N.B. Power seeking to split 19.4% rate increase evenly over 2 years
Energy and Utilities Board resumes power-rate hearings this week
N.B. Power is asking for permission to split its proposed 19.4 per cent rate increase equally over two years through a deferral account.
The utility says if the request isn't approved, customers would see an increase of 11.15 per cent in 2024-2025 and 5.59 per cent the year after.
The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board is holding hearings to determine whether N.B. Power should be allowed to raise its electricity rates by nearly 20 per cent over two years. It's also hearing testimony about how that rate increase should be rolled out.
The utility previously said it's raising rates to keep up with its $5.4 billion debt load. It's also spending billions on major infrastructure projects, including to refurbish the Mactaquac Dam.
On Monday, consultant John Todd said spreading the increase equally over two years maintains rate stability. He said the goal is partly to avoid "rate shock" that would be caused by an 11 per cent increase in one year.
Abigail Herrington, the lawyer representing the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, asked Todd whether he would endorse a plan for a more gradual increase spread out over five years.
Todd said there is too much uncertainty to delay the increase that far in the future.
"The further out you push it, the more challenges could arise in the meantime, put it that way," he said. "You might get lucky but you might not."
No aid for low-income households
The board previously heard evidence about how electricity aid programs, like the rebates for people with low income in Ontario, are not something N.B. Power is allowed to provide in New Brunswick. The board heard that those restrictions do not apply to industrial customers.
N.B. Power previously outlined plans to spend $26.3 million over the next two years to help pulp-and-paper mills with their electricity costs.
Shelley Petit, speaking on behalf of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, said the increased rate could result in marginalized people getting disconnected because they're unable to pay their bill.
"I know that for my members, that $25 is going to mean disconnect. They can't afford their power bills now. They're going without food. They're going without medications," she said.
Todd said policies need to be implemented to address that issue but it isn't addressed in his report.
"There's a lot of material and practices elsewhere that you could build on, and this is something that's in collaboration discussion with New Brunswick Power, the government ... policy changes are always possible," he said.
N.B. Power was given permission by the utilities board to begin charging an increase of 9.25 per cent on April 1, but it will have to rebate a portion of what it has collected if the amount is found to be too high.
The utility previously said it needs to earn more than $1 billion in profit over five years to meet 2029 financial targets set by the Blaine Higgs government.
The hearings are expected to take 16 sitting days and they're scheduled to wrap up in August.
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Belledune likely to survive the end of coal in 2030, N.B. Power hearing told
Utility says a switch to local wood from imported coal likely to save critical facility
Testimony at N.B. Power's rate hearing suggests the utility believes it will be able to economically repurpose the Belledune coal fired generating station to burn wood pellets and avoid its closure in 2030 under federal carbon policies.
On Thursday, Larry Kennedy, a U.S. based expert in utility depreciation issues, testified there is no need to shorten Belledune's expected useful life for accounting purposes from 2040 to 2030 because it is likely it will be refitted to burn wood, which carries no carbon costs.
"The company is very comfortable with where they are that there's a high probability that plant will have a life beyond 2030," said Kennedy.
Belledune is a critical linchpin in the economy of northeastern New Brunswick. It is an important employer, a buyer of local goods and services and a major source of local tax revenue.
N.B.
Power's Brad Coady says the utility is moving closer to a decision that
could see the Belledune generating station burn local wood, rather
than imported coal, to generate electricity (John Collicott/CBC News)
This year the generating station is contributing $2.5 million in property taxes to the Village of Belledune, half of the community's entire municipal budget.
Fear the plant might have to be shuttered has hung over the region since Canada announced in 2018 a series of climate policies that include plans to end power generation from coal by 2030.
Prior to Kennedy's testimony, N.B. Power's vice-president of strategic partnerships and business development gave a lengthy update about plans for Belledune.
Brad Coady said the issue is still being evaluated, but converting Belledune to burn wood pellets has emerged as a leading option, largely because it allows the existing plant and infrastructure to continue in service.
He said this is cheaper than building a new power plant from scratch.
Pellets are more expensive as a fuel than coal alone, but cheaper than the combination of coal and carbon taxes, and the switch would make sense even if coal was not being banned.
Piles
of imported coal used as a fuel to generate electricity at Belledune
since the 1980s will be gone by 2030. N.B. Power now piles piles of wood
pellets are a viable replacement. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"The carbon tax will likely make this fuel conversion a cheaper alternative regardless," Coady said.
N.B. Power has more tests scheduled for this year and is studying the performance of different kinds of pellets and in different combinations to see what is most efficient. So far, the utility said, burning wood at Belledune is beating all potential alternative solutions.
"We still have to conclude the work on the business case and the investment rationale document to support that decision, but all indications are to date that it is a leading candidate for the alternative to coal," Coady told New Brunswick public intervener Alain Chiasson.
Belledune's large combustion chambers require limited modifications to burn wood pellets, according to N.B. Power evaluations. (Jacques Poitras/CBC News file photo)
Pellets emit greenhouse gases when burned like coal but the fuel is not subject to carbon taxes because growing new trees reabsorbs carbon from the atmosphere.
Some environmentalists question how much of an improvement the fuel is, but for the moment it is treated favourably by Canadian climate regulations.
New Brunswick does have a number of wood pellet producers, but Coady said volumes and specifications required by Belledune could result in a significant expansion in that local industry.
For test burns last year, N.B. Power had to import suitable pellets from Quebec and Sweden.
"Our primary objective would be to induce the creation of this industry within New Brunswick," Coady said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matter 541
Relating to an application by New Brunswick Power Corporation
pursuant to subsection 103(1) of the Electricity Act for approval of
the Schedule of Rates for the fiscal year commencing April 1st 2023.
Held at the Fredericton Convention Centre, Fredericton, N.B. on
February 13, 2023.
CHAIRPERSON: Ms. Rubin, is there any preliminary issues on behalf of
your client that you wish to -- that we deal with before we start the
first panel?
MS. RUBIN: No, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. And Mr. Hoyt?
MR. HOYT: Nothing, Mr. Chair.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Mr. Stoll?
MR. STOLL: Nothing.
CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Williams?
MR. WILLIAMS: Nothing from me, Mr. Chair.
CHAIRPERSON: And Ms. Herrington?
MS. HERRINGTON: No, Mr. Chair, thank you.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. I am just wondering if Mr. Amos has arrived
or Mr. Daly? All right. So Mr. Furey, if you want to call your first
panel?
