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.