New Tantramar council deals with fire department crisis in its first week on the job

Posted on June 4, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell wearing her chain of office shortly after Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony

UPDATE: Tantramar Town Council met for just over two hours Friday to discuss recommendations from a Saint John law firm on how to resolve the ongoing staffing crisis within Sackville Fire & Rescue.

After the closed-door meeting, Mayor Wiggins-Colwell said that “for legal reasons,” the town wasn’t ready yet to say what steps it plans to take, but suggested an announcement could come this week.

Chief Craig Bowser was not at the meeting. He has led the department as full-time chief for almost 17 years.

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Newly elected Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell says she is not “a fancy talker, but a good listener and I know right from wrong.”

She made that comment during a two-minute speech to a packed council chamber on Tuesday.

“Our priorities should be guided by impact and need and not convenience,” she added during a festive, swearing-in ceremony for Tantramar’s new council which consists of five new members as well as four who served on the previous council, including Wiggins-Colwell herself.

“I expect our administration to be proactive, responsive and focused on maintaining and delivering the essential services that the people rely on, as safety of the residents of Tantramar is our top priority,” she added in a possible reference to the ongoing staffing crisis within the Sackville fire department, a hot-potato issue that the new council is being asked to handle almost immediately.

Closed-door meeting

Members of council have been called to a special, closed-door meeting at noon on Friday where they are expected to review a report based on a four-month investigation into allegations first raised more than five years ago when Warktimes reported that at least 17 volunteer firefighters had resigned over a five-year period.

After 12 more volunteers turned in their pagers on January 5th reducing the fire department’s active-duty roster to 18 out of a full complement of 43, the town announced the hiring of a Saint John law firm that specializes in labour relations to conduct interviews with 31 members of Sackville Fire & Rescue.

According to a town news release, the scope of the investigation by VanBuskirk Law included:

  1. Any alleged violation of the Workplace Harassment and Violence Policy, whether in writing or verbal, including allegations related to harassment, workplace toxicity, poisoned work environment, psychologically unsafe environment, etc;
  2. Any allegations of favouritism;
  3. Any allegations related to a failure of leadership;
  4. Any alleged inappropriate behaviour that may or may not amount to harassment; and
  5. An overall conclusion as to the assessment of the workplace culture

Personnel matter

In 2021, the former town of Sackville hired the Montana Consulting Group to conduct a workplace assessment, but refused to release the $31,500 report or its recommendations to the public on the grounds that it concerned personnel matters that must remain confidential under New Brunswick’s Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The town promised to adopt all 20 recommendations, but Warktimes has determined that at least some of them have yet to be implemented.

Friday’s closed-door meeting could provide the first indication of how the newly elected council intends to respond to one of the most contentious issues facing the municipality.

With volunteer firefighter numbers sharply reduced amid growing concerns about public safety, residents will likely be watching closely for signs that the long-running crisis is finally approaching a resolution.

Members of Tantramar’s new council. L-R back row: Haidee Robertson, Barry Hicks, Wayne Wells, Josh Goguen. L-R front row: Tori Weldon, Alyssa Greene, Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, Allison Butcher, Kristen LeBlanc. Photo: Jon Wolfe

Posted in Sackville Fire & Rescue, Town of Sackville, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Province still backing gas plant despite Auditor General’s warning on costs and risks

Posted on June 3, 2026 by brucewark

Provincial Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson speaking in the legislature on Tuesday

New Brunswick’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson says the province needs the 500 MW gas/diesel plant on the Chignecto Isthmus to help in the transition to intermittent, greener sources of electricity.

“We do recognize the Auditor General’s report on the cost of the project,” Chiasson says, adding however, that “as every province is looking to generate new electricity, the cost of actually putting something in place, a project, is actually very, very expensive.”

He was responding in the legislature Tuesday to questions from Green leader David Coon who pointed out that the Auditor General had criticized NB Power for failing to analyze the risks and benefits of alternatives such as battery energy storage systems.

“Will the premier commission an independent study into the risks and benefits of the alternatives to this diesel gas plant?” Coon asked.

Premier Holt, who was in the legislature, deflected the question to Chiasson who said that Nova Scotia wants to buy 100 MW from the Tantramar gas plant while planning, along with PEI, to install additional gas turbines of its own.

Chiasson added that the Liberal government relies on the Energy & Utilities Board to oversee such projects and to make sure they are cost effective, an apparent reference to the EUB’s approval of the gas/diesel plant last week.

Green leader David Coon raising questions about Auditor-General’s report in the NB legislature

“NB Power and the member opposite are conveniently ignoring the battery revolution that is upending conventional wisdom and electric power planning worldwide, replacing fossil-gas peaking plants and lowering power rates,” Coon shot back before asking Chiasson and the premier to “pause” the relationship between NB Power and PROENERGY, its American partner.

“I keep coming back to the fact that the RIGS project,” Chiasson replied referring to the gas plant, “and the minister of energy says it over and over, if it wasn’t for the RIGS project, NB Power would not be able to actually develop wind power that, obviously, that the First Nations are in on. It’s going to be used as backup power, and it’s actually very beneficial to NB Power and to us moving forward.”

AG answers questions

The question period exchange came a couple of hours after Auditor General Paul Martin told the legislature’s public accounts committee that there were “gaping holes” in NB Power’s analysis of the gas plant project because of the utility’s failure to fully weigh its costs and risks to customers or consider possible alternatives.

“It may be the right decision,” Martin said, “[but] how would you know?”

He said he recognized that NB Power felt its need for new power generation was urgent, but the utility had almost three years to investigate solutions, plenty of time to evaluate alternatives properly.

Auditor General Paul Martin testifying before the legislature’s public accounts committee

Martin criticized NB Power’s board of directors for failing to ask the right questions to challenge management decisions, adding that it’s not a new issue.

“We issued a report on NB Power’s early retirement plan,” he said. “We saw in that case that management actually changed the retirement package after the board approved it and did not go back for any approvals,” he added.