MR. FUREY: Thanks you, Mr. Chair. I will ask NB Power’s Panel A to
come forward to be sworn.
PANEL A
MS. LORI CLARK, MR. DARREN MURPHY, MR. BRAD COADY, sworn.
CHAIRPERSON: And I am going to ask Ms. Otis from the Board just to
come and swear the panel members.
So for the record, the three panel members, Ms. Clark, Mr. Murphy and
Mr. Coady have been sworn.
MR. FUREY: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Whenever you are ready, Mr. Furey.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. FUREY:
Q. - Ms. Clark, I wonder if you could introduce yourself to the Board, please.
MS. CLARK: Good morning. My name is Lori Clark. I am the President
and CEO of NB Power, and I have testified for this Board many times.
"Pellets emit greenhouse gases when burned like coal but the fuel is not subject to carbon taxes because growing new trees reabsorbs carbon from the atmosphere."
How much is spent on carbon tax in the process of creating the pellets?
For one, in a natural forest this biomass naturally decomposes, feeding microorganisms that mineralize the locked up nutrients in organic matter making them available to other living and growing plants. Removing biomass and not returning it cannot go on indefinitely, as the forest will eventually lose its ability to rejuvenate itself without massive inputs of fertilizer created with the use of fossil fuels.
In other words it's not sustainable in the long term. Hopefully NB Power will look for other options and be a bit proactive for once, rather than seeking expedient stop-gap measures. This has been a long time coming after all.
Reply to Bob Leeson
David Amos
Reply to Carl Duivenvoorden
It isn't
William Peters
Burning wood does not save you from emitting CO2. It's saving you from paying taxes is what we are being told. There are economic equations we set up that make things look benign when they are clearly far from being benign. We could just as easily set something up which would not tax the burning of plastic for electricity generation. One would hoop that we never do this and that no one ever claims it was a sustainable option only because we applied no carbon taxes its burning. It does send us in the direction of thinking it is similar to what was disclosed in "Planet of the Humans" where it is shown that perfectly good trees get rendered into basically just biomass fuel. Forests need to be stripped to get those trees.
David Amos
Reply to William Peters
Why not take up your concerns with your name on a ballot?
Tom McLean
Burning wood still produces CO2 which contributes to global warming for decades while waiting to be recaptured by trees. Instead, replace the power station with wind & storage. That site would be perfect for a large storage facility and a connection point for onshore, nearshore and offshore wind.
David Amos
Reply to Tom McLean
Harvesting energy from falling water is still the way to go
With how society has been going, we should be able to harvest enough tears from hurt feelings to power north America for centuries.
Reply to Tom McLean
Reply to Jack Bell
Susan O'Donnell
With a switch to wood pellets, NB Power's Belledune plant will spew different kinds of toxic particles into the local community. Why the focus on burning stuff? The transmission infrastructure at Belledune could be used for real clean energy, like offshore wind. Please do the analysis and give us options other than burning more carbon and creating more toxic air pollution.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Susan O'Donnell
The way Higgs is going I'm surprised it's not being retrofitted to burn books.
Reply to Jack Bell
Reply to Jack Bell
Michael Collins
The amount of wood pellets required to generate full power at Belledune would be enormous. Not sure what that will do for New Brunswick's dwindling forests.
David Amos
Reply to Michael Collins
What forest?
Richard LeBlanc
Congrats for reaching a most reasonable and logical solution. Now stop wasting millions of ratepayers dollars on unproven/undeveloped technology.
Reply to Richard LeBlanc
Finish your sentence: "Now stop wasting millions of ratepayers dollars on unproven/undeveloped technology so that we can contribute blissfully to climate change and enrichen Irving just a bit more"
Reply to Mike Barkman
and our politicians
Reply to Gail Collette
Working in a coal mine... - not in New Brunswick.
David Amos
Reply to Laura Smith
Please explain
Coal is likely more efficient than turning it into a huge wood stove.
David Amos
Reply to Daniel Henwell
I agree
Global Coal demand continues to increase.
David Amos
Reply to Brad Brien
Yup
David Amos
Welcome
Reply to David Amos
Back
Reply to David Amos
Reply to David Amos
The
David Amos
Reply to David Amos
Guess What
David Amos
Welcome back to the circus
End of coal in China in 2030.
David Amos
Yea Right
Reply to Denis Van Humbeck
Oh My My
Time for N.B. Power to shop around for nuclear options, ex-CEO says
Former head of ARC Clean Energy says successor’s departure is ‘confusing,’ may indicate funding shortfall
A former CEO of Arc Clean Energy Canada says it's time N.B. Power looks at other options for small modular nuclear reactors beyond two companies looking to build them in New Brunswick.
Norm Sawyer says indications of trouble at ARC, including the departure of its most recent CEO, are "a bit confusing. It doesn't seem to match up with what they're doing."
But it indicates that N.B. Power should consider shopping around to get more nuclear generation on the provincial grid by 2030 or 2035, he told CBC News.
"I would say yes, I think it's maybe time to do that, if indeed 2030 is critical," he said.
"Strategically N.B. Power needs to think this out and say, 'If I need power by this time, what's the highest probability I have if I want nuclear to be ready?' Obviously some technologies will be there a lot quicker than others."
Sawyer left ARC in 2021 and is now an independent consultant to the nuclear industry.
Bill
Labbe has left ARC Clean Energy Canada. ARC says Labbe won't be
replaced as CEO but that the chief operating officer of its U.S. company
will lead the company 'during the next period.' (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
He was responding to news that his successor as CEO, Bill Labbe, has left the company.
ARC is "re-aligning personnel and resources to strengthen our strategic partnerships and rationalize operations to best prepare for the next phase of our deployment," the company said in a statement this week.
Last year Labbe told a legislative committee that ARC's 100-megawatt small modular nuclear reactor would be ready by 2030.
But at Energy and Utility Board hearings this week, the Crown corporation's vice-president of business development and strategic partnerships, Brad Coady, said SMRs "probably won't be ready by 2030."
The Higgs government gave ARC $20 million in 2021 to help it develop its reactor, and the previous Liberal government gave it $10 million.
Spokesperson Laverne Stewart said the government wasn't told of Labbe's departure in advance.
The provincial funding was "contingent on several benchmarks being reached," Stewart said.
