NB Power wants to fast-track another multibillion-dollar gas plant

Posted on June 12, 2026 by brucewark

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. Source: Telegraph-Journal
June 11, 2026

Brad Coady and Lori Clark answering questions at the legislature’s public accounts committee

NB Power’s CEO says her Crown corporation will build at least one more gas plant almost as soon as the controversial one in Tantramar is up and running. And she wants approvals to move quickly.

Lori Clark told reporters on Thursday that the public utility was still facing future electricity shortages. If billions of dollars more capacity isn’t added to the electrical grid, she warns that New Brunswick could be faced with brownouts and rolling blackouts.

“I do expect we will see more combustion turbines required in the future,” the executive said, adding that an additional 400 to 500 megawatts would likely be needed, the same amount as the Tantramar plant is going to produce.

“This is not unique to New Brunswick.”

Green opposition MLA Megan Mitton and other environmentalists are angry about the multibillion-dollar plants, warning they will spew out more greenhouse gases that threaten the world with climate change. They also worry they will pollute the air and water.

But Clark said New Brunswick’s neighbours, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, are all considering building combustion gas plants to handle their growing electrical needs.

“There’s not a lot of options that can give us the reliable capacity that we need in the short term. So, gas is what we’re calling the transition fuel,” she said, a nod to NB Power’s commitment to have a net-zero electricity system by 2035, one that generates and supplies electricity with zero greenhouse gas emissions, unless they are cancelled out by certified carbon offsets.

Clark and another NB Power senior executive, Brad Coady, were grilled before the legislature’s public accounts committee for three hours Thursday.

Auditor General’s report

Politicians from all three parties demanded answers after receiving a report last week from the auditor general.

It found that NB Power executives had made critical choices without addressing the

significant financial and contractual risks of building a 500-megawatt plant in southeastern New Brunswick by 2028.

It’s a project that will cost NB Power’s 430,000 direct and indirect customers at least $2.8 billion, leading to future rate hikes for households and businesses.

The American firm PROENERGY will build, own and operate the so-called RIGS plant on behalf of NB Power, under a 25-year deal, subject to environmental approvals.

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

Among his findings, auditor general Paul Martin said NB Power completed an analysis of alternatives to a gas plant only after the deal was signed.

No supplier quotes were obtained to justify NB Power’s assumption that it couldn’t build the project itself, even though Martin found the utility would pay up to $700 million more for the partnership it had chosen with the money-making firm.

Additionally, there was no backup plan if the provincial regulator had denied or delayed the project.

The report noted that the penalty would have been a US$55-million charge to NB Power, paid to PROENERGY, if the project had been scuttled, a huge risk to the utility’s customers.

In the end, the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) approved the project last month.

Battery energy storage

Mitton, whose riding of Tantramar will be home to the new plant, is adamant it can still be cancelled and replaced with a huge battery project, which she insisted could be done more cheaply and just as quickly.

She warns that building another gas plant by 2030 – a date cited by NB Power officials – would add more fuel to the world’s climate crisis.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton questioning Auditor General on June 2

“I don’t think this is a done deal,” Mitton told reporters.

“Do I think that Premier Susan Holt wants this to happen? Unfortunately, I do. But there are a lot of New Brunswickers that don’t want this to happen, and that don’t want a gas plant built in Lorneville, either,” she said.

We need to change the way we’ve done things in New Brunswick and actually care about people’s health, actually care about our environment and our water.”

A proposed 390-megawatt data centre in Saint John includes construction of a 190-megawatt modular natural gas plant in Lorneville. The other needed 200 megawatts would be drawn from the NB Power electrical grid.

Risk of blackouts

During the committee session, Coady and Clark explained that they had no other choice but to bypass some of the utility’s normal procedures – such as its investment governance framework – to get the gas plant built quickly or risk rolling blackouts.

The plant will be NB Power’s first new major generator since the Belledune Generating Station went into service in 1993.

NB Power VP Brad Coady

Coady said there was no point in seeking quotes from manufacturers of dual combustion turbines because the “market is so hot” for them that they probably wouldn’t have even responded. Instead, NB Power relied on the expertise of a proven performer like PROENERGY that specializes in building and running such plants.

Clark, meanwhile, emphasized that the project had to be built speedily. The population boom following the pandemic – the province has grown by 11% since 2020 – meant that more people were drawing electricity, leading to all-time peaks for power usage in the province in 2022 and again in 2023 during a vicious cold snap in February.

If the power had failed, New Brunswickers would have been in deep trouble, as most people heat with electricity, she said.

