https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/belledune-closure-accounting-change-1.6264652
Six-year-old accounting change adding millions to cost of early Belledune closure
Critics warned N.B. Power not to bet on coal plant operating until 2040. It did, and lost
Last week, the federal government formally announced it was rejecting a New Brunswick government request that N.B. Power be allowed to operate Belledune until 2040, 10 years past a national deadline forbidding the generation of electricity using coal.
It's a decision the utility has said will cost it up to $1.2 billion in financing and new energy expenses, and last week Premier Blaine Higgs said that could force the utility to look for up to $280 million a year more from its in-province customers to maintain service.
"Without Belledune, we could have electricity rates that go up 15 or 20 per cent," said Higgs Friday.
- No extension past 2030 for Belledune coal-fired power plant, Ottawa says
- Analysis: Belledune generating station focus of political jousting in N.B.
Part of that enormous price tag is linked to unretired debt from the original construction of Belledune.
That debt was supposed to be eliminated prior to 2030, but won't be because of an accounting change the utility made several years ago under then-CEO Gaëtan Thomas.
Former
N.B. Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas announced the utility made a $12-million
profit in the 2016 fiscal year. It had been an $8-million loss until the
utility made a controversial accounting change to slow down the pace at
which it retired the debt on two plants, including Belledune. (CBC)
Plant initially on schedule to retire debt by 2028
Belledune opened in December 1993 after several years of construction, at a final cost of $1.17 billion.
That expense was to be depreciated, or fully settled, over 35 years and was on schedule to be retired in 2028, until the utility suddenly changed course in 2016.
With only 12 years to go until Belledune was fully paid off, the utility conducted an assessment of the plant's physical condition, determined it could operate until December 2040, and added 12 more years to its accounting life and depreciation retirement schedule.
The change at Belledune, and a similar one made at Saint John's Coleson Cove oil-fired generating station, instantly saved N.B. Power $19.8 million per year in finance charges on the two plants at a time the utility's finances were struggling.
In the 2016 fiscal year the accounting manoeuver suddenly turned what was going to be an $8-million loss at the utility into a profit. That allowed Thomas to announce $12 million in net earnings for the year.
But it also pushed Belledune's debt retirement from 2028 to 2040, a move critics warned at the time would saddle the utility with a steep bill if Belledune was forced to close in 2030.
U.S.-based utility expert Robert Knecht argued at N.B. Power rate hearings held by the Energy and Utilities Board in 2017 that slowing down depreciation at both Belledune and Coleson Cove was a poor idea.
Knecht, who was hired by New Brunswick public intervener Heather Black to evaluate N.B. Power's budget numbers, said that given federal government plans announced in late 2016 to impose carbon taxes and phase out coal, the utility could not bank on either generating station surviving until 2040.
"Given the large uncertainties associated with the recently adopted policy framework, I recommend that the proposed change in depreciation lives be deferred until such time as the economic and legal implications of the new framework for the long-term viability of these facilities is understood," Knecht said in his written evidence at the hearing.
N.B.
Power claims closing the thermal generating station in Belledune in
2030, 10 years earlier than it had hoped, will cost it up to $1.2
billion. (Jacques Poitras/CBC News file photo)
Former senior N.B. Power executive Bill Marshall agreed with Knecht, and showed up at a public hearing sponsored by the EUB as part of those hearings to say so.
"I think that the amount of uncertainty there is around the carbon future outgoing, this is not the time to change the lives of those power plants," said Marshall.
At the time of the accounting change, N.B. Power still had $440 million tied up in Belledune.
Instead of eliminating that by 2028, the new plan was to shave the amount down to $200 million by 2028 and use the following dozen years to retire the rest.
Stretching Belledune's accounting life cut depreciation expenses and boosted the utility's bottom line in the short term, but if Ottawa stuck to its 2030 deadline on using coal the change promised a big bill for unretired debt at the plant down the road.
EUB board member Michael Costello was baffled by the move.
"Extending the life of a coal-fired facility, does it just not strike you as kind of odd in this day and age with what we are heading into," asked Costello.
N.B. Power argued the move met accounting standards and was appropriate given there was a chance it might be able to operate Belledune until 2040 if it could secure a so-called equivalency agreement.
The utility was hoping Ottawa would allow it to reduce Belledune's annual output of emissions in exchange for spreading them over a longer period of time. It told the 2017 hearing that until it received a firm rejection, it would account for Belledune as being viable until 2040.
"So given that we don't know the what, when or how, this is the best information that we have," N.B. Power senior vice-president Lori Clark said.
The EUB eventually approved the accounting change and, since the 2016 fiscal year, N.B. Power has saved itself $91.7 million in depreciation charges by slowing the retirement of Belledune's debt. But those amounts didn't go away. They are still owed and now due much sooner than the utility planned on.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NB Power's missed financial targets are longstanding issue, says Liberal leader
Auditor general says utility failed to meet targets 'year after year'
In her report released this week, Auditor General Kim Adair-Macpherson said the utility failed to meet financial targets "year after year." (CBC News file photo)
Interim Liberal Leader Roger Melanson says from his own experience in cabinet, he knows issues the New Brunswick auditor general raised about NB Power in her latest report are longstanding.