"We are aware that the technology is still advancing and understand that restructuring is part of that process."
The province has pitched ARC and another company in Saint John, Moltex Energy, as key to the transition to non-fossil-fuel emitting electricity generation by 2035, the deadline established under the federal government's climate action plan.
N.B. Power's Belledune generating station. (N.B. Power)
The government and N.B. Power are also racing to find replacement electricity for the Belledune generating station, which must stop burning coal by 2030.
Politicians have touted the jobs and economic spin-offs of having two New Brunswick-based SMR developers building reactors.
But Sawyer says the first priority must be to get more generation in place, and it may make sense to look at companies further along and better able to build more units sooner.
"Having that supply chain in place and having the fleet in place, you're going to be a lot better off," he said.
"It's a balance of economic growth versus energy security, and I guess at the end of the day, at one point you just gotta decide to move forward."
Otherwise, he said, "the supply of electricity and the price of electricity is being put at risk here."
In
2022, Bathurst West-Beresford Liberal MLA René Legacy suggested the
utility look at SMR models from outside New Brunswick to meet emissions
deadlines. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Allison Macfarlane, a former chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a professor at the University of British Columbia, said small light-water reactors being developed for Ontario's Darlington nuclear station are "closer to maturity."
"These are the ones that actually will probably be built first," she said.
Sawyer's comments echo what Liberal MLA René Legacy said in 2022, when he suggested the utility look at SMR models from outside New Brunswick to meet emissions deadlines.
"Obviously we want to do New Brunswick first, but if there are other opportunities out there, explore it," Legacy said Wednesday.
"As much as we want to create that industry, we're going to have a real energy crunch soon. It's coming up on us real fast."
In a statement Wednesday, N.B. Power said it's "in a period of disruptive change that requires it to look at all options" to meet a growing demand for electricity, but did not say whether those options include other SMR developers.
Seven First Nations communities that are part of the North Shore Mi'kmaq Tribal Council are investors in ARC's SMR development.
And the Port of Belledune said in 2022 it would use an ARC reactor to power a proposed hydrogen power export facility as part of its green energy hub project.
ARC said in its statement that Labbe won't be replaced as CEO but that the chief operating officer of ARC's U.S. company, Bob Braun, will lead the company "during the next period."
ARC did not respond to a question about whether anyone else is leaving the company.
The company said it recently completed the second phase of a vendor design review required under the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's regulatory process — another reason Sawyer questions the timing of ARC's plan to "rationalize operations."
"You would think that if you're planning forward, you would at least maintain what you have, or if there's a project, you would be growing," Sawyer said.
Potential investors may be hesitating because the company must find an alternative source of enriched uranium now that the supplier it was counting on, Russia, is subject to economic sanctions because of its war on Ukraine, he said.
Sawyer emphasized repeatedly that his comments are based on his expertise and experience in the nuclear sector as an independent consultant, not on any inside information about what is happening at ARC. He is not consulting for ARC, he added.
Some kind of additional nuclear generation is essential to New Brunswick's ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, Sawyer said.
"Just because one project may be hitting rough seas doesn't mean all nuclear is bad."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Subsidies to New Brunswick pulp and paper mills increasing to soften electricity rate hikes
N.B. Power says similar help for others, including low-income households, is forbidden
N.B. Power's application for a pair of steep rate hikes is forcing it to pay higher subsidies to pulp and paper mills this year and next year to help the plants cope with the increases.
But the utility says it is not allowed to provide similar relief to any other customers who might be in need, including low-income households.
"Rightly or wrongly, that's my understanding of the Electricity Act," said Brad Coady, N.B. Power's vice-president of strategic partnerships and business development, at the utility's ongoing rate hearing.
N.B. Power has applied to raise rates by an average of 9.25 per cent per year over the next two years, including 9.8 per cent on residential and large industrial customers. That application is being reviewed by the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board.
Under questioning by the Human Development Council's Randy Hatfield, and later by Energy and Utilities Board lawyer Abigail Herrington, Coady said electricity aid programs, like the rebates for people with low incomes that are available in Ontario, are not something N.B. Power is allowed to provide in New Brunswick.
"Paying for subsidies for any one customer has to be funded from collecting revenue from a different customer," said Coady.
"And so we would effectively have raised rates for the non-participating customers in such a program to pay for the participating customers in that program."
N.B.
Power vice-president Brad Coady, far right, told the utility's rate
hearing that it is not allowed to subsidize electricity rates for
customers in need, except for pulp and paper mills. (Pat Richard/CBC)
But restrictions on subsidising power costs do not apply in one case.
In evidence presented at the hearing, N.B. Power has outlined plans to spend $26.3 million over the next two years to help pulp and paper mills with their electricity costs.
It is a 36 per cent increase over the previous two years.
The subsidy, called the Large Industrial Renewable Energy Purchase Program, involves N.B. Power buying renewable electricity generated by the mills at high prices and reselling it back at low prices.
This year the utility is paying mills $120.57 per megawatt hour for their electricity production, most of it generated from burning wood waste. N.B. Power resells it back at $73.13, usually with none of the power ever leaving the mill.
Abigail
Herrington is a lawyer representing the New Brunswick Energy and
Utilities Board. She questioned N.B. Power executives about why they
believe they are unable to offer rate help to low-income customers. (Shane Magee/CBC)
The $47.44 per megawatt hour price difference is a new high and will apply to the buying and selling of an estimated 265,610 megawatt hours of electricity this year.
Hatfield asked how that program is possible if N.B. Power is barred from providing relief to others.
"Is that not a subsidy?" asked Hatfield. "That is ratepayer-funded right? That comes from ratepayer contributions?"
Coady agreed all N.B. Power customers pay for the mill discounts but said the New Brunswick government has enacted regulations that require the subsidies to be paid, and the utility is following those rules.
"It is not New Brunswick Power that's driving the [large industrial renewable energy] purchases," said Coady.
Randy
Hatfield is the executive director of Saint John’s Human Development
Council. He is participating in N.B. Power's rate hearing and pressed
the utility to explain why it offers rate relief to industry, but not
low-income households. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
"We are complying with the terms of the regulation, and qualifying renewable energy is being produced and sold to the utility under that regulation."
N.B. Power has programs to help low-income customers reduce their electricity consumption by helping to finance better insulation, energy-efficient windows and install heat pumps, but those programs are aimed at people who own their own homes.
