Nova Scotia Power - History

History

The Nova Scotia Power Commission was formed in 1919 by the provincial government, following the lead of several other Canadian provinces in establishing Crown corporation electrical utilities. The commission constructed and opened its first hydro plant at Tantallon the following year.

Throughout the 1920s-1960s the commission grew as private and municipal owned hydro plants and electrical utilities went bankrupt or sold their assets. In 1960, Nova Scotia was connected to the New Brunswick Power Corporation in the first electrical inter-connection between provinces in Canada.

The commission underwent unprecedented expansion during the late 1960s when five new thermal generating stations were constructed to meet the growing residential and industrial demand in the province.

In 1974, the Nova Scotia Power Commission acquired Nova Scotia Light and Power Ltd., a private company, to form the Nova Scotia Power Corporation (NSPC).

In 1984, NSPC opened the world's first tidal power generating station on the Annapolis River at Annapolis Royal. This technology, similar to hydroelectric dams, did not become globally widespread.

In 1992, NSPC was privatized by the provincial government of Premier Donald Cameron in what was then the largest private equity transaction in Canadian history. Cameron's government had been under heavy pressure to control provincial deficits and debt servicing resulting from his predecessor administrations, thus the controversial decision to sell the Crown corporation. This privatization created Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (NSPI).

On December 2, 1998, NSPI shareholders voted to restructure the company to create a holding company which would be shareholder-owned, with the regulated utility being a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company. On December 9, 1998, NSPI received approval to establish NS Power Holdings Incorporated and NSPI shareholders exchanged their shares in NSPI for shares in NS Power Holdings Inc. on a one-to-one basis on January 1, 1999. Common shares in NS Power Holdings Inc. began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Montreal Stock Exchange on January 6, 1999. The NS Power Holdings Inc. name was changed to Emera Incorporated on July 17, 2000.

In 2001, Emera purchased the Bangor Hydro Electric Company of Bangor, Maine; Emera was the first Canadian company to purchase an American utility.