chris smith

Nova Scotia Power is about to have another leadership change for the second time in less than a year.

Chris Smith who is executive vice president of finance and commercial will become president and CEO of the utility on November 2.

He will take over from Vivek Sood, who is not renewing is contract having becoming CEO in March 2026.

“Over Vivek’s time as CEO, he provided steady leadership through a challenging period, helping to stabilize operations, rebuild trust, and strengthen the focus on reliability, while moving important work like securitization forward,” says Nova Scotia Power in a statement.

Sood took over at an uncertain time after a cyberattack that had access to hundreds of thousands of customers’ personal information.

According to Nova Scotia Power, Smith brings “extensive utility experience” and “deep knowledge” of the business.

He has served in several senior executive roles with the utility as well as President of Heritage Gas (now Eastward Energy) before joining Nova Scotia Power a decade ago.

The Chair of Nova Scotia Power’s board of directors, Scott Balfour says, he thanks Sood for his leadership during a “pivotal year”.