Hatfield said help for tenants to deal with rising electricity costs, on top of rising rents, is missing and causing hardship.
In Ontario that problem is dealt with by a government program that pays low-income households between $45 and $113 per month in energy rebates, depending on consumption amounts, income levels and the number of people living in a location.
Coady agreed New Brunswick has little help to offer those on low and moderate incomes who are tenants and find two large increases in power rates difficult to absorb.
"Energy poverty is real," said Coady.
"It is incredibly difficult to get to renters. The utility works with the community and with renters to overcome those obstacles and barriers but it is a hard one to overcome.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Large Industrial Renewable Energy Purchase Program is a topic the EUB would never permit me to address
Reply to David Amos
Higgs government boosts payments to pulp and paper mills under energy buy-back program
Province hands companies more than $5M in discounts based on their electricity sales in 2019-20
Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Jul 05, 2021 7:00 AM ADT
NB Power first full rate hearing gets questions about big paper mills
The utility has applied for a two per cent rate hike beginning on July 1
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Jun 15, 2015 9:43 PM ADT
Multi million dollar subsidies NB Power is forced to provide the province's big paper mills took centre stage at the utility's rate hearing Monday with a retired NB Power engineer criticizing the practice as thinly veiled corporate welfare.
"I'd like to understand the program and I would like all the documentation that's available on the program that will explain it to people," said Gregory Hickey as he questioned a panel of NB Power executives about the practice of buying renewable energy from paper mills and reselling it back to them at a substantial loss. "I think the people of this province deserve to know,"
NB Power is in front of the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board for its first full rate hearing, where all of its operations are open to scruitny, since 1993.
The utility has applied for a modest two per cent rate hike beginning on July 1, but for the first time in 22 years the application requires full disclosure and that is subjecting the utility to some tough questioning.
Hickey registered to participate as a concerned citizen and was given wide latitude by EUB Chairman Ray Gorman to ask NB Power any questions he had, with the same standing as the corporate lawyer for Enbridge who went before him and the corporate lawyer for JD Irving who came after.
Hickey made the most of his chance.
He was especially curious about NB Power's Large Industrial Renewable Energy Purchase Program which was unveiled by the Alward government in 2011.
Figures filed to Energy and Utilities Board strip away politically imposed costs
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Mar 30, 2016 6:19 PM ADT
Electricity customers are getting closer to finding out what the total amount of politically imposed costs on NB Power are, although the public may never see the final amount.
Preliminary calculations, reported to the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) as part of NB Power's current rate hearing, suggest NB Power could be providing electricity to customers for $64.1 million less than it does, if not for a variety of requirements imposed on it, mostly by the legislature.
However the utility has requested that an updated estimate of that $64.1 million amount be kept confidential, raising the likelihood the public will never know the full cost.
The Energy and Utilities Board told NB Power to do a 'real economic dispatch' for its upcoming hearing in May.
NB Power's politically imposed functions include providing subsidies to industry, committing to expensive wind power over cheaper alternatives, and other measures that force the utility to buy electricity at above-market rates.
The EUB and its chairman, Raymond Gorman, were challenged by NB Power critic and self-represented intervener Greg Hickey during last year's rate hearing to dig into the issue.
This year, they did just as Hickey asked.
Bring on that election.
WOW....Higgs reaches a new low in screwing New Brunswickers.
Election time for change!!!
Currently, powering transport and home heating/AC by electricity is so much cheaper than with fossil fuels that it will take a significant increase in electricity priecs before we even break even.
Solar is the cheapest form of energy in the US's history.
Reply to Kramer Vandelay
Yes. My coal powered F950 prototype will soon be ready to prevent this.
Reply to Ralph Linwood
And you think industries don't waste electricity as well? They waste FAR more proportionally and quantitatively. Irrelevant to the root issue though...subsidies should be for everyone and not just the "poor" millionaires.
Reply to Lynette Browne
Solar is not cheaper when you add ALL costs, since you have to add the cost of the necessary backup power. Any gas generation doesn’t require any backup.
Reply to David Amos
They do have to do with the OP. Talk to him abour raising the topic.
Reply to Rene Cusson
I'm aware industries are wasteful, it is the result of cheap energy for too long. My point was that residents could use all the energy they purchase and in doing so could charge EVs without massive upgrades the doom and gloom crowd are always worrying about. No one should get subsidies, they should all pay for what they consume.
Reply to Dennis Woodman
It is still cheaper even when taking into account the back-up and storage grid.
Search: Gas can’t compete with wind, solar and storage, even in world’s biggest market
Reply to Lynette Browne
The grid will need $10 trillion in upgrades. There is no 'cheapest form of energy' with this EV mandated solution.
Who pays the $10 T to make EV's transport possible?
Reply to Kramer Vandelay
The grid needs upgrading anyway.
Climate change is more expensive. And there is no choice but to change over to non-emitting forms of energy.
Shame, Robert Jones
Reply to Dianne MacPherson
Reply to Ed Franks
Reply to james bolt
Reply to Mike Van Fleet
Reply to Greg Timmins
Reply to Douglas James
Reply to Lou Bell
Reply to Mathieu Laperriere
Reply to David Webb
Reply to Bob Leeson
Reply to Bob Leeson
Reply to Bob Leeson
Reply to Bob Leeson
I guess there are always trade offs when it comes to very smelly industries.
I don't live there though, but used to for a short period. I mountain bike here now but there are not many trails within a 30 minutes drive. There is only one official trail shown on Trailforks :(
I made my own trail here though.
Higgs has had 6 years to work to make life better for all New Brunswickers, but he has completely failed at doing so …
Higgs legislates that New Brunswickers must pay special charges on power bills to cover NB Powers losses, giving NB Power no incentive to be fiscally responsible).
Higgs continues to let New Brunswickers pay NB Power to buy power from pulp mills and sell it back at a loss, subsidizing already profitable mills.
Higgs legislates that New Brunswickers must pay a clean fuel “adjustor”, which goes to oil & gas producers now, long before they are required to pay anything to produce cleaner fuel.
The list keeps growing …
A Higg government is harmful to New Brunswickers … it is time for change NOW!