Although NB Power bypassed some of its normal processes, Clark said it still made sure to run everything by the corporation’s board of directors and to seek approval from the EUB.

“When I look back at that moment, when the decisions were made to move forward with this energy security project, standing still was not the safest or best option for New Brunswickers,” she said.

“Doing nothing was a risk we were not willing to take on behalf of New Brunswickers. A safe, reliable, secure supply of electricity in New Brunswick, particularly in the coldest months of the year is non-negotiable.”

Pressed on why NB Power didn’t follow the investment framework, Clark told the politicians it would have added five years to the process.

Lack of public confidence

PC MLA Rob Weir

Rob Weir, a Progressive Conservative MLA on the committee, was willing to accept NB Power’s reasons for building the plant, but not the lack of documentation for proving its case.

He blasted Clark and Coady for hurting public confidence in the utility, already at a low because of rising electricity rates that have pushed residential bills up hundreds of dollars a year. In the last four years alone, prices have risen more than a quarter, well above the rate of inflation.

“So not only did they go around the process,” Weir told reporters afterward. “My problem was with they didn’t document why they did.

“I will accept them and their expertise that they needed to go around the process because of brownouts coming forward, and you’re screwed here. But my problem is, it would have been easy to document why, and that is their due diligence.”

Weir said he wasn’t satisfied based on the responses he heard.

“I’m not sure they did get the message, to tell you the truth, but they heard what I’ve said, and hopefully, it’ll sink in,” the politician from Riverview said. “When people are struggling to pay their bills, they’re going to get upset and I don’t blame them.”

Rules need to change

Given that NB Power has estimated it will need an extra 400 to 500 megawatts by 2030, even after the Tantramar plant is built, Clark said it was obvious the provincial government had to change the rules to allow the utility to spend huge sums for important projects more quickly.

“What got us here will not get us the right answers going forward,” she told Brunswick News.

“Things are happening much quicker than they have happened in the last 100 years. So, our processes need to be adapted, with the right level of oversight and governance included in those processes, but the processes need to be adapted to keep up with the changing environment that we’re working in today.”

Government house leader Marco LeBlanc

A Liberal member serving on the committee was willing to give NB Power the benefit of the doubt.

Marco LeBlanc, the government house leader, said he was glad the executives provided a better explanation as to why they bypassed normal rules on such a major project.

“Was it all the answers that I wanted to hear? Maybe not, but I believe they are going to continue to follow due process.

“I have confidence in NB Power.”

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

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

NB Power still lacks Indigenous partner for $3.5-billion gas plant, CEO says

Posted on June 11, 2026 by brucewark

NB Power President & CEO Lori Clark testifying before the Public Accounts Committee

The President and CEO of NB Power says there is still no Indigenous partnership in the utility’s proposed 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village.

“They are working hard on it right now,” Lori Clark told the legislature’s Public Accounts Committee today during three hours of testimony.

She was referring to efforts by NB Power’s American partner PROENERGY to secure Indigenous investment.

“I can’t give you a timeline,” Clark said, “and we’ve had several conversations in terms of the timeline, but as you know, as First Nations would tell us, it will take the time it takes to get an agreement.”

She indicated that when the project was first announced, NB Power believed that PROENERGY had formed a partnership with First Nations.

“We found out later that was not the case,” she said.

Clark was responding to questions about a recent report from New Brunswick’s auditor general which points out that if PROENERGY is unable to form an Indigenous partnership by mid 2026, the U.S. company would be allowed to withdraw from the gas plant project.

“We’re working through it, with it (being) a priority right now,” she said.

Costly project

Clark confirmed the auditor general’s estimate that the gas plant project would cost $2.8 to $3.5 billion.

“I know that sounds like a lot of money,” she said, “but again, it’s a least-cost option. When we’re talking about generating facilities in the province, New Brunswick or anywhere,  we’re talking billions and billions of dollars.”

Throughout their testimony, Clark and NB Power Vice President Brad Coady stressed that combustion turbines fired by natural gas or diesel would cost less than alternative technologies such as wind and solar backed up by battery energy storage.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton pointed out that battery costs had fallen by 40% in recent years and that a battery system that would supply as much power as the gas plant would cost about $2.5 billion.

NB Power VP Brad Coady

“I would disagree on the characterization that it would be lower cost,” Coady replied. “Simply put, batteries are great for the first four hours, then you have to turn around and charge them.”

He added that NB Power needs technology that would supply electricity over extended periods especially during winter cold snaps and he also argued that batteries degrade over time, just like the batteries in older cell phones.

