Any substantive changes made to the documents listed in subsection (1) must be

approved by the Board before the change is implemented.

(4) A public utility may continue to apply the fees related to impact studies and

electrical inspections and is not required to submit these fees as part of the fees

described in clause (1)(a).

Additional program requirements

37D

(1) A customer must not install a renewable, low-impact energy generator that exceeds

either of the following nameplate capacities:

(a) 1 MW for a customer

(

i) whose existing rate contains a demand charge,

(ii) who owns or operates a winery registered under the Agriculture and

Marketing Act ,

(iii) who owns or operates a farm registered under the Farm Registration

Act , or

(iv) who owns or operates a licensed aquaculture plant under the

Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act ; or

(b) 200 kW for a customer not covered in clause (

a) or by

Section 37G.

(2) A customer may install 1 or more low-impact electricity generators within a single

distribution zone under 1 net-metering agreement, as long as the total nameplate

capacity of all the generators captured under the agreement does not exceed the

applicable cap listed in subsection (1).

(3) A customer may choose to enter into a net-metering agreement with a public utility

for multiple accounts, as long as all the accounts are billed at the same non-residential rate.

(4) In addition to the application requirements in subsection 37B(1), a customer who

wishes to enter into a net-metering agreement for multiple accounts must include

all of the following information to the public utility in their application:

(

a) how many renewable, low-impact generators will be installed;

(

b) the location of all the generators and all accounts within the distribution

zone; and

(

c) which customer accounts will be listed in the agreement.

(5) A customer who participates in a net-metering program must ensure that the

equipment that will interconnect with the public utility’s grid is compliant with the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard 1547, IEEE Standard for

Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with

Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces, as amended.

(6) The Minister may regularly review the impact of the net-metering program after

the coming into force of these regulations and may take into account the impact on

electricity rates, if any, directly resulting from the program before making any

changes to the program requirements.

Data collection and reporting requirements

37E

(1) A public utility that offers a net-metering program must provide an annual report to

the Minister and to the Board, which must be filed no later than March 31 of the

year following the calendar year being reported on.

(2) The annual report required under subsection (1) must contain all of the following

information:

(

a) the number of approved applications and the aggregate nameplate capacity

granted in the last calendar year detailed by categorizing each class

according to clause 37D(1)(

a) or (b);

(

b) the total nameplate capacity of renewable, low-impact electricity generators

installed, connected to the grid and operating through the program;

(

c) the average processing time for applications during the last calendar year;

(

d) the location of the generators approved, installed and connected to the grid.

Renewable energy certificates

37F

(1) Upon request by a customer, NSPI must register all renewable energy certificates

for the customer on an annual basis with an internationally recognized

organization.

(2) Upon request by a customer, NSPI must provide a document annually no later than

March 31 of the year following the calendar year being reported on to each

customer described in subsection (1) confirming the customer-specific renewable

energy certificates registration that includes, at a minimum, all of the following

information:

(

a) the annual volume of renewable energy certificates;

(

b) customer identification numbers;

(

c) vintage.

(3) Once the document described in subsection (2) is provided to the customer, the

renewable energy certificate is considered retired.

(4) The total output of all energy generated under a net-metering program and all

residential net metering customers may be counted by NSPI to meet the applicable

renewable electricity standard.

(5) When submitting the information to the Minister, to meet a renewable electricity

standard, NSPI may calculate the total energy output based on total installed

nameplate capacity and submit this amount to the Minister.

Residential net metering

37G

(1) An NSPI customer who installs a renewable, low-impact electricity generator that

has a nameplate capacity of 27 kW or less, as set out in

Section 3AA of the Act, is

automatically classified as a “residential net-metering customer”.

(2) In accordance with subsection 3AA(2) of the Act, customer equipment that will

interconnect with a public utility’s grid must be compliant with the Institute of

Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard 1547, IEEE Standard for

Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with

Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces , as amended.

Records, Audits and Reporting

Renewable electricity standards progress reports

(1) Each load-serving entity must report to the Minister annually, or at other intervals

determined by the Minister, to outline its progress in meeting the requirements of

the renewable electricity standards.