Reply to Lynette Browne
Reply to Lou Bell
Reply to Denis Van Humbeck
Reply to Jos Allaire
Reply to Denis Van Humbeck
Reply to Denis Van Humbeck
Reply to Denis Van Humbeck
Reply to Alex Butt
Meanwhile New Brunswick politicians continue to deny New Brunswick residents access to inexpensive hydroelectricity from Quebec; protecting local expensive electricity producers from fair competition and going further to raise their profits by raising rates; that's already corporate welfare. Subsidizing electricity for other large corporations is pork for close corporate friends and bones for the people they claim to be serving.
David Amos
Reply to Gerry Wootton
Go Figure
Can't politicians amend the act to stop this corporate welfare?
David Amos
Reply to Mathieu Laperriere
Of course they can
Conrad Tanker
Perfect .
Yet, you and the article, omit what the profit of the paper mills was last year? Why should they get any subsidy, if they are very profitable, regardless of the jobs they supply? What happened to good old fashion capitalism? Sink or swim. Without the tax payers.
Hmmm?
Reply to Conrad Tanker
"Up to six pulp and paper mills in New Brunswick, including three owned by J.D. Irving Ltd.,"
Why is any Irving company getting any tax breaks? They made $8.5 billion dollars in 2023, J.D. Irving LTD. Source? J.D. Irving LTD.
So why do they get this again?
Reply to Conrad Tanker
How about some subsidies for all ratepayers,not just the billionaires. The common people are fed up feeding the corporate welfare leeches with their veiled blackmail threats.
Reply to Michael Collins
How about letting them have some of that cheap electricity available just across the border in Quebec. People in New York city and Boston are getting it, so why not people in Fredericton and St. John??
Reply to Ralph Steinberg
You know the answer as well as I
Reply to David Webb
Don't they own almost all the media too? e.g.
J.D. Irving’s ownership of most major media outlets in New Brunswick has led to ongoing concern regarding control of the media. A report from the Canadian Senate in 2006, on media control in Canada singled out New Brunswick because of the Irving companies' ownership of all English-language daily newspapers in the province, including the Telegraph-Journal. Senator Joan Fraser, author of the Senate report, stated, "We didn't find anywhere else in the developed world a situation like the situation in New Brunswick."[5] The report went further, stating, "the Irvings' corporate interests form an industrial-media complex that dominates the province" to a degree "unique in developed countries." At the Senate hearing, journalists and academics cited Irving newspapers' lack of critical reporting on the family's influential businesses.[6]
Reply to MR Cain
Reply to David Webb
Unexpected surge in N.B. Power revenues draws attention at rate hearing
Utility questioned about whether rate hikes are too high, given unbudgeted windfall
Evidence that N.B. Power may be having a better financial year than expected when it first proposed imposing a pair of large rate increases on customers has participants at its ongoing rate hearing asking whether that offers an opportunity to reduce the amounts.
But the utility is pushing back against that idea, arguing it should be allowed to keep any surge in income over and above what it originally budgeted for.
"We're not recommending any updates to the evidence as a result of changes since the filing," N.B. Power's chief financial officer Darren Murphy told public intervener Alain Chiasson on Tuesday, about the possibility amounts being earned on electricity sales may be better than expected.
If the windfall is to be considered, Murphy has argued, N.B. Power should be allowed to keep the money to shore up its finances, or at least have unbudgeted expenses recalculated to balance out the new revenues.
"If the board decides that updates are required, then we propose it be done in a more comprehensive way," he said.
N.B. Power has applied to raise rates by an average of 9.25 per cent per year over the next two years, including 9.8 per cent on residential and industrial customers.
N.B.
Power's chief financial officer Darren Murphy (left) told the utility's
rate hearing the company should be allowed to keep unbudgeted revenues
that have turned up rather than reduce its rate increases. (Pat Richard/CBC)
However, updated modelling done by N.B. Power, after it submitted its rate application in December, showed margins it is likely to earn on electricity sales have improved by $36.7 million this year and $37.7 million next year.
Multiple parties at the utility's ongoing rate hearings have been asking about those amounts, suggesting they are significant enough to reduce the size of rate increases N.B. Power needs.
"So $37 million a year equates to something over two per cent," noted J.D. Irving lawyer Glenn Zacher about the unbudgeted revenue.
"So that would be a two-per-cent credit against what would otherwise be a 9.25 per cent increase."
Murphy acknowledged that amount of money could potentially be used to reduce a rate increase, but argued against it.
"That is not what we are recommending, but the math is right," said Murphy.
Public
intervener Alain Chiasson is one of at least three participants at N.B.
Power's rate hearing that asked about unexpected revenues the utility
is projected to earn this year and next. (Radio-Canada)
Pressed further on the issue by Ryan Burgoyne, a lawyer for New Brunswick's municipal utilities, Murphy said it is N.B. Power's preference that it be allowed to keep the first $40 million in any unbudgeted revenue that appears.
The utility is already planning for $64 million in net earnings this coming year but Murphy said it would like the number to be allowed to go substantially higher before it is made to divert any new money to reducing its rate increase.
"And just so I understand, that would mean N.B. Power would be looking for net earnings of $100 million to $104 million?" asked Burgoyne.
"That is correct," said Murphy.
N.B. Power has also made the point that unexpected expenses have arisen and if new revenues are going to affect its rate increase, then new costs also should be recalculated.
Trees
pushed into power lines by high winds on Dec. 18, 2023, caused outages
to more than 120,000 N.B. Power customers and had crews working eight
days to fully repair. Costs exceeded $19 million and will add to N.B.
Power's storm-expense budgets for several years, costs that were not
foreseen in its current rate application. (Submitted by N.B. Power)
As an example, the utility pointed to a major winter storm that caused $19.3 million in damage just before Christmas and days after it had already submitted its rate increase request for the next two years.
The utility budgets for storm damage based on multi-year rolling averages and so future costs will be affected by that storm.
Under questioning by Chiasson, Murphy said it is only fair that if unexpected revenues are going to affect N.B. Power's request for higher rates, then so should any surprise increases in its costs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After all he did work in every province and he did go to school in every province, so he is the smartest thing that ever came from PEI
N.B. Power executives deny exaggerating nuclear troubles to justify large rate hike
Utility faces pointed questions from about whether its expenses are inflated
N.B.
Power president Lori Clark and chief financial officer Darren Murphy
exit the utility's rate hearing during a break. The two executives said
estimates of expected poor performance at the Point Lepreau nuclear
station this year and next year are realistic given its recent history. (Pat Richard/CBC)N.B. Power executives faced pointed questions early at a New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board hearing that is reviewing plans to raise electricity rates 20 per cent over the next two years, nearly half of which is already being collected from customers.