“Here we we see a major project that isn’t following the appropriate guidelines and I believe as a board they’ve got to elevate their oversight and responsibility in those board seats to better understand what is required of them and the oversight they have to bring to the table,” Martin said.

He added that, if for any reason, the project falls through, NB Power would be required to compensate PROENERGY for early construction costs of up to $55.1 million in U.S. dollars.

“I’m trying to understand how senior people that are in charge of this operation aren’t on top of this and where is the data, where’s the information, where’s the plan?”

Indigenous partnership?

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton questioning Auditor General

When Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton asked about the apparent lack of an Indigenous financial or equity partnership, Martin said he didn’t have any more knowledge about it than she did.

“We do know that PROENERGY can potentially leave, withdraw from the project by mid 2026,” he said, referring to an agreement that would allow the American company to bail out if it can’t find Indigenous partners.

“I’d say we’re darn close to mid-2026 so I’m expecting we should know by this summer what’s going to happen there. Are they finding a partner or is this a dead duck?” he asked.

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Auditor General questions NB Power’s $3.55-billion gas plant deal

Posted on June 2, 2026 by brucewark

New Brunswick Auditor-General Paul Martin. Photo: AG report

New Brunswick Auditor-General Paul Martin issued a report today accusing NB Power of pushing ahead with its proposed gas/diesel generating plant near Centre Village without fully weighing the costs and risks to its customers or considering possible alternatives.

The report also notes that NB Power’s agreement with PROENERGY requires the U.S. company to establish a financial, equity partnership with Indigenous communities, yet the Auditor General found during his investigation that no such partnership had been reached.

The report adds that last December, NB Power amended the agreement to allow PROENERGY to withdraw from the project and recover its costs if it does not form a partnership with Indigenous communities by mid-2026.

The Auditor-General’s report discloses financial details that were kept confidential during hearings before the Energy & Utilities Board.

The Auditor General calculated that NB Power’s partnership with PROENERGY would cost roughly $3.55 billion over 25 years.

Under the partnership model, NB Power would not own the generating station. Instead, it would make long-term contractual payments to PROENERGY’s project partnership in exchange for having the plant built, maintained and available to generate electricity. The utility would also be responsible for other costs, including fuel and certain environmental compliance costs.

Using NB Power’s own annual revenue requirement estimates, the Auditor General calculated that the total cost of the partnership model would be roughly $3.55 billion over the 25-year term of the agreement ($142 million average annual revenue requirement × 25 years = $3.55 billion).

The report cites NB Power figures showing that if the utility owned and operated the plant itself, the estimated cost would be between $2.85 billion and $3.125 billion, or approximately $425 million to $700 million less than the partnership model.

Financial risks

The Auditor General suggests that NB Power faces substantial financial and contractual risks including:

  • having to make full monthly payments to the U.S. company even when the gas/diesel plant cannot generate electricity for reasons outside NB Power’s control
  • paying for fuel whether or not it is burned
  • bearing “construction schedule risks associated with delays in the delivery of equipment without financial remedy.”

The Auditor General also criticizes NB Power for treating its agreement with PROENERGY primarily as a supply arrangement rather than a 25-year capital investment.

“As a result, the project did not proceed through the full Investment Governance Framework (IGF) in the way expected for a major capital commitment,” the report says.

It also notes that the agreement with PROENERGY initially required the company to pay NB Power $46 million in US dollars as a “performance assurance payment” to offset construction risks.

“The performance assurance payment was due on August 1, 2025, but was not paid to NB Power,” the report says.

“An amendment to the Agreement was subsequently approved and dated December 31, 2025 to reduce the immediate security requirement to USD $10 million, with the full USD $46 million becoming payable only upon satisfaction of specified conditions. As a result, NB Power’s contractual leverage to enforce ProEnergy’s compliance with construction milestones and the agreed upon schedule was significantly weakened.”

Risks & benefits of alternatives

While the Auditor General accepts NB Power’s forecast that it would need an additional 400 MW of generating capacity by August 1, 2028, his report says the utility did not conduct a rigorous assessment of the risks and benefits of alternatives to dual-fuel combustion turbines until after it had signed an agreement with PROENERGY.

The report refers to NB Power’s list of possible alternatives in its planning documents including:

  • battery storage
  • biomass conversion
  • demand response
  • imported power
  • intermittent renewables (wind, solar)
  • small modular nuclear reactors

In a response included in the report, NB Power said it faced an urgent risk of winter electricity shortages and argued that delays could have increased the likelihood of blackouts.

The utility also disputed some of the Auditor General’s conclusions, saying the partnership model transferred significant construction and performance risks to PROENERGY.

To read the Auditor General’s report and NB Power’s response, click here.

To read a CBC report on the $3.5 billion cost of the plant, click here.

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 5 Comments

New Brunswick’s plan won’t help lower power rates, critics say

Posted on May 30, 2026 by brucewark

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. Source: Fredericton Gleaner.
May 28, 2026

Premier Holt speaking at an online news conference on Monday

New Brunswick’s Liberal government has released a plan for NB Power, with a push to make skyrocketing electricity rates more affordable.

But New Brunswickers can’t count on a cap or price freeze.

Both the premier and the province’s energy minister are promising not to meddle in the Crown corporation’s rate setting, as provincial governments have done so many times in the past.

Instead, the Liberals introduced legislation this week to create an independent energy sector consumer advocate’s office, meant to better represent residential and small business customers.

The new advocate will replace the public intervener for the energy sector, who represented all NB Power customers at EUB rate hearings including the one on the proposed Tantramar gas/diesel plant.

It is only one of a suite of NB Power reforms the Liberals promised to introduce before their mandate runs out in 2029.

Opposition parties predicted rates wouldn’t go down any time soon, a harsh reality considering that residential rates have gone up by roughly 26%  in the last three years, costing the average household hundreds of dollars extra in yearly bill payments.