Melanson, a former finance minister, said that during his time in government it was sometimes difficult to deal with the Crown corporation.
"t was probably one of the most frustrating pieces, where on a yearly basis, when NB Power actually submitted their forecasts in terms of net income contribution to the provincial government, which impacts the provincial yearly budget," said Melanson, who held a variety of cabinet posts in the Brian Gallant government.
"They were never on target. They were always behind."
The auditor general's report was the topic of this week's New Brunswick Political Panel podcast, with a focus on what the report said about NB Power.
In her report, released on Tuesday, Auditor General Kim Adair-Macpherson said the utility failed to meet financial targets "year after year."
She said debt reduction is "not a top priority" for the utility and its liabilities constitute "the largest contingent risk to the province."
Melanson said the government needs to be serious about getting NB Power to focus on their financial situation.
Green Party Leader David Coon said the legislature's public accounts committee holds some responsibility for keeping the utility in check, but the Energy Act should be amended to give the Energy and Utilities Board the authority to approve the utility's 10-year plans and not just rate increases.
"Without that, you know, they've got one arm tied behind their back and you're not getting the accountability necessary," said Coon.
Adair-Macpherson questioned the business sense of keeping New Brunswick's electricity rates some of the lowest in Atlantic Canada.
Green
Party Leader David Coon, Liberal Leader Roger Melanson, and People's
Alliance Leader Kris Austin responded to the auditor general's report on
this week's political panel. (CBC)
"While maintaining a consistently low annual rate may be advantageous to NB Power consumers, it is likely contributing to its failure to meet the debt to equity target and ever-increasing debt level," said Adair-Macpherson.
Coon said the province should look at amending the Energy Act to deal with industry rates.
"Right now [the act allows] NB Power … to deliver power for less than their cost to heavy industry. So they're losing on revenues there," said Coon.
People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he believes the utility would benefit from narrowing its focus to providing electricity to customers.
"I've seen lately that NB Power seems to be branching out into other areas, such as, you know, investment in research and development, which I understand there has to be a certain element of," said Austin.
"You go back to, you know, things like Joi Scientific, where you see money literally just, you know, thrown down the drain here for these whimsical ideas."
The Progressive Conservatives were unable to provide someone to take part in the panel this week.
in a province where you pay the lowest minimum wage in the nation and has a difficult time managing a nickle/hr. increase...ya you need to provide the lowest cost electricity
didn't seem the Liberals were trying to make this partisan...more something that finally needs to be addressed
Imo, there were good reasons to question that deal...and the secrecy surrounding it didn't help either. Look what Hydro Quebec has done to Nfld on energy files...SNC Lavalin during the Muskrat Falls project as well...
Why don't the liberals list selling NB Power to Hydro Quebec as a part of an energy platform, and try to sell it on the lead up to the next election? The liberals do have an energy policy, don't they?
After that, any rate increases had to be justified in front of our own EUB and HQ would have to abide by our Electricity Act, which we can amend from time to time if necessary. The deal was actually too good to be true.
NFLD was not taken advantage of. They willingly signed the deal that they now want to get out of. Too bad, so sad but the law says you have to honour the contracts you sign. « less
The cash price of $4.75 billion to be paid by
Quebec to New Brunswick is subject to reduction
if the Lepreau nuclear generator does not return to
service and because of additional debt that New
Brunswick must assume.
Transmission and distribution rates will be based
on actual cost plus several surcharges and can be
expected to increase after the initial period much
more than they have in the past.
Utility regulation in New Brunswick will be
required to follow the Quebec regulatory system
and be subject to specific legal requirements
limiting its discretion. Such a transfer of
regulatory control is unprecedented.
So there certainly was a number of detractors. The 4.75 billion cash to NB would have been nice but NB would still have to retire the outstanding Debt of NB power from those funds « less
New Brunswick-Hydro Quebec MOU
Dea Vu Anyone?
COVID-19 roundup: 1 new case in N.B. as Edmundston enters orange recovery phase
7 workers at Edmundston Regional Hospital have been diagnosed with COVID-19
CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2020 11:58 AM AT
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-energy-solutions-corporation-1.5385832
Uncertain future for shadowy NB Power offshoot
N.B. Energy Solutions Corp. designed to let NB Power explore new energy ventures outside EUB scrutiny
But the New Brunswick Energy Solutions Corp. is, or was, a key part of the decision to hand $10 million in taxpayer money to two nuclear-energy startups in Saint John.
It was also designed explicitly to let NB Power explore new energy ventures outside the scrutiny of the Energy and Utilities Board.
"NB Power has some challenges with what they can and cannot do in front of the EUB," said Donald Arseneault, who was a Liberal cabinet minister when the corporation was created.
"So this is a way to shelter them to an extent, to have a little bit more flexibility to look at opportunities."
In February, NB Power board chair Ed Barrett told MLAs the corporation was "an avenue [for the utility] to do joint ventures" and a way to be "nimble" and make decisions quickly.
Flying under radar
The corporation has largely operated under the radar since it was announced by the Liberal government in May 2017.