(1A) Each generator who receives a feed-in tariff approval must report to the Minister as

follows:

(

a) annually, or at other intervals determined by the Minister;

(

b) its progress in putting its generator into service and its actual in-service date

within 30 days after such facility is put into service;

(

c) the amount of electricity able to be connected following the system impact

study by the Nova Scotia System Operator;

(

d) the annual amount of electricity expected to be produced prior to

commercial operation;

(

e) the actual amount of electricity produced and any variance between actual

and expected.

(2) The Minister may specify the form and content of the progress reports.

(3) The Minister may issue directions or orders to ensure that the requirements of this

Section are met.

Books and records of renewable low-impact electricity generators

39 Every renewable low-impact electricity generator must keep or cause to be kept

appropriate books, records, accounts, documents and other information related to the

ownership and operation of its renewable low-impact electricity generation facility and

its membership or ownership at an office in the Province.

Audit or examination of renewable low-impact electricity generator

40 The Minister may at any time audit or examine the books and records of a renewable

low-impact electricity generator to ensure the continued compliance by the renewable

electricity generator with the Act and these regulations.

Duty of renewable low-impact electricity generator

41 For the purpose of an audit or examination under

Section 40, a renewable low-impact

electricity generator must do all of the following:

(

a) make its books, records, accounts, documents and other information

available at all reasonable times to any person authorized by the Minister for

the purpose, and provide the person with copies of documents requested by

the person that are reasonable for the purposes of the audit or examination;

(

b) make copies of any operating agreement or other agreements between the

renewable low-impact electricity generator and any other person in relation

to the operation or ownership of its renewable low-impact electricity

generation facility available at all reasonable times to any person authorized

by the Minister for the purpose;

(

c) at any time, on any notice and under any supervision by or on behalf of the

renewable low-impact electricity generator as is reasonable in the

circumstances,

(

i) give all reasonable assistance to a person authorized by the Minister

to carry out the audit or examination,

(ii) provide access to all relevant sites, and

(iii) answer orally or in writing all questions relating to the audit or

examination.

Report by independent power producer

42 If any event occurs, whether by operation of law or otherwise, that causes an independent

power producer to fail to comply with the requirements for an independent power

producer under these regulations, the independent power producer must immediately

notify the Minister in writing of the event and provide any information that the Minister

requires.

Enforcement

Minister’s powers

(1) The Minister has all the power and authority necessary to implement, administer

and enforce these regulations, including the power to issue directions or orders, and

must do all of the following:

(

a) establish a process for approving and auditing renewable low-impact

electricity generation facilities and renewable low-impact electricity

generators for compliance with these regulations;

(

b) establish a process for approving and re-approving renewable low-impact

electricity generation facilities and renewable low-impact electricity

generators;

(

c) establish accounts and records for a renewable low-impact electricity

generator or its representative;

(

d) establish registries of renewable low-impact electricity generation facilities

and information that the Minister determines to be necessary;

(

e) establish limits for production or payments for excess electricity reported in

subsection 38(1A).

(2) In addition to the powers and duties set out in subsection (1), the Minister may do

any of the following:

(

a) audit approved renewable low-impact electricity generation facilities as

necessary to verify compliance with the Act and regulations;

(

b) suspend or revoke an approval issued under these regulations;

(

c) take any action that the Minister considers necessary to ensure that the

requirements of these regulations are met;

(

d) extend the time within which a condition of an approval issued under these

regulations must be met;

(

e) prepare

interpretations of these regulations, or policies, standards and

guidelines under these regulations;

(

f) suspend or revoke a procurement process under these regulations.

(3) The Minister may authorize a representative of the Department of Energy to

exercise the Minister’s powers and authority, and to undertake the Minister’s

responsibilities under these regulations.

(4) The Minister may direct the Board to inquire into and report on any matter under

the Act or these regulations if the Minister considers it necessary or advisable in

order to effectively carry out the intent and purpose of the Act.

Order to comply

(1) If the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that a person has contravened or

will contravene any part of the Act or these regulations, the Minister may issue an

order requiring the person to cease a specified activity or to take any action that the

Minister directs.

(2) An order remains in effect until it is revoked, in writing, by the Minister.

(3) A copy of an order must be served on the person to whom it is directed.

Compliance with order

(1) If an order issued under

Section 44 is served on a person to whom it is directed,

that person must comply with the order without delay or, if a period for

compliance is specified in the order, within the time period specified.

