Emera Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $167 million compared with a loss of $70 million in the same quarter last year.

The power utility said Friday the profit amounted to 63 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of 27 cents per share a year earlier.

Operating revenue totalled nearly $1.84 billion, up from nearly 1.15 billion in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Emera says it earned 76 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 68 cents per share in the third quarter of 2021.

Emera chief executive Scott Balfour says the growth in the company's earnings was principally driven by continued strong performance from its utilities in Florida. 

The financial results came as investors watch for the fallout from the Nova Scotia government's imposed rate cap on the parent company of Nova Scotia Power. 

The utility is expected to update its rate base investment forecast and related funding plan during a conference call with investors and analysts.

The company had applied for a nearly 14 per cent rate hike over two years with the provincial regulator earlier this year, but the province stepped in and passed legislation to limit the power rate increase to 1.8 per cent over the next two years, excluding increases linked to fuel costs.

The changes to the Public Utilities Act also took aim at the utility's profit by preventing the regulator from approving a rate of return on equity any higher than 9.25 per cent, down from the 9.5 per cent requested. 

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said last month on Twitter his government would "take the necessary steps to protect you from unfair rate increases while helping to ensure your lights stay on." 

Nova Scotia Power has said the cap restricts its ability to invest in power grid upgrades and renewable sources of energy.

"This legislation prevents us from investing a planned half a billion dollars in clean energy projects in Nova Scotia," Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Jacqueline Foster said in an email. 

"It will take time to fully assess the implications of the legislation," she said. "In the meantime, we’ve pressed pause on our team’s work on the Atlantic Loop."

The Atlantic Loop is a proposed $5-billion transmission megaproject, which would give the region more access to Labrador and Quebec hydroelectricity.

It's a key part of efforts to end the region's reliance on coal power. 

Both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have committed to phasing out their coal-fired generation by 2030, while Nova Scotia has enshrined in law its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 53 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has said Nova Scotia has limited options to meet its goal of getting off coal asides from the Atlantic Loop, but called the conflict between Emera and the province a "bump in the road."