But with Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs recently signing a deal with two other premiers to work together on small modular reactors, the funding mechanism for the two New Brunswick startups is getting more attention.
Last month, MLAs on the legislature's Crown corporations committee passed a motion requesting the corporation appear "as soon as possible" to answer questions.
Green Party Leader David Coon calls the corporation 'an end run' around the EUB. (Joe McDonald/CBC)
Green Party Leader David Coon calls the corporation "an end run" around the EUB. NB Power officials told him at a Nov. 1 committee hearing they have yet to receive a mandate letter from Higgs for the corporation.
"What is its mandate? We don't know," Coon said. "There's no enabling legislation. Its mandate will be a mandate letter from the premier and we need to see it."
NB Power describes New Brunswick Energy Solutions, or NBESC, as a Crown corporation in its most recent annual report, though the corporation's board chair, David Campbell, says it's not a Crown corporation.
Crossing streams
The provincial government holds two-thirds of the shares and NB Power the other third. The CEO is Keith Cronkhite, an NB Power vice-president, and other utility employees do work for the corporation.
Its board is made up mostly of government and utility officials.
It includes Barrett, NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas, the clerk of the executive council Jean-Marc Dupuis and two departmental deputy ministers, Tom MacFarlane and Cheryl Hansen.
The other members are Campbell and retired University of New Brunswick business professor Barbara Trenholm.
The
board of New Brunswick Energy Solutions Corp. is made up of many people
who also work at NB Power, including NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas. (CBC)
While working for the Brian Gallant government's Jobs Board, Campbell wrote an economic growth strategy report that recommended the energy sector be a focus of the province's job-creation efforts.
"I thought we had some areas of opportunity under energy," Campbell said in an interview.
He became chair of the NBESC to help put that proposal into effect. But he said the Higgs government has effectively frozen the corporation's activities since taking power in November 2018.
"When the government changed, they said, 'Put everything on hold, we'll decide what we want to do,' and to my knowledge, they still haven't decided what they want to do," he said.
Not beholden to EUB
Under provincial law, any major NB Power spending decisions that may affect the rates paid by customers must be reviewed by the Energy and Utilities Board.
"If there was anything that was going to impact the New Brunswick ratepayer, it had to be under the purview of the regulator," Campbell said.
"What we were looking at was projects that didn't impact the ratepayer, so at least in theory, philosophically, shouldn't be in front of the regulator."
It should be wide open and public, and then if we get asked how that money is being spent, we should be able to account for that.- David Campbell
Another rationale was that while NB Power projects aren't eligible for federal government funding, ventures under the NBESC could be.
In recent years, NB Power has looked at business deals including an expansion of the Grand Falls hydro dam to sell electricity into the U.S. and new wind farms that would feed Emera's Atlantic Link transmission cable to New England.
Those projects did not go ahead, but Campbell said the corporation would have been the vehicle for any such deals.
So far, the corporation's only transaction was $10 million in research funding for the small modular reactors, or SMRs. The Liberals gave the corporation that amount in June 2018, and the corporation in turn invested the money in ARC Nuclear and Moltex Energy.
NBESC
Chair David Campbell said the corporation was supposed to look at
energy projects that wouldn't impact NB Power ratepayers. (CBC)
Campbell, who continues to chair the board as an unpaid volunteer, said the corporation produced an annual report that was submitted to Auditor General Kim MacPherson
MacPherson said the audit is still underway, and Campbell said he wasn't sure whether he could release the annual report to CBC News.
But he said other than proprietary commercial information, the corporation should be transparent.
"It should be wide open and public, and then if we get asked how that money is being spent, we should be able to account for that, for all that," he said. "It's public money so it should be very accountable."
There is also an "affiliate code of conduct" in place so that any time NB Power employees devote to the corporation is billed back to the NBESC so it doesn't affect ratepayers. That arrangement is subject to EUB review, Campbell said.
"To a certain extent, there are some accountability measures," Arseneault said.
Future uncertain
The corporation has been largely inactive in the last year pending the Higgs government's decision on its future.
In a recent interview with Future Power Technology magazine, Moltex's Canadian CEO Rory O'Sullivan said the company would be looking for $50 million to $70 million in government and private funding in the next three years.
On a CBC political panel last month, Energy Minister Mike Holland floated the idea of overhauling the corporation to address concerns that it doesn't have to answer to the EUB for its funding decisions.
"There will be no initiative that goes forward related to anything under the department that I have under the government of Premier Higgs that's going to circumvent anything," he said.
Campbell said the Higgs government has effectively frozen
the corporation's activities since taking power in November 2018. (CBC)
"I have no problem ensuring there are checks and balances." He offered to work with Coon if Coon wants to introduce legislation during the current session of the legislature.
"If there is no safeguard or there is an end run that could be done around that, let's change the makeup of that to make sure there's no ability to do an end run," Holland said.
Coon said there's been no movement on that since then.
Holland said in a statement Thursday that the corporation is "not actively pursuing new projects" and that the government is "looking at options" for its future.
Campbell said despite being the corporation being put on hold by the PCs, "we still have an actual organization," and the board had a meeting scheduled in the coming week, its first in more than a year.