“More than a year ago, we were seeing New Brunswickers experiencing significant increases to their power bills, and big challenges when it came to the cost of living, and specifically, electricity and power in this province,” Premier Susan Holt said at news conference Monday.

“We knew we needed to do something,” she added.

“We couldn’t continue with the kind of nine per cent increases year over year that New Brunswickers had seen…So, we took action and assembled a panel of experts to do a comprehensive review of NB Power.”

Expert report

Energy Minister René Legacy

That three-member expert review panel delivered a report eight weeks ago after nearly a year of consultation and study.

Holt said her government had accepted all of its 50 recommendations, but warned that many would take years to see through and that they had to be done in stages.

The key actions include developing a new provincial energy policy, modernizing the Electricity Act, and advancing discussions around greater regional co-operation and integration among utilities in the Maritimes.

The government also believes it can improve NB Power’s performance measurement, staffing reviews, project management, and customer service.

But six of the recommendations won’t be acted on any time soon, or at least not until they are analyzed further. Energy Minister René Legacy said they couldn’t be done right away because other changes had to happen first.

These are glaring omissions, considering how controversial some of them would likely be.

In the near term, the provincial government will not introduce bonuses or performance-based pay for the public utility’s employees, including its senior executive team.

Public feedback showed many New Brunswickers felt NB Power’s 2,600 workers were already well paid to do a good job.

And the province won’t immediately investigate adding more natural gas to replace electrical home heating, another hot-button issue.

Fracking moratorium

There’s been a moratorium on fracking natural gas in New Brunswick for a dozen years, an environmental safeguard the Progressive Conservative opposition wants lifted to create jobs and more wealth in a have-not province.

PC Energy Critic Kris Austin speaking in the legislature last fall

Kris Austin, the PC energy critic, said it was a big mistake to leave an estimated 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the ground.

“These recommendations, whether they do them or don’t do them, it’s very clear, are not going to reduce rates, and in the short term, I don’t even think they’re going to stabilize rates,” he told Brunswick News. “Rates are going to continue to go up.”

Austin argued a better long-term plan would have been to wean households off electrical heat, which is hugely inefficient compared to heating with natural gas. Most New Brunswickers use electrical baseboard heating.

“You’ve only got to look to the U.S. Northeast to see your answer. Electricity rates in New England are high. They’re very high, but people don’t worry too much about it because they only use electricity in the Northeast mostly to turn the lights on and, you know, for some basic stuff. They heat their homes with natural gas. So, there’s your model.”

Nor will the provincial government immediately write down the public utility’s teetering, $6-billion debt, considered far too big for a utility NB Power’s size.

No Point Lepreau plan

The idea of spinning off the troubled Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station into a separate Crown corporation has also been put on the backburner.

Green Party leader David Coon blames many of NB Power’s financial problems on Lepreau, which underwent an expensive refurbishment more than a decade ago, but still breaks down more than it should.

“The action plan is underwhelming,” Coon told reporters. “It’s not going to make one bit of difference to people’s power costs whatsoever. They’re not even keeping up with what Nova Scotia is doing in terms of really being bold with helping to get people’s energy costs down through major energy efficiency programs and a major focus on solar.”

Coon said the public utility should go full-bore into offering smaller, renewable electricity, produced by wind and solar energy, backed up by powerful batteries. He said more New Brunswickers would make their homes more efficient, with heat pumps and better insulation, if they were offered no-interest loans to do the work.

To read the government’s plan for NB Power, click here.

This story was written by Local Journalism Initiative Reporter John Chilibeck of Brunswick News..

Posted in LJI stories, NB Power, New Brunswick politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Opponents vow ‘fight is not over’ after EUB approves gas plant

Posted on May 29, 2026 by brucewark

NB Power VP Brad Coady speaking to reporters during online news conference

NB Power Vice President Brad Coady says he understands that many people in Tantramar are angry about the utility’s plans for a 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village.

“I do sympathize with the anger and I commit that NB Power will continue our discussions with residents in the local area and throughout New Brunswick on what our energy future looks like,” Coady told reporters Thursday.

He spoke during an online news conference about an hour after the provincial Energy & Utilities Board announced it had approved the gas plant project as a financially sound investment that would help prevent power blackouts during periods of peak demand.

“I do want to emphasize that this approval today, while it’s important, isn’t the only approval for the project,” Coady said.

“We still have an outstanding environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval or determination that the proponent is required to get,” he added, referring to the U.S. company PROENERGY which would build and operate the gas plant for 25 years.

When asked for an update on the EIA approval process that the province is conducting, Coady replied that the prospects look good.

“My latest update, which came as early as this morning I might add, was that the proponent (PROENERGY) is on schedule to receive a favourable determination,” he said.

“All the work that they had to do for the regulator will be submitted by the end of day tomorrow, but I request that you ask the proponent for a more precise update than that.”

Future gas plants

Coady also told reporters that while NB Power has signed power purchase agreements for about 700 MW of wind in addition to the 400 MW that already exist, the utility also sees the need for additional fossil fuel turbines to meet power needs after 2030 along with battery storage systems and ways of managing demand.

He said NB Power is looking at sites across the province including the Scoudouc industrial park.

“It could be anywhere, including Scoudouc. More to come on that,” he said.

When asked about the EUB’s sharp criticism of NB Power for not filing documents to show the rationale for its investment in the gas plant project, Coady suggested the utility was following its rules for power purchase agreements which are not capital investments.

“All of our fuel purchases and all of our power purchase agreements follow a different track because these aren’t internal investment decisions by NB Power,” he said.

He added that NB Power is prepared to work with the EUB on how to handle the documentation for similar applications in the future.

‘Fight is not over’

Barry Rothfuss speaking at a recent rally against the proposed gas plant

“I’m obviously disappointed with the EUB decision,” says Barry Rothfuss, executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute, which would be only 4.5 kilometres away from the gas plant.

Rossfuss is also one of the founders of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC)) which argued against the gas plant at the EUB hearings.