(2) Any order issued because of the failure of a cooperative, a not-for-profit body

corporate or a community economic-development corporation to continue to meet

the ownership requirements in clause 20(2)(c), (

d) or (e), as the case may be, must

allow a reasonable period of time for the person to whom the order is directed to

comply with the order.

Failure to comply

(1) If a person to whom an order under

Section 44 is directed does not comply with

the order or a part of the order, the Minister may take whatever action the Minister

considers necessary to carry out the terms of the order or, in the case of a

renewable low-impact electricity generator participating in the feed-in tariff

program, may cancel or suspend a power purchase agreement to which the

generator is party.

(2) Any power purchase agreement entered into or deemed to have been entered into

under the feed-in tariff program is subject to suspension or cancellation by the

Minister as provided in subsection (1).

Penalties and enforcement respecting renewable electricity standard

(1) A person who does any of the following is liable to a daily penalty of no more than

$500 000 to a maximum aggregate of $10 000 000 per occurrence:

(

a) fails to comply with the requirements of

Section 4, 5, 6 or 6A;

(

b) fails, neglects, omits or otherwise refuses to do any act or thing required in

respect of

Section 4, 5, 6 or 6A;

(

c) fails, neglects, omits or otherwise refuses to comply with a direction or

order of the Minister to comply with

Section 4, 5, 6 or 6A.

(2) Unless otherwise provided in the Act, a person is not subject to a penalty under

subsection (1) if the person establishes that they

(

a) exercised due diligence; or

(

b) reasonably and honestly believed in the existence of facts that, if true, would

render the conduct of the person excusable.

(3) No public utility may recover any penalty imposed on it under this

Section through

its rates.

Appeals

Appeals to the Board

(1) A person directly affected by an order or decision of the Minister made under these

regulations may, by written notice to the Board, appeal to the Board no later than

60 days after the later of

(

a) the date of the order or decision; and

(

b) the date that the reasons for the order or decision are issued.

(2) If an appeal is taken under this Section, the Board may, by order, confirm the

decision under appeal or make any other decision that the Board considers proper.

(3) The Minister is entitled to be heard by counsel or otherwise on the argument of an

appeal under this Section.

Board powers

49 The powers of the Board respecting a hearing or an appeal under the Utility and Review

Board Act and the Public Utilities Act and regulations made under those Acts apply to

hearings and appeals under the Act and these regulations.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Renewable Electricity Regulations

N.S. Reg.

155/2010

Electricity Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Renewable Electricity Regulations made

under the Electricity Act includes all of the

following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

155/2010

Oct 12, 2010

date specified

Nov 5, 2010

10/2013

Jan

17, 2013

date specified

Feb 8,

11/2013

Jan

17, 2013

date specified

Feb 8,

204/2013

May 7,

date specified

May

17, 2013

7/2014

Jan

21, 2014

date specified

Feb 7,

14/2014

Jan

28, 2014

date specified

Feb

21, 2014

65/2016

Apr 8,

date specified

Apr

29, 2016

73/2017

Apr

24, 2017

date specified

May

12, 2017

108/2017

Jul

17, 2017

date specified

Aug 4,

83/2018

May 8,

date specified

May

25, 2018

150/2018

Aug

14, 2018

date specified

Aug

31, 2018

74/2020

May 5,

date specified

May

22, 2020

110/2021

Jul 9,

date specified

Jul

30, 2021

246/2022

Oct

28, 2022

date specified

Nov

18, 2022

338/2022

Dec

19, 2022

date specified

Dec

30, 2022

54/2025

Mar

11, 2025

date specified

Mar

21, 2025

The following regulations are not yet in force and are

not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs. = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2 ........................................................

ra. as 2(1) 7/2014

2, defn. of “co-firing” ..................

ad. 10/2013

2, defn. of “designated lands” .....

ad. 11/2013

2, defn. of “device” .....................

ad. 7/2014

2, defn. of “firm” .........................

ad. 10/2013

2, defn. of “Muskrat Falls Generating Station” ....................................

ad. 11/2013

2, defn. of “NS Mi’kmaw band council” ....................................

ad. 11/2013

2, defn. of “renewable electricity”

rep. 11/2013

2, defn. of “renewable electricity standard” ..................................

rep. 11/2013

2, defn. of “university” ................

rs. 11/2013

2(1) ...................................................

