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Part II .

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Costs Rules

made under Sections 20 and 34 of the

Energy and Regulatory Boards Act

S.N.S. 2024, c. 2, Sch. A

N.S. Reg. 260/2025 (effective November 28, 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 .

Citation

Application of Rules

Definitions

Request for costs

Award of costs

Burden of proof on party applying for costs

Costs reasonable and necessary for participation of non-profit intervenor

Non-profit intervenor pre-approval of costs

Eligibility for non-profit intervenor costs

Factors to consider in an award of costs to a non-profit intervenor

Groups ineligible for award of costs as a non-profit intervenor

Required information for pre-approval of non-profit intervenor costs

Costs requested by non-profit intervenor after proceeding

Advance of funds request

Accounting and recovery of pre-approved costs from non-profit intervenor

Costs for unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious conduct

Costs decision

Citation

1 These rules may be cited as the Costs Rules .

Application of Rules

(1) These rules apply to all proceedings before the Nova Scotia Energy Board and the

Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board except proceedings under the

following enactments:

(

a) the Expropriation Act ;

(

b) the Municipal Government Act ;

(

c) the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter .

Definitions

3 In these regulations,

“Board” means the Nova Scotia Energy Board or the Nova Scotia Regulatory and

Appeals Board, or both Boards, as the context requires;

“party” means a party to a proceeding and includes counsel for a party;

“proceeding” includes an application, appeal, matter or thing the Board has

jurisdiction to hear and determine.

Request for costs

(1) The Board may consider an award of costs when requested by a party to a

proceeding.

(2) The Board may, on its own motion, ask whether a party seeks costs in any of the

following circumstances:

(

a) the Board considers that a party may be unaware of the right to request

costs;

(

b) the Board finds that the conduct of another party warrants an award of costs

against that party.

Award of costs

(1) The Board must not order a party to pay costs without providing a reasonable

opportunity for the party to make representations to the Board.

(2) The Board may order a cost award against counsel only in extraordinary

circumstances.

Burden of proof on party applying for costs

6 The burden of establishing eligibility for a cost award is on the party requesting costs.

Costs reasonable and necessary for participation of non-profit intervenor

7 The Board may award to an eligible non-profit intervenor the costs the Board considers

reasonable and necessarily related to the party’s participation in all or part of a

proceeding.

Non-profit intervenor pre-approval of costs

(1) A non-profit intervenor intending to participate in a proceeding before the Board

may apply to the Board for pre-approval of an award of costs at any time during

the proceeding.

(2) An application under this

Section must be filed with the Clerk and served on the

other parties in the form required by the Board.

(3) The Board must determine a process for submissions on the application for costs

from the non-profit intervenor and other parties.

Eligibility for non-profit intervenor costs

9 After receiving an application under

Section 8, the Board may pre-approve an award of

costs for a non-profit intervenor if the Board finds that the following criteria are met:

(

a) the non-profit intervenor represents 1 or more of the following:

(

i) the interests of ratepayers concerning services that are regulated by

the Board,

(ii) a specific public interest or policy perspective that is relevant to the

Board’s mandate and the proceedings before the Board,

(iii) an individual or group of individuals with a direct local interest in the

proceedings;

(

b) the Board is satisfied that the non-profit intervenor

(

i) has limited financial resources,

(ii) will participate in the hearing in a responsible way, and

(iii) will contribute positively to the Board’s understanding of the issues

to be addressed in the proceeding.

Factors to consider in an award of costs to a non-profit intervenor

(1) The Board may consider any of the following factors when determining whether to

award costs:

(

a) whether the non-profit intervenor represents a public interest or policy

perspective not anticipated to be otherwise provided in the proceeding;

(

b) the non-profit intervenor’s relevant expertise and experience;

(

c) the non-profit intervenor’s contributions and behaviour in past and present

proceedings;

(

d) the efficiency of the hearing[,] including avoiding the duplication of

evidence and argument;

(

e) additional factors the Board considers relevant and appropriate in the

circumstances.

(2) The Board may consider any of the factors in subsection (1) when determining the

amount of costs to be awarded to a non-profit intervenor.