“The decision was not unexpected because the EUB was only looking at the prudency of economic expenditures and not looking at the actual prudency of this project in terms of its effects on the environment or public health,” Rothfuss says.

“When it pollutes, it pollutes dirty,” he adds. “There is no peaker plant that operates without public health risks, just do a Google search and you’ll see.”

Rothfuss says the PCIC will continue to fight against the gas plant echoing a message in its news release which suggests the Coalition may ask the courts to review the EUB decision.

“We are exploring all available legal options to ensure that this decision does not stand as the final word,” the release states.

“We remain committed to protecting the Chignecto Isthmus, its people, its wildlife, and the generations of human beings not yet born who will live with the consequences of what is decided in rooms like this one. The fight is not over.”

NB Power ‘rushing’ gas plant

CCNB’s Moe Qureshi speaking during EUB hearings

Meantime, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, which also opposed the gas plant during EUB hearings, says approval of the project means New Brunswickers will be stuck paying costly bills.

“The decision will expose residents to higher power bills, more pollution, and decades of dependence on fossil fuels,” says Moe Qureshi, CCNB director of climate research in a news release issued shortly after the EUB decision.

The release says the plant would be one of the province’s top polluters producing toxins linked to cancer and respiratory diseases.

It accuses NB Power of failing to consider more efficient and cost-effective options such as battery energy storage systems while rushing ahead with the gas plant project to avoid stricter controls on carbon dioxide emissions.

“The federal government published the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) in 2025, which limit the CO2 emissions fossil fuel generators can produce,” the CCNB release states.

“Planned units that have started construction by 2027, however, will not be subjected to the CER until 2050. That means this plant could avoid stricter emissions requirements for decades.”

EUB avoids blame

Jim Emberger of the Anti-Shale Gas Alliance. Photo: Deborah Carr

In an e-mail to Warktimes, Jim Emberger of the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance questions why the EUB approved the gas plant in spite of the Board’s conclusion that NB Power had abused the hearing process “by filing applications and evidence at the last minute thus unfairly limiting review time needed by both the Board and interveners.”

He suggests that the EUB felt it had to grant regulatory approval on minimal evidence from NB Power.

“One suspects that the EUB, lacking really decisive evidence, acted out of a worry that if the project were denied and a serious blackout occurred later, they would be blamed,” Emberger writes.

“So they accepted NB Power’s questionable arguments as minimally ‘prudent’. But it was obvious that they felt like they were forced into a position and a decision with which they were not happy,” he adds.

“If this project proceeds, the province will be tied for over two decades to fossil fuels and their high costs, supply and price volatility, and climate damage — just as the rest of the world moves away from them.”

Posted in climate change, Environment, NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

NB Power wins regulatory approval for Tantramar gas/diesel plant despite harsh EUB rebuke

Posted on May 28, 2026 by brucewark

EUB Chair Christopher Stewart

The New Brunswick Energy & Utilities Board has approved NB Power’s plans for a 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village that would be built and operated by the U.S. company PROENERGY for 25-years.

In an oral decision, Board Chair Christopher Stewart endorsed NB Power’s argument that it needs additional power by 2028 to avoid the risk of blackouts, especially during periods of peak demand.

“NB Power is not required to show that the proposed project is the only reasonable solution,” Stewart said.

“It must, however, provide sufficient evidence to satisfy the Board that after careful consideration of plausible alternatives, the chosen project is reasonable,” he added.

Today’s decision approved the eight combustion turbines NB Power says it needs to quickly generate 400 MW of peak power.

“Each turbine will be capable of ramping up to full power in six minutes,” Stewart said, adding that the turbines will also “be equipped with a synchronous condenser” to provide grid stability as more intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar are integrated into the system.

The Board also approved two additional turbines that would generate 100 MW of power for Nova Scotia’s Independent Energy System Operator for an initial 10 year period.

Higher costs justified

The EUB noted that contracting the project out to a private operator would cost NB Power between $82 and $221 million and possibly even more than operating such a plant itself.

 But it said the arrangement is justified because it transfers significant financial risks in constructing, operating and maintaining the plant to the private developers.

“NB Power contends that the chosen delivery model secures eight combustion turbines at a locked-in price in a market where such turbines are in high demand and prices are not decreasing,” Stewart said, “and shifts responsibility for planning and managing the facility from NB Power at a time when its resources are stretched and would be more adequately focused on other large projects.”

The Board also accepted evidence that the multi-billion dollar project could increase power rates by 5% in 2029 and that since NB Power is supplying the fuel, it must shoulder the risk of fluctuating fossil-fuel prices.

The Board rejected evidence from energy consultant Toby Couture that renewables coupled with battery energy storage systems (BESS) would be a cheaper alternative to the gas/diesel plant.

“The evidence presented by the intervenors regarding BESS was general in nature and did not address the specific conditions, costs, and system requirements in New Brunswick,” Stewart said.

“Based on all of the foregoing, the Board is satisfied that meeting the need for at least an additional 400 megawatts of capacity by 2028-2029 with a combined turbine facility in southeastern New Brunswick is technically sound and likely less costly than an adequately sized BESS solution,” he added.

Harsh words for NB Power

Although the EUB approved the project, it rebuked NB Power for how it handled the process suggesting that the utility’s failure to provide needed information could have led the Board to reject the gas plant project.

“In the Board’s view, the summary nature of the evidence initially filed by NB Power with its applications did not lend itself well as to full, transparent, and as rigorous a process as New Brunswickers in general and ratepayers, interveners, and the Board in particular, should expect,” Stewart said.

“The process was rushed by deadlines imposed upon itself by NB Power that were exacerbated by what the Board views as the unnecessarily late filing of the application,” he added.

Stewart said NB Power failed to file key documents until prodded to do so by Board staff and interveners shortly before the EUB hearings began and did not subject the project to its mandatory investment governance framework which ordinarily would have required investment rationale documentation (IRDs).

“NB Power’s failure to apply its investment governance framework and the resulting absence of IRDs at key decision points is and was regrettable,” Stewart said.