Methinks your heroes Higgy, Holland and Mr Jones are well aware that their lawyer buddies within NB Power and the EUB have not managed to shut me up about "Not So Smart" Meters yet because I am still an Intervener in the long delayed 357 Matter N'esy Pas?
EUB punts rate hearing as NB Power studies $122M smart meter plan
EUB agrees to suspend hearing so it can deal first with NB Power's proposed $122M purchase of smart meters
Robert Jones · Posted: Sep 26, 2017 6:00 AM AT
"John Furey, NB Power's senior legal counsel, argued for the delay in the rate design hearing until the utility installs smart meters, which record power usage more frequently. (LinkedIn)"
N.B. economist David Campbell to head new Energy Solutions Corp.
New company will be eligible for federal infrastructure funding that NB Power doesn't qualify for
The high-profile chief economist at the Gallant government's Jobs Board is moving to a new position.
David Campbell, an economic development consultant the Liberals recruited in 2015 to help their job-creation efforts, will be the chair of the New Brunswick Energy Solutions Corporation.
The corporation, a joint venture between the provincial government and NB Power, will look for new customers for electricity generated in the province.
"I am excited to take on this important role and by the potential boost to export revenue from this important sector," Campbell said in a statement.
The province is creating the new company because it will be eligible for federal infrastructure funding that NB Power doesn't quality for as a provincial utility.
Watching over Grand Falls dam
The corporation would oversee the proposed expansion of NB Power's hydroelectric generating station in Grand Falls, a project that aims to market its non-fossil-fuel electricity in New England.
Campbell worked in economic development in the Frank McKenna government and started his own consulting firm in 2008. His blog critiquing government job creation efforts turned him into a frequent media commentator on economic development.
Premier Brian Gallant said when Campbell was recruited to the New Brunswick Jobs Board in 2015 that the secretariat and a new Crown corporation, Opportunities New Brunswick, would work together to help the province "better co-ordinate" job creation efforts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/belledune-generating-station-political-barbs-1.6264117
Belledune generating station focus of political jousting in N.B.
Despite general agreement on climate policy, Tories and Liberals trade barbs over coal-fired power plant
Premier Blaine Higgs and his ministers traded accusations and counter-accusations with Liberal MLAs over the federal government's decision not to give the Belledune plant a 10-year extension on burning coal.
That decision means the province and N.B. Power have just more than eight years to find another source of electricity to make up for the power generated at Belledune.
But rather than debate those alternatives, the Liberal opposition made accusations that Higgs hadn't even asked Ottawa for the extension.
"There was never any official request in writing to the federal government to extend, by 10 years, the operation of Belledune, using coal," leader Roger Melanson said in question period.
"I want to see it. I do not believe what this government is saying. I want to see it on paper."
Opposition
Leader Roger Melanson said he no longer believes the Higgs government
ever asked Ottawa for an extension of the Belledune plant's life span. (CBC)
In fact, in June the province published draft regulations online on capping greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation. It said publicly those rules "will form the basis of the province's equivalency discussions with the federal government."
Those proposals, which would have spread the same cumulative volume of emissions out to 2040, were also reported on at the time by media organizations.
"The leader of the Opposition may think he's got a revelation here, but it really isn't," Higgs said. "It may be in the [newspaper], so we could cut it out and send it to you, or send it online."
The premier also took his own share of partisan shots at the opposition.
"The Liberal philosophy is always coming at it from the other end: how much money do you have to spend, regardless of how many projects you have that make sense to spend it on?" he said.
'We
could cut it out and send it to you,' Premier Blaine Higgs said to
Melanson, suggesting the evidence Melanson was looking for had been
printed in local newspapers. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
The contentious exchanges belied the general consensus between the two parties on the broad brushstrokes of climate policy. Both the PCs and Liberals:
-
Have accepted that Belledune can't burn coal past 2030.
-
Agree on an emissions reductions target of 10.7 megatonnes by the same year.
-
Support the "Atlantic Loop" concept that would see a five-province regional power grid share more non-emitting hydroelectric power.
-
Have instituted carbon pricing to create incentives to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
-
Have subsidized small modular nuclear reactors as another alternative to fossil-fuel based electricity generation.
Higgs acknowledged the policy congruence but added: "Whether you can ever harness those similarities in a meaningful way is the debate."
On Friday it appeared they could not.
The Liberals also accused the government of concealing when they knew Belledune would not get an extension, an allegation that was harder for the premier to refute.
The premier told reporters that for months, Ottawa "absolutely told us they're not interested in talking about anything to do with an extension on Belledune" and that a final, definitive "No" came three or four weeks ago.
"They just continued not to even address our suggestions or proposals that we've had around an equivalency agreement. … The 'No' has been consistent from Ottawa."
The
premier wasn't able to explain why Environment and Climate Change
Minister Gary Crossman was still suggesting a deal was possible as late
as Tuesday, if the province has known for weeks Ottawa wouldn't agree to
the extension. (CBC)
But the premier couldn't explain in that case why Environment and Climate Change Minister Gary Crossman wouldn't say that earlier this week.