Groups ineligible for award of costs as a non-profit intervenor

(1) Except as otherwise directed by the Board under subsection (2), the following

groups are not eligible for pre-approval of costs as a non-profit intervenor:

(

a) the applicant in the proceeding;

(

b) a utility;

(

c) a party regulated or licensed by the Board;

(

d) for-profit electricity generators, including associations of those entities;

(

e) electrification associations;

(

f) municipalities, including associations of municipalities;

(

g) provincial and federal government departments, agencies and Crown

corporations;

(

h) gasoline retailers and wholesalers, including associations of those entities;

(

i) other entities primarily representing commercial, institutional or industrial

interests, including associations of those entities.

(2) The Board may direct that an entity meeting the definition of one of the ineligible

groups in subsection (1) is eligible for pre-approval of costs in a proceeding if the

following conditions are met:

(

a) the Board provides the parties to that proceeding a reasonable opportunity to

make representations on the issue;

(

b) the Board is satisfied that the entity otherwise meets the criteria for a non-profit intervenor set out in

Section 9.

Required information for pre-approval of non-profit intervenor costs

12 A non-profit intervenor seeking pre-approval of an award of costs must include the

following information in its application:

(

a) the reasons why the intervenor is eligible for an award of costs, addressing

the criteria in

Section 9;

(

b) the specific issues the intervenor intends to address;

(

c) a detailed budget including the following information, as applicable:

(

i) counsel fees,

(ii) consultant fees, including supporting information on the consultant’s

qualifications, the issues they will address, and the nature and scope

of work the consultant will carry out to address the identified issues,

(iii) expected disbursements, such as transcript costs and travel and

accommodation directly related to the party’s participation in the

proceedings,

(iv) any additional or different information that the Board considers

relevant and appropriate about the costs claimed.

Costs requested by non-profit intervenor after proceeding

13 For greater certainty, Sections 8 to 12 apply, with necessary changes, to a non-profit

intervenor’s request for an award of costs made at the conclusion of a proceeding.

Advance of funds request

(1) When requesting pre-approval of an award of costs or at any other time during the

proceeding, a non-profit intervenor may request the Board to direct an advance of

funds for all or part of the costs requested.

(2) A request for an advance of funds must include all of the following information:

(

a) a detailed budget in accordance with

Section 12;

(

b) information supporting the need for the advance.

Accounting and recovery of pre-approved costs from non-profit intervenor

(1) A non-profit intervenor that receives an advance of funds for pre-approved costs

under these rules must provide a full accounting of the funds to the Board no later

than 60 days after the Board issues its final order in the proceeding.

(2) At the request of a party or on its own motion, the Board may extend or shorten the

timeline set out in subsection (1) if the Board finds it reasonable to do so in the

circumstances.

(3) The Board may make an order for the repayment or recovery of any funds

advanced to a non-profit intervenor for costs in any of the following circumstances:

(

a) the Board finds the conduct of the intervenor during the proceedings to be

clearly unreasonable, frivolous, or vexatious as determined in accordance

with

Section 16;

(

b) the funds have not been appropriately spent or disbursed.

Costs for unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious conduct

(1) If the Board finds a party’s conduct or course of conduct to be clearly

unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious, having regard to all the circumstances, the

Board may, at the request of a party or on its own motion

(

a) award costs against the party;

(

b) disallow all or part of an award of costs to the party.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the following are examples of conduct that the

Board may determine to be clearly unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious:

(

a) the actions or failure of a party to act in a timely manner that results in

prejudice to another party;

(

b) an applicant or appellant who, without notice, fails to do either of the

following:

(

i) attend a hearing,

(ii) send a representative to a hearing;

(

c) a party who fails to reasonably co-operate with other parties during any

proceedings before the Board;

(

d) a party’s conduct that unnecessarily lengthens or delays proceedings;

(

e) a party’s failure to comply with a procedural order or direction of the Board

that results in prejudice to another party;

(

f) a party continues to deal with issues the Board has advised are not relevant.

Costs decision

17 An order of the Board awarding costs must include the following information:

(

a) the costs to be paid;

(

b) the party to whom the costs are to be paid;

(

c) the person who must pay the costs;

(

d) if the Board determines that payment must be made, when a payment is to

be made and whether payments may be made in installments or in advance;

(

e) any additional or different terms, conditions and directives the Board

considers reasonable.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Costs Rules

N.S. Reg.

260/2025

Energy and Regulatory Boards 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 Costs Rules made under the Energy and Regulatory Boards Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

260/2025

Nov 28, 2025

date specified

Dec 12, 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

..........................................................

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

131/1996

Costs Rules

Jul 29, 1996

Nov 28, 2025

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.