Nova Scotia is directing the province’s main electricity producer to ramp up biomass use, starting immediately and continuing for the next two years. The Houston government made a regulatory change this week that requires Nova Scotia Power to use 160 gigawatt hours of biomass each year until 2027. The new regulation builds on earlier directives for Nova Scotia Power’s biomass use. In 2022, the province called for 135 gigawatt hours of biomass-powered electricity each year until 2025. …A spokesperson for Energy Minister Boudreau’s department said the additional biomass will replace coal and will be “comparatively priced.” They said they don’t yet know the exact cost, but the impact on power rates should be “minimal.” …The regulation used to stipulate that biomass burned for electricity had to be a forestry byproduct. …The province did away with that provision.