“It denied both NB Power’s Board of Directors and this Board the structured, documented analysis of need, plausible alternatives, risks, and costs that all New Brunswickers and ratepayers are entitled to expect before a multi-billion dollar, 25-year commitment is made,” he said.

“But for the fact that the board was able to satisfy itself based on the evidence that it had before it of the need for an additional 400 megawatts of capacity, that the combustion turbine solution is technically sound and will provide the required dispatchable capacity and synchronous condenser capability, and will likely cost no more than a BESS project with equivalent attributes, the Board could not have found the current project prudent,” he concluded, adding that the EUB will start a process for identifying minimum filing requirements for similar applications in the future.

Note: Today’s EUB decision brings the project one step closer to approval. It is also subject to a provincial environmental impact assessment.

To read a Warktimes report about NB Power’s late filing of documents, click here.

This is the first in a two-part series. In Part II, reaction from NB Power and gas plant critics.

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | Leave a comment

PROENERGY says gas plant safe, but water study reveals winter supply pressures

Posted on May 27, 2026 by brucewark

Gas plant image from Energy & Utilities Board documents filed by NB Power

The proposed 500 MW gas/diesel generating plant on the Chignecto Isthmus would not pose a threat to human health, according to a consultant’s report commissioned by the U.S. company PROENERGY.

“Basically what we found was that during the electricity generation mode, the project will emit some common air pollutants, but the levels that we’re predicting are below the levels associated with the health effects identified by the World Health Organization,” said Tania Noble, a risk assessor for the consulting company Stantec.

She was speaking Tuesday during a 90-minute, question and answer session organized by PROENERGY, the company that would build and operate the gas/diesel plant over 25 years.

The online meeting also heard from Stantec’s Jennifer McPhail that test wells showed there is enough groundwater to supply the gas plant’s needs, but that the water would have to be managed carefully, especially during peak winter months.

“What our study found was that there is enough water for the project on an annual basis,” McPhail said, adding however, that operational measures would be needed during peak periods to avoid the need to pump more water than the aquifer could sustain.

“What this means is that during periods when the plant is not operating, water could be pumped from the well and put into storage so that it’s available when it’s needed during those peak periods,” she said.

Health study

Tania Noble. Photo: Stantec

During her detailed presentation on health risks, Tania Noble explained that Stantec considered air emissions to be the main concern because there would be no hazardous wastewater from power generation and any solid wastes would be removed from the site for safe disposal.

She said the plant would emit nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and ammonia only when it is burning gas or diesel to generate electricity, not during 85% of the time when its turbines would be spinning without burning fuel to provide stability to the power grid.

“For electricity generation, the base case or the expected case is a little over 500 hours per year,” she said. “So a very small percentage of the time.”

She added that the Stantec health study used about 2,700 hours per year in its modelling to build in an even greater margin of safety.

While she acknowledged that the modelling showed levels of particulate matter above World Health Organization guidelines, she said existing air quality conditions in the area are already above the WHO guidelines and the gas plant would add only a small incremental amount.

Noble said Stantec was recommending routine, air-emissions monitoring to ensure actual emissions match the study’s modelling predictions.

She also said a comprehensive groundwater monitoring plan is under development to protect residential well users, with commitments to address any effects on their water supplies.

When PROENERGY Canada President John MacIsaac was asked about a letter signed by about 130 scientists and academics opposing the gas/diesel plant partly on health grounds, he said the company commissioned the study assessing health risks even though it was not required under the regulations.

He noted that Stantec’s health impact assessment used a worst case scenario.

“It [the study] clearly articulates that there’s negligible to no human health impact, so the results actually in the report speak for themselves,” MacIsaac said.

Water study

Jennifer McPhail. Photo: Stantec

In presenting Stantec’s water study, Jennifer McPhail maintained it was designed to determine how much groundwater could be pumped from deep underground without affecting other users.

She said Stantec concluded that the aquifer could sustain withdrawals of about 416 litres per minute or up to 435 litres per minute for periods shorter than 30 days.

However, she acknowledged that during the cold months of January and February when the gas plant may need to meet peak electricity demand, it could require about 852 litres per minute or about double the sustainable level, but she said that on-site water storage tanks filled during periods of low demand could fill the gap.

The Stantec water study says that during “constant-rate pumping tests,” groundwater levels recovered gradually after the pumping stopped.

“The prolonged recovery response suggests that the aquifer does not rebound immediately following sustained pumping and that residual drawdown may persist for an extended period after shutdown,” the study adds on page 15.

“This response was considered in the interpretation of wellfield performance and supports the need to evaluate operational pumping rates, pumping duration, and recovery periods when assessing long-term wellfield sustainability.”

When McPhail was asked about the aquifer’s slow recovery, she said the answer would be more complicated than she could provide during the online Q&A, promising to post a written response later on the RIGS website.

Rte 940 

John MacIsaac. Photo: PROENERGY

One question, addressed to John MacIsaac referred to the “poor quality of Rte. 940,” the road that leads to the proposed site of the gas/diesel plant:

“What actions will be taken to bring this highway up to a condition that will allow the heavy trucking that will occur during the construction phase?”

MacIsaac’s response:

“Our commitment to the local residents and to the local municipal unit and to the department of transportation is based on the fact that we recognize the condition of the road. We’ve done a baseline assessment of the road conditions. We’ve done a detailed video recording the condition of the road before any activity was commenced and we’ll take into consideration the condition of the road and the route that we select to travel the heavier loads,” he said.

“The heavier loads will use special equipment to move the heavier pieces across the road so that we mitigate and minimize the risk for road damage and our commitment to the local residents and to the department of transportation is to leave the road in as good a condition as we found it, if not better,” MacIsaac added.

“We’ll be specific on the route that we travel with pieces of gear and and we’re more than likely on the larger pieces to come in from the Shemogue end to minimize the amount of traffic through the community.”