ra. from 2 7/2014

2(1), defn. of “distribution zone”

ad. 246/2022

2(1), defn. of “expected amounts to be paid” .........................................

ad. 73/2017

2(1), defn. of “firm” ....................

rep. 65/2016

2(1), defn. of “municipal electric utility”, (i)(C) ...........................

am. 73/2017

2(1), defn. of “net-metering arrangement” ............................

ad. 73/2017 ; rep. 246/2022

2(1), defn. of “net-metering program” ..................................................

ad. 246/2022

2(1), defn. of “procurement administrator” ..........................

ad. 73/2017

2(1), defn. of “renewable electricity administrator” ..........................

rep. 73/2017

2(1), defn. of “renewable energy certificate” ................................

ad. 246/2022

2(1), defn. of “residential net metering” ..................................

ad. 246/2022

2(1), defn. of “solar program” .....

ad. 73/2017

2(2) ...................................................

ad. 7/2014

3(1), defn. of “cooperative” .............

am. 11/2013

3(1), defn. of “developmental tidal array” ........................................................

am. 11/2013; rs. 7/2014; am. 150/2018

3(1), defn. of “municipality” ............

am. 11/2013

3(1), defn. of “not-for-profit body corporate” .......................................

rs. 11/2013

3(1), defn. of “not-for-profit body corporate”, (i) ...........................

am. 73/2017

3(1), defn. of “Province” ..................

ad. 7/2014

3(1), defn. of “renewable electricity”

ad. 11/2013

3(1), defn. of “renewable electricity standard” ........................................

ad. 11/2013

3(1), defn. of “small-scale in-stream tidal” ...............................................

rs. 7/2014

3(2)(c) ...............................................

am. 246/2022

3(2)(d) ...............................................

ad. 246/2022

4(1) ...................................................

am. 11/2013

5(1) ...................................................

am. 11/2013

5(2)(a) ...............................................

am. 11/2013

5(2A) ................................................

ad. 10/2013 ; rs. 65/2016

5(2B) .................................................

ad. 11/2013 ; rep. 65/2016

5(3A) ................................................

ad. 11/2013

6(1) ...................................................

am. 11/2013

6(2) ...................................................

rs. 11/2013

6(3) ...................................................

rs. 11/2013; rep. 65/2016

6(4) ...................................................

rs. 11/2013

6(6) ...................................................

ad. 11/2013

6(6)(b) .........................................

am. 73/2017

6A .....................................................

ad. 10/2013 ; ra. as 6B 11/2013

6A .....................................................

ad. 11/2013

6A(3) ...........................................

rep. 65/2016 ;

ad. 246/2022

6AA ..................................................

ad. 338/2022

6AA(1) ..........................................

am.

54/2025

6AB ..................................................

ad. 54/2025

6B .....................................................

ra. from 6A 11/2013 ; rep. 65/2016 ;

ad. 110/2021

7 ........................................................

rs. 10/2013

7(1) ..............................................

am. 74/2020

7(4) ..............................................

ad. 14/2014

8(1) ...................................................

rs. 10/2013

11 ......................................................

rs. 10/2013

13(1) .................................................

am. 10/2013

13(1)(a) ........................................

am. 7/2014

13(1)(c) ........................................

am. 73/2017

13(3) .................................................

ad. 10/2013

18(2)(a)(iii) .......................................

am. 11/2013

18(5) .................................................

ad. 204/2013

19(1) .................................................

am. 11/2013

20 ......................................................

rs. 11/2013

20(1) ............................................

am. 7/2014

.. 20(1)(d)-(e) ...............................

am. 73/2017

20(2) ............................................

am. 7/2014

20(3) ............................................

am. 7/2014

.. 20(3)(f) .....................................

am. 73/2017

21 ......................................................

am. 11/2013

22 ......................................................

rs. 7/2014

second 22(c) ................................

ra. as (d) 11/2013

22(d) ............................................

ra. from (c) 11/2013

23 ......................................................

am. 11/2013, 73/2017

24 ......................................................

am. 7/2014

24(d) ............................................

rs. 11/2013

24(f) .............................................

rs. 11/2013

24A-24B ...........................................

ad. 7/2014

26 ......................................................

rs. 7/2014

28(1) .................................................

rs. 7/2014

28(1A) ..............................................

ad. 7/2014

28A ...................................................

ad. 150/2018

32(1A) ..............................................