N.B. Power president Lori Clark and chief financial officer Darren Murphy both denied a suggestion from the forestry company J.D. Irving Ltd., barely an hour into the 16-day hearing, that the utility is exaggerating how poor performance at the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station is likely to be this year, and next year, to justify raising rates more than necessary.
"The performance metrics that N.B. Power is forecasting for Point Lepreau are not in fact improvements. It's a forecast of worse performance," said Glenn Zacher, a Toronto-based energy lawyer representing JDI at the hearing.
Zacher noted that N.B. Power figures show Lepreau suffered breakdowns averaging just over 19 days per year over a five-year period, ending in 2022.
Point
Lepreau has operated below expectations since emerging from a 4½-year
refurbishment in 2012. Estimates by N.B. Power that performance at the
plant will worsen this year and next are being challenged at its rate
hearing. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
That was third worst among 38 peer reactors, and Zacher wanted to know why N.B. Power is now budgeting for 29 days of breakdowns at Lepreau, per year, over the next few years.
That "no doubt puts the station dead last" among all of its peers, said Zacher. He suggested that, combined with additional downtime being set aside for planned maintenance outages, inflates the plant's likely costs and exaggerates the utility's expenses by more than $20 million, both this year and next.
With more optimistic Lepreau budgeting, he suggested that rate increases as high as 9.8 per cent per year over the next two years facing some customers might have been between one and two percentage points lower.
"You're taking a straight historical average of admittedly bad performance and using that to forecast future performance," said Zacher.
Toronto
lawyer Glenn Zacher has been hired by J.D. Irving Ltd. to represent it
at N.B. Power's rate hearing. He asked a series of pointed questions
about whether N.B. Power has been inflating expected costs related to
the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station this year and next year. (Stikeman Elliott LLP)
Murphy said the higher estimate for lost production at Lepreau is no budgeting gimmick but an attempt to be more realistic about the plant's near-term prospects, given its performance to date.
"Although these are increases in forecasted costs, they are actually representative of historical actual costs," said Murphy.
"That's what we've attempted to do in this application — better match up what our experience has been in the last number of years with expected performance over the next few years."
Clark told Zacher that non-nuclear equipment at Lepreau, some of it more than 40 years old, was not upgraded at the time the reactor was refurbished and has been causing most of the problems.
Energy
and Utilities Board member Christopher Stewart is presiding over the
N.B. Power rate hearing. It is expected to last 16 days spread out over
the next two months. (Pat Richard/CBC)
She said there are plans underway to improve Lepreau's performance in relation to its peers but that will take time and money before it shows itself.
"What we're dealing with now is aging equipment in the station," said Clark.
"Significant investment is required in Lepreau."
N.B. Power has applied to raise its rates an average of 9.25 per cent this year and next year, including a pair of 9.8 per cent increases on residential and large industrial customers.
J.D.
Irving Ltd. is N.B. Power's largest private-sector customer. It is
fighting a request by the utility to raise rates an average of 9.25 per
cent this year and next year, including 9.8 per cent on residential and
large industrial customers. (Robert Jones/CBC)
N.B. Power was given permission by the utilities board to begin charging the first increase on April 1 but will have to rebate a portion of what it has collected, if the amount is found to be too high.
Hearings are expected to take 16 sitting days but are spread over the next two months.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the adoption of price regulation in 2006.
ALL NB and Canadian sawmills benefited from the high prices.
From: Abigail J. Herrington <Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Court of Appeal File No. 68-23-CA - Judicial Review of Board Decision in Matter 541
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
From: Glenn Zacher <GZacher@stikeman.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 8:39 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Court of Appeal File No. 68-23-CA - Judicial Review of Board Decision in Matter 541
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
I am away at an out of town hearing until Friday, June 28, 2024 and may be delayed in responding. If your matter is urgent, please contact my assistant Sofia at scasinha@stikeman.com or 416 869 6703. Thank you
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From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 8:59 PM
Subject: Fwd: Court of Appeal File No. 68-23-CA - Judicial Review of Board Decision in Matter 541
To: <jdoughart@gmail.com>, Mitchell, Kathleen <Kathleen.Mitchell@nbeub.ca>, Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com <Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com>, Melissa Curran <Melissa.Curran@nbeub.ca>, Young, Dave <Dave.Young@nbeub.ca>, Dickie, Michael <Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca>, Veronique Otis <Veronique.Otis@nbeub.ca>, Colwell, Susan <Susan.Colwell@nbeub.ca>, Chiasson, Alain (OAG/CPG) <Alain.Chiasson2@gnb.ca>, Hoyt, Len <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>, rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com <rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com>, louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca <louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.ca>, frederic.gionet@cfib.ca <frederic.gionet@cfib.ca>, Sollows, David (ERD/DER) <david.sollows@gnb.ca>, Brandy Gellner <Brandy.Gellner@libertyutilities.com>, Volpé, Gilles <Gilles.volpe@libertyutilities.com>, Lavigne, David <dave.lavigne@libertyutilities.com>, Gordon, Laura <LGordon@nbpower.com>, Waycott, Stephen <SWaycott@nbpower.com>
Cc: Clark, Lori <lclark@nbpower.com>
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 8:29 PM
Subject: Fwd: Court of Appeal File No. 68-23-CA - Judicial Review of Board Decision in Matter 541
To: Susan.Holt <Susan.Holt@gnb.ca>, robert.mckee <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, hugh.flemming <hugh.flemming@gnb.ca>, <Steve.Outhouse@gnb.ca>, blaine.higgs <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, Ross.Wetmore <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, John.Williamson <John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, jake.stewart <jake.stewart@parl.gc.ca>, andrea.anderson-mason <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>
Cc: Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, John Furey <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>, Glenn Zacher (gzacher@stikeman.com) <gzacher@stikeman.com>
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Date: Fri, Jul 7, 2023 at 11:34 AM
Subject: Fwd: Court of Appeal File No. 68-23-CA - Judicial Review of Board Decision in Matter 541
To: Ross.Wetmore <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, John.Williamson <John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, jake.stewart <jake.stewart@parl.gc.ca>, andrea.anderson-mason <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>
Cc: Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Furey <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2023 16:03:36 +0000
Subject: Court of Appeal File No. 68-23-CA - Judicial Review of Board
Decision in Matter 541
To: "Mitchell, Kathleen" <Kathleen.Mitchell@nbeub.ca>,
"Aherrington@lawsoncreamer.com
Melissa Curran <Melissa.Curran@nbeub.ca>, "Young, Dave"
<Dave.Young@nbeub.ca>, "Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca"
<Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca>, Veronique Otis <Veronique.Otis@nbeub.ca>,
"Colwell, Susan" <Susan.Colwell@nbeub.ca>, "Chiasson, Alain (OAG/CPG)"
<Alain.Chiasson2@gnb.ca>, "Hoyt, Len" <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>,
"Glenn Zacher (gzacher@stikeman.com)" <GZacher@stikeman.com>,
"rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com" <rburgoyne@coxandpalmer.com>,
"louis-philippe.gauthier@cfib.