Wildfire risk

When MacIsaac was asked whether PROENERGY had assessed the risks of wildfires that could affect the plant, he replied:

“What we’ve agreed with the provincial fire authority is that we would have the ability to connect to the tanks…and prioritise firefighting ahead of water storage. So there will be the ability to leverage two very large tanks for the unfortunate event or unplanned event of fire in the local area. So it will help support the local fire department in addressing water needs for localized firefighting.”

To read the Stantec human health risk assessment, click here.

To read Stantec’s water supply report, click here.

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

MLA Mitton presses province on road tolls, health care and fate of Wheaton Covered Bridge

Posted on May 22, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar Green MLA Megan Mitton during community meeting at civic centre in Sackville

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton stirred up murmurs of protest and a few polite boos Thursday evening when she mentioned the Holt government’s proposal for toll booths on the TransCanada Highway near the provincial border with Nova Scotia.

“I feel like the folks writing the budget were like, this is going to be a big deficit, and…we should put something in there for revenue. Does anyone have any ideas? And someone threw this in,” Mitton said during one of her regular reports to constituents at the civic centre in Sackville.

She added that when she questioned the minister for the department of transportation in the legislature, it became clear that the government hadn’t thought the toll booth idea through.

“They didn’t really have answers about how it would work, if they would exempt local people, if it would still even make sense in terms of the revenue for that. They really didn’t know,” she said, before referring to the chorus of negative comments from the prime minister, provincial premiers, the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce and other groups.

“So I have a feeling it’s quite possible since it’s several years out that they’ll just try to forget about it,” Mitton said.

“But I’ll be vigilant and continuing to try to get information and push back against it.”

Horizon cancels meeting

Before delivering her report on local health care last night, Mitton explained why there were two long tables with 10 chairs behind them at the front of the room.

She said officials from Horizon Health had agreed in February to come to answer people’s questions about local concerns, but then cancelled the meeting in April.

“We had already booked the venue, and so I said, ‘well, let’s still have a meeting,’ but that’s why it looks like it’s set up for a panel discussion,” she said, adding that she is hoping to arrange a community meeting with Horizon this fall.

Mitton said that although services have been expanding at Sackville Memorial Hospital, there is still a need to push for the ER to be open around-the-clock, seven days a week instead of the current, daily hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

She added that although the government promised a year ago to provide a primary care doctor or nurse practitioner for everyone in this area, there are still about 1,500 people on the waiting list.

Long-term care

As for long-term care, Mitton said government after government has failed to address the need for long-term care beds, nursing home beds, special care beds in the home as well as home care staffing.

She pointed out that too many people are still in hospital waiting for long-term beds.

“Something that I’ve brought to the legislature is that sometimes for folks that may have dementia, maybe a fall risk or prone to wandering if the staff aren’t able to sit with them, and so sometimes they’re being tied to chairs,” she said.

“That’s something that is obviously completely unacceptable.”

Mitton called on the government to implement recommendations in the report last fall from Seniors Advocate Kelly Lamrock who pointed out there had been no government action on many of the recommendations he originally made in 2024.

Wheaton covered bridge

Logan Atkinson

Mitton said the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure (DTI) is planning to move ahead this year with the construction of a bridge so that farm and emergency vehicles could cross the Tantramar River on the High Marsh Road.

The new structure would replace the Wheaton Covered Bridge which was closed to traffic in 2024 for safety reasons. After the new bridge is built, the Wheaton bridge would be restored for pedestrian and bicycle crossings.

But later, Tantramar Heritage Trust Past President Logan Atkinson said he feared that time had run out for the 110-year-old covered bridge and that farmers would now lose another year waiting for construction of a newer one beside it.

“I don’t think they would put up with that,” he said, “so that means that the only outcome has to be taking the [covered] bridge down.”

Mitton replied that she spoke to DTI Minister Chuck Chiasson last week who said officials had been trying to reach the owner of the land where the new bridge would go.

“The soil may be an issue in terms of what’s possible to build there,” she said, adding that in order to get environmental approvals, there would need to be an archeological investigation to determine if there are Indigenous artefacts there.

“So, I’m pushing them to move faster,” Mitton said, adding that she would be meeting the district engineer on Friday and the DTI minister again next week.

Municipal resolution

Atkinson pointed out that Tantramar council passed a resolution in January asking town staff to investigate options for the preservation of the covered bridge as a municipally led initiative.

The resolution also called for the creation of a citizens’ committee to raise funds and explore ways of integrating the covered bridge into local trails and roads.

“I don’t think anything’s been done in the five months since that resolution was passed,” Atkinson said, adding later that he planned to raise the matter with the newly elected council when it meets on June 9th.

Mitton responded that she would also be pressing the minister for firmer timelines on the project.

“I’m pushing for them to move faster,” she said. “I’ve been told…that they would be getting going in the summer.”

For previous CHMA coverage on the Wheaton Covered Bridge by Erica Butler, click here.

Posted in NB Power, New Brunswick politics, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Poetry, politics & performance: bill bissett urges demonstrations against proposed gas plants

Posted on May 19, 2026 by brucewark

bill bissett performing his poetry at Parrsboro’s Main & Station

Writer and artist bill bissett brought poetry, politics and performance to the Main & Station arts centre in Parrsboro Sunday along with some advice for citizens’ groups fighting against proposed industrial gas/diesel plants in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

“Demonstrate against bad projects until bad projects stop,” bissett urged during an interview with Warktimes.

“As humans, we know how to do that and we’re good at that,” he added.

“And I hope we just keep doing that.”

Bissett made his comments after learning that the gas plants in both provinces would be built on ecologically sensitive lands with the one in Tantramar on the Chignecto Isthmus covering 36 acres, the size of 18 Canadian football fields, while the two in Pictou County near Marshdale and Salt Springs would each cover nearly 28 acres, the equivalent of 14 Canadian football fields.

“Our latest technology has some benefits, but it also has a huge amount of downsides because it needs more and more power to power it,” bissett says referring, among other things, to big data centres, proliferating electronic devices and electrical appliances.