Crossman said Tuesday he met Nov. 19 with his federal counterpart Steven Guilbeault and "did ask about flexibility, and we're looking forward to the next meeting coming up, hopefully in the near future."
Higgs said he wasn't sure why Crossman didn't reveal what the province already knew at that point.
"You'll have to ask him that because I don't know about the conversation on Tuesday. I know Ottawa has never entertained our equivalency agreement discussions or negotiations."
Confirmation of the Belledune decision came Wednesday in response to a question to Guilbeault's office from CBC News.
Higgs said without Belledune operating, N.B. Power could be forced to raise power rates for consumers by 15 or 20 per cent
But he also said that the Atlantic Loop could provide enough electricity to make up for the plant's lost generation.
The loop would link huge power dams in Quebec and Labrador with electricity grids in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, allowing emissions-free electricity to move back and forth between five provinces to meet demand.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Oct. 25, Higgs asked the federal government for $5 billion to help New Brunswick and other provinces upgrade transmission links.
On Friday, the Liberals demanded that Higgs commit at least some of that money to help the economy in the Restigouche-Chaleur region, where the closure of the Belledune plant would cost about 100 direct N.B. Power jobs and even more indirect positions.
The
Opposition Liberals are demanding Higgs put some money into the Chaleur
region to boost the economy once the Belledune power station closes. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Higgs said his government is committed to helping the economy in the area, but he said past governments have made costly mistakes by forcing N.B. Power to undertake expensive projects when a business case didn't exist.
"We may very well be able to invest it, hopefully in the region, for future generation, but it needs to be something based on decision-making criteria that say this makes sense for the taxpayers and the region," he said.
Green Party Leader David Coon said the Chaleur region would be an ideal setting for new clean energy generation, including solar and wind power.
"It's a fantastic opportunity," he said. "We just need the imagination to seize it and the resources to pursue it.".
After the sharp PC-Liberal partisan exchanges Friday, Coon pointed out Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston took "a very different approach" in early October by convening a meeting of all provincial party leaders and federal MPs to discuss the Atlantic Loop.
"It really lands, to me, at the feet of the premier for not inviting everyone in to the circle to let us know what's been going on."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/belledune-coal-plant-ottawa-1.6262023
No extension past 2030 for Belledune coal-fired power plant, Ottawa says
Generating station will be banned from burning coal past 2030
Ottawa won't sign the so-called "equivalency agreement" that the Higgs government has been hoping to strike to let the plant run on coal for an extra decade, the spokesperson says.
"I can confirm that the Government of Canada is committed to phasing-out coal-fired power by 2030 across the country, including in New Brunswick," Joanna Sivasankaran said in an email to CBC News.
"The Minister will not sign an equivalency agreement that extends past 2030."
WATCH | Dominic LeBlanc says 'absolutely no surprise' in Belledune decision
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/129/3/leblanc.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
The decision effectively gives the province and N.B. Power just eight years to come up with an alternative fuel source or close the plant on New Brunswick's north shore. More than 100 people work there.
Belledune spewed more than 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2019, making it the second-largest emitter in the province after the Irving Oil refinery. In 2018 Belledune's emissions were higher than the refinery's.
The Conservation Council of New Brunswick hailed the decision.
"Extreme weather from climate change affects us all," said Louise Comeau, the organization's director of climate change and energy solutions.
"We must phase out the use of fossil fuels which generate heat-trapping gases when burned, to keep people and communities safe."
She called on the province and N.B. Power to help workers at the plant either retire or retrain for new jobs in renewable energy.
N.B. Power said in a statement that it would "continue to explore options and discuss the future of Belledune" with the government.
And New Brunswick Environment and Climate Change Minister Gary Crossman said in a statement the decision was not a surprise.
"Recent comments from the federal government at COP 26 lead us to believe that equivalency and continuing to operate Belledune beyond 2030 would be a challenge. The federal government confirmed its intentions today to phase out coal by 2030."
.From left, Daniel Guitard, René Legacy and Guy Arseneault speak about Ottawa's decision Thursday. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
New Brunswick Environment and Climate Change Minister Gary Crossman did not speak to reporters at the legislature Thursday morning.
On Tuesday, Crossman said Belledune came up briefly during his first virtual meeting with Guilbeault on Nov. 19.
"We did ask about flexibility and we're looking forward to the next meeting coming up, hopefully in the near future," Crossman said. "New Brunswick's a small province and we're doing the best we can to move ahead."
Youngest power plant
The province's youngest power plant, Belledune began operating in 1993, and its design allows it to continue to 2040.
But under the federal government's climate plan, coal-fired electricity generation must be phased out a decade before that, in 2030.
New Brunswick has pushed for an "equivalency agreement" to let the plant reduce its annual output and run until 2040 by spreading the same volume of emissions over a longer period.
N.B. Power says that would allow it to avoid the cost of building a new natural gas plant to make up for lost electricity generation.
In July, then-federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told CBC News he was open to the idea.
"I certainly understand the perspective of the province of New Brunswick."
But at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow this month, Guilbeault, who replaced Wilkinson after September's election, reiterated Ottawa's plan for a full coal phase-out by 2030.