“At the Energy and Utilities Board, we presented evidence to show there’s roughly a 2% per year degradation. Over 25 years, that leaves you with almost no battery power left,” Coady said.

He added that diminishing battery performance over time needed to be factored into their overall cost.

“I do think batteries are part of our energy future,” he said.

“I think we owe it to New Brunswickers to continue to evaluate how do we solve the energy and capacity needs for this province in the most reliable, least-cost way that balances all the things that we need to balance,” he added.

Climate crisis

Mitton pointed to the costs of burning fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.

“One of the major flaws with this whole process is that our health, our environment, the climate crisis is not being prioritized in terms of decision making,” she said.

“The health-care costs, people’s wells being at risk, the damage to the road, all of those things,” she added.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton

“I want to also emphasize that you do not have social license to build this in my community,” Mitton said.

When Lori Clark pointed out that New Brunswick’s Electricity Act requires NB Power to pursue least-cost options, Mitton agreed that the law needs to be updated to include environmental and other costs.

“Of course people want reliable power; of course they want affordable power,” she said, adding that cheap renewables backed up by batteries can provide the solution.

“The technology exists to do all of this,” Mitton said.

“I’ve been reading this book, Still No Miracles Needed: How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air by Mark Jacobson,” she added.

“The technology exists.”

To read a CBC report on today’s testimony, click here.

Posted in climate change, Indigenous affairs, NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Advocate urges Tantramar council to act quickly to save Wheaton Covered Bridge

Posted on June 10, 2026 by brucewark

Logan Atkinson

Logan Atkinson, past president of Tantramar Heritage Trust, has called on the newly elected town council to help save the Wheaton Covered Bridge that has been closed for two years for safety reasons.

During council’s first regular meeting on Tuesday, Atkinson pointed to a resolution the previous council passed in January supporting the creation of a citizens’ committee to identify potential funding sources and to work on restoring the bridge so that it could be integrated into municipal trails and transportation routes.

“So far as I’m aware, no formal action has been taken to implement this resolution, so I’m asking council to direct staff to implement this resolution on an urgent basis,” he said during a five-minute presentation.

Atkinson noted that the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure (DTI) had been planning to build a new bridge nearby that could carry heavy farm equipment and emergency vehicles while preserving the existing 110-year-old covered bridge for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

He added, however, that the province has so far, not been able to acquire the necessary land and that soil testing at the preferred location appears to show that the ground is not up to the standards needed to support a new bridge.

Easy to knock bridge down

“So, they’re in a little bit of spot,” he said, adding it would be easy for DTI to knock the old bridge down and put a new one in its place.

“That would avoid any kind of environmental studies they’d have to do. They already own the ground. They know it would support the structure. And it’s a quick fix,” Atkinson said.

“I know that the farmers need that route and emergency services need it. So if I’m DTI, that’s what I’m looking at. And that’s why I’m really worried about it because we have to act right away if we’re going to save the old bridge,” he said.

Atkinson also told council that in the past, DTI has offered financial support to a community group equal to what it would cost to demolish an old bridge as a way of getting a renovation project started.

He said the community group would then raise the balance of the funds that would be needed.

“We have a casual estimate on the Wheaton Covered Bridge. not a formal estimate in writing, but a casual estimate from somebody who does know what they’re doing,” he said.

“They said that they think it would take probably a million dollars to bring it to a state where it could be used for recreational purposes. That’s a lot of money for this community, for anything. But I’m confident that if we put the right people in place, we could get it done.”

Hopeful signs

Town engineer Jon Eppell

Town engineer Jon Eppell said after Atkinson’s presentation that he has been discussing the bridge with DTI over the last several months.

“They are in fact working on a design for an alternate bridge structure,” he said.

Eppell added that he has been collecting information on the Wheaton Bridge including a structural assessment from 2017 and a report from 2024, the year it was closed.

“I am in discussions with a couple of consultants trying to collect information in order to bring an information report to Council hopefully later this month,” he said.

“It won’t have all the answers in it,” he added, but will hopefully give us a sense “of where we go with this.”

Deputy Mayor

At Tuesday’s meeting, council elected Josh Goguen as deputy mayor. He received six votes out of the nine votes cast: Councillors Greene, LeBlanc, Wells, Goguen, Hicks and Mayor Wiggins-Colwell.

Councillor Allison Butcher received two votes: Councillors Robertson and Butcher.

Councillor Tori Weldon received one vote: Councillor Weldon.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 3 Comments

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.

****

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 , | 5 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.

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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