For him, electric technologies raise political questions about who gains and who loses.

Poetry, politics & pornography

The 86-year bissett, author of more than 70 books of poetry, says he first got interested in politics when his father ran unsuccessfully in Halifax for the Progressive Conservatives in the federal elections of 1949 and 1953.

“The Conservative Party seemed a more adventurous, progressive party at that time and it continued that way for a while with people like Flora MacDonald,” he says.

“It’s only around the time of the reef arm party, if I can phrase it that way, that they became amalgamated with the extreme right and became ridiculously conservative,” he adds, referring to the Reform Party’s rebirth as the Canadian Alliance and its merger with the Progressive Conservatives in 2003 to form the Conservative Party of Canada led by Stephen Harper.

“My father also was a lawyer for Viola Desmond,” bissett says, adding that despite his father’s efforts, the Nova Scotia courts consistently refused to recognize the racism Desmond was fighting in 1946 when she was arrested for refusing to leave a whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow.

bill bissett’s latest book

Asked what his father  taught him about politics, bissett replies: “That it’s a very rough game,” and he added that when the United States executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953 as Soviet spies, his father said the U.S. had taken a horrible turn toward fascism — a turn that Donald Trump is now pursuing with a vengeance.

When bill bissett was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2024, the citation called him “a revered poet and musician” and “a pre-eminent figure of the 1960s counterculture movement,” but at the time, he says, he was constantly harassed and assaulted by police in Vancouver and later, London, Ontario.

“Police used to follow me in Vancouver and drag me out of alleys and haul me into their squad cars and beat the shit out of me,” he told the CBC’s Tom Power during an interview last December.

At the time, he was helping organize marches against the War in Vietnam, advocating for the legalization of marijuana and writing poetry that combined words with sounds using unconventional spellings and no punctuation.

In 1977, several members of Parliament attacked the Canada Council for the Arts for giving him grants calling his work disgusting and pornographic, and bissett received death threats, lost federal support, and had his high-school readings cancelled.

“There is nothing pornographic about my writing,” bissett says. “If there were, I wouldn’t need Canada Council grants to keep writing ever. Pornographers do really well if they are any good.”

Poetry, politics & performance

“This is a very good flashlight,” bissett says at his Parrsboro reading, as he prepares to perform “did yu c th moon last nite” from “th book uv lost passwords 1” his 340-page book of poetry published last year by talonbooks based in Vancouver.

“Let’s see, move my glasses in a certain position, hold the paper at a certain angle,” he says referring to his failing eyesight.

When he launches into the poem, he begins slowly, gradually picking up speed as he chants, then sings words and sounds to convey the joys of the moon’s luminescent beauty:

did you see the moon last night? Overriding everything and all the sailors and growing people only to eventually let go children, navigators, singers and swimmers in the streaming of between here and there and our dance of the sky divers and of women and men, women and women, men and men, bolero and the moon…

and then, gradually bissett is working toward the poem’s final political plea…

coming in and coming in and coming in the moonship and the moonship and the starship and the treasure ship and the ushallah ushallah…and we all need a guaranteed minimum income and that’s what we really need to sort out the world messes messes we need money we need time we need health we need work that we love to do we all need a guaranteed income for doing all that as soon as possible please, thank you so much.

Abou-shali ah-ha oushabaliba, ah-sha-baliba, abou-sha-baliba, abah-shaliba, oh-sha-la-ba-babababa, hoo-ah! Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah! Abou, abou, hoooooooooooooooooooewwwoo!

To listen to bill bissett’s performance of “did u c th moon last nite,” click on the media player.

bill bissett & sister Barb Fisher who lives in Glenholme, N.S.

To listen to bill bissett’s CBC interview with Tom Power, click here.

Posted in Arts, NB Power, Town of Parrsboro, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 6 Comments

‘Something smells’: Citizens’ group questions federal approval of Nova Scotia gas plants

Posted on May 16, 2026 by brucewark

LEAP spokesman Mark Brennan. Photo: SUBMITTED

A spokesman for the environmental advocacy group Living Ecosystems and Power (LEAP) says he’s not surprised that the federal agency in charge of regulating big industrial projects has decided not to conduct a full environmental assessment of two proposed natural gas generating plants in Pictou County, N.S.

“To be honest, I’m obviously dismayed, but we’re not surprised considering the federal government’s recent announcements on industrial projects,” Mark Brennan said today during a telephone interview with Warktimes.

He was reacting to the federal Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s announcement Friday that although the two, 300 MW gas/diesel plants “may cause adverse effects,” no further federal assessment is required because those effects “would be limited or addressed through existing federal and provincial legislative and regulatory frameworks.”

The wording of the IAAC decision is similar to one last September when the agency decided against any further review of NB Power’s planned 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village.

“The gutting of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s mandate to oversee big industrial projects is something that concerns us,” Brennan said, “because it now looks like basically no oversight from the federal government when it comes to industrial projects and everything is being referred to provincial environmental assessments.”

While New Brunswick is still conducting an environmental assessment of the Centre Village project, the Nova Scotia government has already approved the two plants in the small, rural communities of Salt Springs and Marshdale.

“Our issue from our point of view with LEAP is that the public consultation process has not been a consultation process,” Brennan says.

“It’s basically more of a one-sided process that locals and communities and NGOs (non-government organizations) who care about the environment and care about their own water have no say,” he adds.

Brennan says local residents are worried about the immediate effects of the gas plants on their wells and the toxic chemicals such “peaker plants” release into the air that people breathe.

Critical wildlife habitat

The West River in Pictou County, NS/Mi’kma’ki. LEAP says the proposed gas plant in Salt Springs “sits right next to vital cold-water tributaries for this river. These water ways are some of the few remaining healthy Atlantic salmon habitat in our province. The Mi’kmaq name for this river is Wakumutook which translates to ‘Clear Water’.” Photo: Mark Sander

“These two gas plants are slated to go into the headwaters of two salmon rivers, namely the East and the West Rivers,” Brennan says, “and this puts an almost critical level of stress on Atlantic salmon in two of the still most positive rivers in this area for spawning and breeding.”