Liberal MLAs representing the Belledune area said they supported Guilbeault's decision but want the province to step in quickly to find another fuel source for the plant.
"We agree with that [decision]," said Daniel Guitard, whose Restigouche-Chaleur riding includes the plant. "That's not the question. We have to replace the coal by another product."
He said if N.B. Power was willing to purchase the Bayside natural gas plant in Saint John in 2019 and refurbish it, the utility should be willing to do the same for Belledune.
"We have a government that doesn't want to invest at all in the north," Guitard said.
While pursuing the equivalency agreement, N.B. Power and the province have also looked at other options for Belledune, including the use of unproven hydrogen power technology from a Florida startup. That idea went nowhere.
Another plan would have seen an iron processing plant built near the power plant, with its gas byproduct becoming a new fuel source.
But the project would have increased overall greenhouse gas emissions in the province and N.B. Power eventually decided that was too costly.
Natural
Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland says small
modular nuclear reactors could replace the electricity generation lost
at Belledune. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said the cost of a natural gas plant to replace Belledune may be too high given it would also emit greenhouse gases, which the province aims to reduce.
"We're talking nine figures. This is billions of dollars in infrastructure investment for what could be argued is a transitional solution to the problem."
Holland said small modular nuclear reactors could replace the electricity generation lost at Belledune. The province is subsidizing two companies researching the technology, which the minister says may be ready in time for 2030.
He said there's no one "magic bullet" to replace coal and the province is looking at several options, including some pilot projects with solar power.
He also said improving technology allowing battery storage of renewable energy could also play a role.
"We have to have the lights on in the province of New Brunswick," he said.
In its statement, N.B. Power said 80 per cent of its power generation is emissions-free and it hopes to address the remainder "in a manner that is economical for our ratepayers."
Crossman's statement said that securing new sources of energy "will require financial support from the federal government to ensure New Brunswickers have access to clean energy and are not burdened with significantly higher energy rates."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/12/methinks-more-than-2200-provincial.html
Monday, 24 December 2018
Methinks more than 2,200 provincial employees should be Happy Happy Happy this Yuletide Season much to the chagrin of many a minimum wage taxpayer N'esy Pas?
David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/12/methinks-more-than-2200-provincial.html
#nbpoli #cdnpoli
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-government-salaries-blue-book-1.4958589
NB Power CEO's salary tops provincial government list
Province releases annual listing of government salaries
The provincial government released the annual listing of government salaries on Wednesday as well as retirement and severance packages, paid out for the year ending March 31, 2018.
Once again, top public-sector earners fell under the umbrellas of NB Power and the departments of justice and health.
NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas remained the highest-paid public servant in the province with a salary range of $550,000 to $574,999. The unaudited salary list provides pay ranges instead of the exact figure.
The province's utility employed more than 1,140 workers receiving at least $100,000 — that includes eight employees that make at least $250,000.
Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network employed more than 190 and 130 people, respectively, in that income bracket, and the top administrators were among the highest-paid provincial employees.
Dr. Édouard Hendriks, Horizon's vice-president of medical, academic and research affairs, Dr. France Desrosiers, Vitalité's vice-president of medical, services, training and research, and Vitalité CEO Gilles Lanteigne made between $275,000 and $299,999.
The Education Department had more than 180 employees who made at least $100,000, the vast majority in the $100,000 to $124,999 range. Only deputy ministers John McLaughlin and Gérald Richard earned more than $175,000 (but less than $200,000).
The health and justice departments combined to account for just 82 of the roughly 2,220 highest-earning public-sector workers in New Brunswick, but a handful of those individuals are near the top of the list.
Some provincial court judges and the province's top medical officers were also in the top 20 earners.
You can read the blue book document here.
Here are the highest salaries and the pay for some other notable officials:
$550,000-$574,999
- Gaëtan Thomas, CEO (NB Power)
- Pierre W. Arseneault, provincial court judge (Justice)
- Ronald J. LeBlanc, provincial court judge (Justice)
- Mark P. Cormier (NB Power)
- Michael Fairweather (NB Power)
- Ron R. Ferguson (NB Power)
- Jennifer Russell Wylie, chief medical officer of health (Health)
- Na-Koshie Lamptey, regional medical officer of health (Health)
- Yves Leger, regional medical officer of health (Health)
- Cristin Muecke, deputy chief medical officer of health (Health)
- Marian Paquet, regional medical officer of health (Health)
- Yvette, Finn, provincial court judge (Justice)
- Edouard Hendriks, vice-president of medical, academic and research affairs (Horizon)
- Brian Harriman, CEO (NB Liquor)
- Keith Cronkhite, senior vice-president business development and strategic planning (NB Power)
- Brian McCullum (NB Power)
- Darren Murphy, chief financial officer (NB Power)
- Mark Power, Point Lepreau station director (NB Power)
- France Desrosiers, CEO (Vitalité)
- Gilles Lanteigne, vice-president of medical, services, training and research (Vitalité)
- Isaac Sobol, regional medical officer of health (Health)
- Karen Ann McGrath, CEO (Horizon)
- Stephen Lund, CEO (Opportunities New Brunswick)
- Martin Robichaud, medical director (Vitalité)
- Jean Finn, deputy minister of energy and resource development (Energy)
- Jacques Pinet, New Brunswick Jobs Board CEO (general)
Commenting is now closed for this story.
https://www.telegraphjournal.com/telegraph-journal/story/100655131/vestcor-new-brunswick-public-servants-john-sinclair-investments-pensions
N.B. pension investment bosses rake in huge bonuses
John Sinclair, the organization’s president and CEO, nearly quadrupled his base salary of $327,779 when bonuses kicked in, earning $1,264,690 in total compensation in 2017.
