[1] 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 Nova Scotia Power 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.

Cameron's government had been under heavy pressure to control provincial deficits and debt servicing thus the controversial decision to sell the Crown corporation.

In the wake of major winter storms in 2004,[4] NS Power came under increasing criticism from the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities, energy-oriented public interest groups, and provincial political parties for a perceived lack of investment in the monitoring, preventive maintenance and instrumenting of its electric grid.

The government of Nova Scotia was concerned that the deal could affect its plan to develop renewable energy sources for exports to New England in competition with Quebec's publicly owned utility, as all existing transmission routes were through New Brunswick.

In partial response to concerns about being cut off from the New England market, NS Premier Darrell Dexter began to pursue a "loop" strategy for Nova Scotia's electric interconnection, connecting Muskrat Falls in Labrador to Cape Breton, thence to mainland Nova Scotia and, via subsea DC transmission cable, New England.

[7] By providing long-term, guaranteed access to a block of hydroelectric power at a fixed price,[8] the deal served the longstanding policy goal of reducing Nova Scotia's dependence on coal-fired generation.

[9]: 17 An audit commissioned by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB) and conducted by Liberty Consulting Group in 2012 found that NSP overcharged its customers by $21.8 million because it paid too much for fuel over a two-year period.

[18] The spending was offset by a reduction in power rates under Nova Scotia's fuel adjustment mechanism due to lower-than-expected oil and gas prices in 2009.

[19] Public consultations held in Nova Scotia in 2008 produced a report recommending the creation of an independent demand side management administration.

[32] Dalhousie Professor Dr. Larry Hughes[33] argues that they should be more widely deployed to encourage conserving power on peak, ensuring that electric vehicles and other discretionary devices charge off-peak, and otherwise levelling usage.

"[citation needed] In June 2017,[34] NSP withdrew its application for a pilot project to test wireless smart meters, under criticism from consumer advocates.

[37] As of 2014, the utility operates 43 power stations, excluding wind turbines,[38] using sources of energy including coal, petcoke, natural gas and renewables.

1987 (coal) NSPI also purchases energy from independent power producers who generate electricity using wind, hydro, and biomass (including landfill gas).

[citation needed] In 2012, MEUNS successfully opposed charges of $28–32 million that NSP had requested before the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB).

The proposed charges would have been a one-time "exit fee" payable by the municipal utilities in exchange for ending NSP's monopoly on the wholesale supply of electricity.

[45] In 2014, Mahone Bay, Antigonish, and Berwick signed an agreement to develop a 16 MW wind farm in Hants County as co-owners of the Alternative Resource Energy Authority.