In addition, he says, both sites threaten breeding grounds for threatened or endangered species including the Canada warbler which flies from South America to breed in forested wetlands.

“Eighty percent of that population breeds in Canada, and at both sites, the Canada warbler was found breeding,” he says, adding that the gas plants would destroy the habitat the birds depend on.

“We feel like the governments are not living up to their own mandated requirement to take into consideration species at risk,” he says,

“There is a recovery plan for the Canada warbler and the provincial government and the federal government have both signed on to that recovery plan. And we need to know why both the federal ministers of the environment and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans minister and the provincial environment minister here in Nova Scotia, why are they ignoring species-at-risk legislation to the point where critical habitat for endangered species will be destroyed?” Brennan asks.

Judicial review

People gathered on April 11th in Marshdale & Salt Springs, Pictou Co. to attend a Water Ceremony led by Tonya Francis at the proposed sites of the two peaker plants. Photo: Christine Whelan

Brennan says that aside from environmental and health concerns, LEAP members are worried about the effects on power rates.

“If you’re going to spend billions on gas plants that burn gas to generate electricity that is connected to world market prices, what are your electricity bills going to be?” he asks.

“For the consumer, it’s something that we should really be paying attention to.”

Meantime, LEAP has filed for a judicial review of the projects in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to determine whether the provincial environment minister followed a decision-making process that was fair, complete and consistent with the requirements set out in provincial legislation.

Brennan calls it a “travesty” that rural communities worried about the destruction of their environment have to take legal action.

“Why should small communities have to take their own governments to court to make sure that they are carrying out their own legislation? It’s not right. It’s not fair. And something smells. You know, there’s  something wrong.”

Note: Nova Scotia’s Independent Energy System Operator (IESO) issued a Request for Expressions of Interest last October for the construction and operation of one or two 300 MW gas plants in Pictou County, but says it has not made a final determination on whether “one, or both, of the proposed sites are suitable to support the project, considering environmental, technical, financial, cultural and community impacts. The results of this analysis and the competitive procurement process will inform whether one, two, or no contracts are awarded.”

To read the IESO’s latest news release, click here.

To read a Halifax Examiner report by Joan Baxter on the political connections at play in the Pictou gas plant proposals, click here.

To visit the GoFundMe page that is soliciting donations for the judicial review, click here.

Posted in Environment, NB Power, Nova Scotia Government | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘He kept us in the dark’: Activists attack Carney power strategy and LeBlanc’s silence

Posted on May 14, 2026 by brucewark

Moe Qureshi of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick addressing an anti-gas plant meeting in Moncton in January

New Brunswick environmental activists are reacting with alarm to Prime Minister Carney’s announcement today of a National Electricity Strategy that promotes the burning of natural gas to help double Canada’s supply of electrical power by 2050.

“A national electricity grid should be designed to move Canada beyond fossil fuels, not deepen our dependence on them,” says Moe Qureshi, Director of Climate Research & Policy at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

“Expanding gas generation under the guise of affordability or reliability ignores the rapidly falling costs of renewables and battery storage,” he adds, referring to Carney’s claim that using a wide range of energy sources including natural gas to double grid capacity would “supply clean, reliable and affordable power across the country.”

Qureshi says the new strategy would risk saddling Canadians with costly, outmoded fossil fuel plants and rising climate costs for decades to come.

‘No demonstrated need’

“Regardless of how many renewables are added to the grid, continued or increased use of gas (and diesel in Tantramar’s case) does nothing to diminish greenhouse gas emissions,” Jim Emberger, spokesperson for the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance writes in an e-mail to Warktimes.

Jim Emberger, NB Anti-Shale Gas Alliance. Photo: Deborah Carr

“Recently, both experts and real experience have indicated that renewables, plus batteries (or other storage) can respond instantly, provide 24-hour delivery of electricity without fossil fuel usage — and do so much more cheaply,” he adds. “There is no demonstrated need for new gas.”

Emberger refers to last month’s conference in Santa Marta, Colombia where representatives from nearly 60 countries discussed how to “transition away” from fossil fuels.

“They met on the premise that the era of fossil fuels must end, and that the energy transition must be fast, fair, full and funded,” he writes.

“In this context, Canada’s national grid plan could have been an historic event of global importance, if powered by renewables, batteries, storage, and demand management technologies.”

‘He kept us in the dark’

Barry Rothfuss of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition calls the national electricity strategy’s promotion of burning natural gas a big step backward.

Barry Rothfuss of AWI and the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC)

“Why do we have to do this?” he asked in a telephone interview from the Atlantic Wildlife Institute, which would be only about 4.5 kilometres from NB Power’s proposed 500 MW gas/diesel “peaker plant” near Centre Village.

Rothfuss argues that while the gas plant would generate profits for the fossil fuel industry, its health and environmental effects would devastate local communities.

“They say burning gas would help in the transition to more renewables and energy security, but that’s only a marketing strategy,” he says, referring to a detailed submission he wrote to Beauséjour member of Parliament Dominic LeBlanc last month.

“A grid that keeps the lights on while filling the lungs of its neighbours with nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and combustion byproducts is not energy security — it is a trade of one crisis for another. A fatal remedy, by definition, kills what it claims to cure,” his submission says.

“All along Dominic has told us he can’t get involved in addressing the gas plant because it’s a provincial issue,” Rothfuss says.

“Yet, as a senior federal cabinet minister, he had to have known all along that the national electricity strategy would promote burning natural gas. He knew this was coming, but chose to keep us in the dark.

“I’m really upset with him, handling this the way he did. It bothers me a lot.”

To read the Rothfuss submission, click here.

To read Carney’s announcement of the national electricity strategy and a background paper that accompanied it, click here and here.

Posted in climate change, Environment, NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 3 Comments