ad. 7/2014

32(2) .................................................

am. 7/2014

32(3A) ..............................................

ad. 11/2013

35(1) .................................................

am. 7/2014, 73/2017

35(1)(f) ........................................

am. 73/2017

35(1)(g) .......................................

am. 11/2013

35(1A) ..............................................

ad. 7/2014

35A ...................................................

ad. 11/2013 ; am. 83/2018

35B ...................................................

ad. 11/2013

35B(1) .........................................

am. 73/2017

35B(2) .........................................

am. 73/2017, 246/2022

35B(2A) ......................................

ad. 73/2017

35B(2A)(a) ..................................

rep. 83/2018

35B(3) .........................................

am. 73/2017

35B(4)-(5) ...................................

ad. 73/2017

35B(6) .........................................

ad. 73/2017 ; am. 83/2018

35C ...................................................

ad. 11/2013 ; rs. 73/2017

35D ...................................................

ad. 11/2013 ; am. 73/2017

35D(d) .........................................

am. 73/2017

35D(e)-(h) ...................................

ad. 73/2017

37(1) .................................................

am. 73/2017

37(1A)-(1C) ......................................

ad. 73/2017

37(2) .................................................

am. 73/2017

37A-37B ...........................................

ad. 73/2017 ; rs. 246/2022

37C ...................................................

ad. 73/2017 ; rs. 246/2022

37C(2)(b) .....................................

am. 83/2018

37C(2)(e)(v) ................................

am. 83/2018

37C(2)(e)(vi) ...............................

ad. 83/2018

37D ...................................................

ad. 73/2017 ; rs. 246/2022

37E ...................................................

ad. 73/2017 ; rs. 246/2022

37E(1) ..........................................

rs. 108/2017

37E(4)(a) .....................................

am. 83/2018

37F ....................................................

ad. 73/2017 ; rs. 246/2022

37G ...................................................

ad. 246/2022

38(1A) ..............................................

ad. 11/2013

43(1)(e) .............................................

ad. 11/2013

43(2)(f) .............................................

ad. 11/2013

47(1)(a)-(c) .......................................

am. 11/2013, 73/2017

“renewable electricity administrator” replaced

throughout with “procurement administrator” throughout ..............

am. 73/2017

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections:

Note

Effective

date

Clause 6(4)(

f) of original text relettered as clause 6(4)(

d) for the purposes of this

consolidation.

(corrected by N.S. Reg. 11/2013)

Second clause 22(

c) in original text relettered as clause

22(

d) for the purposes of this consolidation.

(corrected by N.S. Reg. 11/2013)

Substituted references legislated for departments and

entities in s. 35 are not tracked in these editorial notes.

The Town of Canso referred to in s. 2 is dissolved by

order of the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (N.S. Reg. 35/2012).

(corrected by N.S. Reg. 73/2017.)

References to the Department and Minister of Energy

should be read as references to the Department and Minister of Energy and

Mines in accordance with O.I.C. 2018-188 under the Public Service Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.

Jul 5, 2018

References to the Department and Minister of Energy

should be read as references to the Department and Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables in

accordance with O.I.C. 2021-210 under the Public

Service Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.

Aug 31, 2021

References to the Department and Minister of Energy

should be read as references to the Department and Minister of Energy in accordance with O.I.C.

2024-425 under the Public Service Act ,

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.

Dec 12, 2024

The reference in subsection 3(1) to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources

Accord Implementation (Nova Scotia) Act should be read as a reference

to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord

Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management (Nova Scotia) Act in accordance with an amendment to the title of the Act made by S.N.S. 2024,

c. 5, s. 8 (the Advancing Opportunities Act ) ,

effective on proclamation (N.S. Reg. 18/2025) .

Jan 31, 2025

Amending instruction in N.S. Reg. 54/2025 specifies to

add s. 6AB immediately after s. 6A. S. 6AB added after s. 6AA for the

purposes of this consolidation.

The Utility and Review Board Act referred to in

s. 49 is repealed and replaced by the Energy

and Regulatory Boards Act ,

S.N.S. 2024, c. 2, Sch. A, effective

on proclamation (N.S. Reg 233/2024)

Apr 1, 2025

Repealed and Superseded:

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

35/2007

Renewable Energy Standard Regulations

Feb 1,

Oct

12, 2010

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.