"frederic.gionet@cfib.ca" <frederic.gionet@cfib.ca>,
"David.Raymond.Amos333@gmail.
"daly@nbnet.nb.ca" <daly@nbnet.nb.ca>, "david.sollows@gnb.ca"
<david.sollows@gnb.ca>, "Brandy.Gellner@
<Brandy.Gellner@
"Gilles.volpe@
<Gilles.volpe@
"dave.lavigne@
<dave.lavigne@
Cc: "Waycott, Stephen" <SWaycott@nbpower.com>, "Gordon, Laura"
<LGordon@nbpower.com>
Dear Ms. Mitchell, Counsel and Registered Parties,
Please find attached the following documentation:
1. Court Stamped copy of a Notice of Application dated July 4, 2023
(issued by the Registrar of the Court of Appeal on July 5, 2023);
2. Court Stamped copy of the Affidavit of Darren Murphy dated July 4, 2023;
3. Copy of correspondence dated July 5, 2023 from the Deputy
Registrar of the Court of Appeal confirming the hearing date of
October 19, 2023 and the dates for filing of further documentation;
and
4. An Acknowledgement of Receipt (in both Word and pdf format).
I am providing this documentation to the Board, Board staff, counsel
for those parties who had retained counsel, and those parties who have
not previously retained counsel. I recognise that counsel for J.D.
Irving Ltd. And Utilities Municipal have changed since the hearing of
this matter, and will reach out to those counsel directly.
May I ask that each registered party execute and return to me the
Acknowledgement of Receipt that has been enclosed. The form has been
adapted to permit execution by counsel, an authorized representative,
or the party themselves where they are individuals who have intervened
without counsel.
NB Power has not automatically added Registered Interveners in Matter
541 as parties to this Application. The practice in these matters is
not to do so, and to require such interested persons to apply to the
Court of Appeal for status as an intervener in this proceeding. NB
Power will not object to any such motion for status which is brought
to the Court.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Regards,
John
John G. Furey
Barrister & Solicitor
John G. Furey Professional Corporation
265 Berkley Drive
New Maryland, NB
E3C 1B9
Email: JohnFurey@fureylegal.com<
Phone: 506-444-1328
Fax: 506-300-2076
Large price hikes requested by N.B. Power to get long-delayed review
Utility wants approval to raise rates an average of 19.4 per cent, spread over 2 years
A long-delayed hearing into two large rate increases sought by N.B. Power is scheduled to begin in Fredericton today, although for months the utility has been charging customers some of the higher prices that will be under review.
The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board is expected to hear evidence sporadically over 16 days starting this week and ending in late August to determine whether N.B. Power should be allowed to raise its electricity rates by nearly 20 per cent over two years.
The utility says it needs the money to slow growth in its $5.4 billion debt load as it begins spending billions more on major infrastructure projects, including a refurbishment of the prematurely aging Mactaquac hydro electric dam outside Fredericton.
Highlighting the gravity of the request, N.B. Power president Lori Clark will appear at the hearing for a second straight year to personally give evidence about the need for higher rates, something previous chief executives at the utility have rarely done.
"The cost of delivering electricity has risen significantly," Clark says in an opening statement that has already been filed with the EUB and is expected to be delivered today.
N.B.
Power CEO Lori Clark, shown here at an appearance at the legislature,
intends to personally appear at the utility's rate hearing to testify
about the need for higher prices. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"We need to raise rates to allow us, as a cost-of-service utility, to cover our costs and that is reflected in our application. We understand that nobody likes to see rates going up, and we know this is a difficult time for our customers as they are already facing cost pressures on their everyday needs from gas to groceries."
Because of delays in scheduling the rate hearing, mostly caused by the New Brunswick government, N.B. Power was given permission by the EUB to raise its base rates for this year on April 1 by an average of 9.25 per cent, including 9.8 per cent on residential and large industrial customers.
The hearing will investigate whether that increase was justified. It will also determine whether a second average increase of 9.25 per cent, including another 9.8 per cent increase on residential and large industrial customers scheduled for April 2025, is warranted.
By the time the hearing concludes in late August, N.B. Power will have collected an estimated $52 million in additional revenue from customers from the higher rates awarded in April.
The utility will be required to refund a portion of that if the EUB eventually decides the full increase is too high.
A
decision by Premier Blaine Higgs not to fill vacancies on the Energy
and Utilities Board for several months left it unable to hold hearings
on N.B. Power's rate increase in May. Earlier, a surprise government
decision to alter N.B. Power's debt targets scuttled a February hearing.
(Radio-Canada)
"The Board directs NB Power to make billing adjustments for customers in the event that final rates approved by the Board are different than the rates approved in the interim Order," the EUB wrote in its decision to allow increased rates to take effect in April before the hearing into whether they are reasonable.
Last year following a hearing, the EUB approved only two-thirds of an 8.9 per cent rate increase requested by the utility.
N.B. Power's application is the first seeking approval for rates that cover more than one year.
New rules allow that option.
The utility has filed more than 400 exhibits in support of its application and answered several hundred written questions submitted in advance of the hearing by other interested parties.
Those include the industrial forest company J.D. Irving Ltd., the province's three municipal utilities, the community group Human Development Council, public intervener Alain Chiasson and the EUB itself.
N.B.
Power is planning to spend $70 million on the Mactaquac Dam
refurbishment project this year, $295 million next year and billions
more in future years. The utility says higher rates will help keep its
debt from ballooning because of it. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Originally meant to be held in February the hearing has been unexpectedly delayed twice.