Jonathan Spinney, the chief investment officer, saw his base pay of $233,750 jump to $697,489 after bonuses were factored in.
James Scott, vice president, cashed in on an uptick from $225,000 to $601,962.
Another vice president, Mark Holleran, saw his pay bump up from $214,000 to $593,272 in total compensation.
And Jan Imeson, the chief financial officer, saw his pay jump from $220,000 to $511,175.
Vestcor’s CEO defended the big bonus pay, arguing the size of the funds under management - more than $16 billion - require expert handling.
David R. Amos
I was first to speak in the Fundy area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZqArRNshSM&t=2284s
2018 New Brunswick Provincial Election Saint John Region Candidate Messages
David R. Amos
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/eub-hearing-nb-power-rate-design-smart-meters-1.4305685
EUB punts rate hearing as NB Power studies $122M smart meter plan
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/eub-hearings-nb-power-smart-meters-1.4529640
Opting out smart meter program could cost NB Power customers
Roy Kirk
Matthew Smith
Cam Randal
The 10 provinces would be 10 of the most educationally advanced countries in the world if they were split up; not too bad to be at the bottom of that list.
Harold Benson
Harold Benson
Lou Bell
Miles Gahan
Matt Steele
How much did their "Shared Risk" pension plan lose in the past year? Better yet how much did it lose yesterday or will it within the next few weeks?. I propose to stop the lawsuits secure their investments with our IOU and pay their pensions out of general funds. Everybody but the Banksters win.
Methinks the shortfall between what is going into their pension plans and what is being paid out is only about 70 million which is a whole lot cheaper for the rest of us than paying 700 million a year in interest on our debt to Banksters N'esy Pas?
Jim Cyr
The public sector as a whole is generally overpaid.
Paul Bolton
Alex Butt
Bernard McIntyre
https://archive.org/details/BahHumbug
John Montgomery
Lou Bell
Shawn McShane
Methinks you should come to the EUB hearings to listen to me argue NB Power's lawyers and beancounters or you can always download the transcript in order to read what has already been said N'esy Pas?
Ray Bungay
Methinks if any taxpayers barely getting by on minimum wages read this article I doubt that they are very Merry either N'esy Pas?
Fred Brewer
Marguerite Deschamps
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-electricity-coal-climate-change-1.6111369
New Brunswick can't meet 2030 deadline for coal phaseout, minister says
Mike Holland says deadline doesn't give enough time to install alternatives, like small nuclear reactors
Mike Holland says the federal government's 2030 deadline for phasing out coal doesn't give the government enough time to put in place alternatives such as small nuclear reactors.
"Give me runway so we can put these things together," Holland said. "Give me some time and we'll put these renewables and non-emitters in place."
Even some of those options remain uncertain.
The province officially submitted draft regulations to Ottawa recently as the next step in negotiating a potential deal to continue burning coal at NB Power's Belledune generating station until 2040.
The proposal would see the province use Belledune only during winter months. The province says that would allow the plant to emit the same total, cumulative volume of greenhouse gases through 2040 as it would operating full-time until 2030.
The
Government of New Brunswick has asked that Ottawa allow NB Power to
keep burning coal at its Belledune generating station until 2040. (NB Power)
There just isn't enough time to come up with new sources of power by 2030, Holland said.
"The commitment is there to meet that ultimate goal, but the trajectory needs to come in line with initiatives that we've already completed or are in the middle of.
"We're confident we can meet the target but we need that runway. We need runway."
Without a so-called equivalency agreement, NB Power would have to build a new natural gas-fired generating station, a $1.5 billion expense that would have to be passed on to ratepayers.
While natural gas is cleaner than coal, it still emits greenhouse gases, meaning a new plant would be subject to carbon pricing and other climate policies.
Anticipating new federal generating standards
Environmental researcher Louise Comeau says she expects new federal standards soon on electricity generation that would aim to "drive fossil fuels out of the electricity system" by 2035.
The Belledune dilemma isn't new, but every day that goes by without a solution, or an agreement with Ottawa, is a day closer to the plant's shutdown.
And the timeline is even more pressing in light of new, even more aggressive greenhouse gas emissions goals from the federal government.
They would require New Brunswick to get emissions from electricity generation down to a cumulative 54.2 megatonnes between 2021 to 2040.
Previously, Ottawa's modelling would have allowed a maximum of 63 megatonnes during those two decades.
The old requirement worked out to 3.15 megatonnes per year. In 2019, the most recent year with records available, emissions from electricity generation in New Brunswick were 3.3 megatonnes, down from 3.7 in 2019.
Under the regulations proposed to Ottawa, the province would cap the emissions at an average of 2.9 megatonnes a year from now until 2025, and then at annual averages of 2.8, 2.4 and 2.3 megatonnes in each five-year period after that.
Another option for making up lost generation at Belledune is small modular nuclear reactors.
But NB Power doesn't expect them to be generating as much electricity as Belledune until the mid-2030s, says Brad Coady, the executive director of business development and strategic planning at the utility.
And it's not clear there'll be a viable business case for the reactors.
"History doesn't tell us that that's how it's going to go, necessarily," says Comeau, citing the huge debt NB Power accumulated from the Point Lepreau generating station.
"We need something that's affordable and reliable, and I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I'm not convinced that's going to be the saviour for them."
Louise
Comeau a climate-policy researcher at the University of New Brunswick,
says she expects federal regulations will drive fossil fuels out of the
electricity system by 2035. (CBC)
In fact, so far NB Power's projections don't rely on any electricity from SMRs.
It is expecting to get more of the output from the Bayside natural gas generation plant in Saint John, which it bought two years ago.
Bayside will reach the end of its natural design life in 2026 unless NB Power spends $144 million to extend it into 2038, according to the utility's most recent integrated resource plan.
That's also factored into the projections, as is the time the plant would be down for its upgrade.
Another potential substitute is hydroelectric power that New Brunswick will import from Hydro-Quebec under an agreement signed last year.
The utility says in its 2020 integrated resource plan that non-emitting solar and wind power present "an interesting challenge" because it relies on weather, making it "varied and largely unpredictable."
In 2017 the province's three largest wind farms operated at less than one-third capacity during more than half the year, the report says.
Because conventional generating stations can't be easily turned on and off based on whether it's sunny or windy, "this highlights the challenges of balancing intermittent resources such as wind or solar," it says.
Holland says reducing demand for electricity is another potential piece of the puzzle.
The province has already looked at and discarded two other ideas to convert Belledune.
One would have used a new hydrogen technology, but it was revealed to be flawed. A second would have seen the plant burn byproduct gas from an iron plant that would have been the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the province.
Canada's latest emissions-reductions goal is 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
New Brunswick emitted 12 megatonnes of greenhouse gases in 2019, which was 38 percent below 2005 levels, exceeding reductions called for in the Paris climate agreement.
But the province's official reduction target in its climate change law is to reach 10.7 megatonnes by 2030. That's 47 per cent below 2005 levels, which would surpass the new federal target.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NB Power's missed financial targets are longstanding issue, says Liberal leader
Auditor general says utility failed to meet targets 'year after year'
In her report released this week, Auditor General Kim Adair-Macpherson said the utility failed to meet financial targets "year after year." (CBC News file photo)
Interim Liberal Leader Roger Melanson says from his own experience in cabinet, he knows issues the New Brunswick auditor general raised about NB Power in her latest report are longstanding.
Melanson, a former finance minister, said that during his time in government it was sometimes difficult to deal with the Crown corporation.
"t was probably one of the most frustrating pieces, where on a yearly basis, when NB Power actually submitted their forecasts in terms of net income contribution to the provincial government, which impacts the provincial yearly budget," said Melanson, who held a variety of cabinet posts in the Brian Gallant government.
"They were never on target. They were always behind."
The auditor general's report was the topic of this week's New Brunswick Political Panel podcast, with a focus on what the report said about NB Power.
In her report, released on Tuesday, Auditor General Kim Adair-Macpherson said the utility failed to meet financial targets "year after year."
She said debt reduction is "not a top priority" for the utility and its liabilities constitute "the largest contingent risk to the province."
Melanson said the government needs to be serious about getting NB Power to focus on their financial situation.
Green Party Leader David Coon said the legislature's public accounts committee holds some responsibility for keeping the utility in check, but the Energy Act should be amended to give the Energy and Utilities Board the authority to approve the utility's 10-year plans and not just rate increases.
"Without that, you know, they've got one arm tied behind their back and you're not getting the accountability necessary," said Coon.
Adair-Macpherson questioned the business sense of keeping New Brunswick's electricity rates some of the lowest in Atlantic Canada.
Green
Party Leader David Coon, Liberal Leader Roger Melanson, and People's
Alliance Leader Kris Austin responded to the auditor general's report on
this week's political panel. (CBC)
"While maintaining a consistently low annual rate may be advantageous to NB Power consumers, it is likely contributing to its failure to meet the debt to equity target and ever-increasing debt level," said Adair-Macpherson.
Coon said the province should look at amending the Energy Act to deal with industry rates.
"Right now [the act allows] NB Power … to deliver power for less than their cost to heavy industry. So they're losing on revenues there," said Coon.
People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he believes the utility would benefit from narrowing its focus to providing electricity to customers.
"I've seen lately that NB Power seems to be branching out into other areas, such as, you know, investment in research and development, which I understand there has to be a certain element of," said Austin.
"You go back to, you know, things like Joi Scientific, where you see money literally just, you know, thrown down the drain here for these whimsical ideas."
The Progressive Conservatives were unable to provide someone to take part in the panel this week.
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