Last fall, just days before N.B. Power was supposed to file its application for new rates, the New Brunswick government changed its mind on debt targets the utility should meet.
That caused a 72-day delay in the application being submitted as the utility calculated the impact of that change on its budgets.
That forced the hearing to move from February to May, but it had to be cancelled again after a car accident involving the EUB's acting chair, Stephanie Wilson.
Legislation requires a three-person panel to conduct a hearing, and at the time the EUB was down to only three members following delays by the province in filling board vacancies. Wilson's absences made it impossible to proceed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reply to David Amos
"NB Power has forecast a variety of costs that are not supported as being just and reasonable."
Madsen is an accountant and former Alberta utility executive who now heads Emrydia Consulting Corporation.
He was hired by New Brunswick public intervener Alain Chiasson to review NB Power's rate application.
"Speaking to reporters following question period Friday New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs acknowledged his government has been delaying appointing members to EUB on purpose"
Why is it I am not surprised that Higgy appointed a former Irving coworker to the board in less than two weeks?
But the fact that it’s now in excess of $5 Billion is close to criminal, but that’s another story.
The debt will not magically disappear, and we NB’ers will be paying the piper in the way of considerably higher rates.
It would be a much less bitter pill to swallow if:
- legislation is in place to prevent any provincial government involvement in the NB Power business operation
- current NB Power senior management is totally replaced by knowledgeable, competent, business driven individuals focused on running a profitable operation that treats NB ratepayers the way they should be treated (as the customer!!)
and has a specific mandate with respect to debt targets; and NO political interference to get there
- no “special treatment” on rates to any businesses or other organizations
It might be a bitter pill to swallow (more so for some) but the time has come to stop putting this “disaster” on the back burner because of politics and poor management.
If we don’t make changes, the same story won’t look much different in 5-10 years from now, except that rates will be a LOT higher (guaranteed!),
Reply to Dan Flanagan
Natural Resources and Energy Development
Changes to the Electricity Act introduced
15 May 2024
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Changes to the Electricity Act were introduced today as part of regulatory reform under the government’s clean energy strategy, Powering our Economy and the World with Clean Energy: Our Path Forward to 2035.
The changes, if approved, would allow NB Power to access alternative funding and to enter strategic partnerships with other entities related to existing and new generation assets.
“We are committed to ensuring reliable and affordable energy for New Brunswickers,” said Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland. “As the energy market changes with new technologies, energy sources, generation strategies and microgrids, NB Power needs to be modernized so our province is competitive and responsive.”
The clean energy strategy is meant to guide the province’s transition to a low-carbon economy while ensuring New Brunswickers have a secure and affordable supply of clean energy. As outlined in the strategy, enabling NB Power to explore partnerships and alternative financing to improve performance, lower operational risk and lower costs for New Brunswickers is necessary to facilitate the clean-energy transition in an affordable way.
The strategy focuses on four areas: affordability; energy security and reliability; regulatory reform; and economic growth.
15-05-24
Media Contact(s)
Nick Brown, communications, Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. nick.brown@gnb.ca.
New Brunswick releases energy strategy
The government of New Brunswick in Canada has released its strategy on how to transition the province to clean energy, while ensuring affordability and economic growth. “Powering our Economy and the World with Clean Energy – Our Path Forward to 2035” includes a 12-year road map and supporting strategies for the province to meet national and international clean energy transition targets.
The
government of New Brunswick in Canada has released its strategy on how
to transition the province to clean energy, while ensuring affordability
and economic growth. “Powering our Economy and the World with Clean
Energy – Our Path Forward to 2035” includes a 12-year road map and
supporting strategies for the province to meet national and
international clean energy transition targets.
“We have a generational opportunity in front of us, to change the way we use energy to live and work, that will lead to a cleaner environment, more economic growth and, most importantly, an affordable and secure energy supply," said New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs. “Our energy strategy balances addressing climate change with the growing energy needs and demands from all users in our province.”
“Climate change and the need to move away from greenhouse gas-emitting fuels are creating a global energy transition,” said Natural Resources & Energy Development Minister Mike Holland. “Our actions will collectively reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half by 2035, putting us well on our way to achieving a net-zero economy and creating new economic opportunities and prosperity for our province.”
The strategy focuses on four areas: affordability, energy security & reliability, regulatory reform, and economic growth. It calls for;
- a significant increase in the use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar;
- more carbon-free baseload nuclear generation with small modular reactors (SMRs) to ensure the province’s energy grid has enough power to meet peak demand;
- developing new energy sources, such as hydrogen and biofuels; and increasing energy conservation and efficiency efforts.
The strategy outlines how the energy landscape will transition, how the energy mix will change and the actions needed as well as the economic opportunities being created. It also looks at the impact the transition will have on how New Brunswickers think about and use energy. It outlines actions and requirements to meet federally regulated 2035 clean electricity and climate goals. An energy transition working group will be established. It will engage with First Nations and key stakeholders to ensure their input is considered in the development of initiatives and plans.
The strategy calls for the addition of 600 MWe of capacity at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generation Station by 2035, doubling New Brunswick's current nuclear capacity. The government says it will work with utility plant operator NB Power "to enable the establishment of a partnership with another nuclear operator to improve performance, lower operational risk and lower cost". NB Power earlier this year published its own strategic plan highlighting the need to phase out coal by 2030 and achieve net-zero electricity supply by 2035.
The roadmap included in the strategy report expects the first 150 MWe of SMR capacity to come online in 2030-2031, with another 450 MWe starting up in 2035. In July, NB Power, in partnership with SMR developer ARC Clean Technology Canada, submitted an environmental impact assessment registration document and an application for a site preparation licence for an SMR at Point Lepreau. The deployment of the ARC-100 sodium-cooled fast reactor in New Brunswick and is part of a joint strategic plan on SMR development and deployment released in 2022by the governments of Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta.
Higgs said his government will try to balance the cost of new energy sources with the ability for citizens to afford the expected additional expenses. He warned that it will be a "difficult" endeavour that will require help from Ottawa. "Is it going to be easy? No it's not," he told a news conference. "We have to balance affordability and the reliability, and … ensure that at the end of the day we don't put more and more hardship on the citizens to a point where they just can't afford to live and work in our province. Are we on a path to higher energy costs? Absolutely. I mean that path was set 10 years ago, I would say, by the federal government."
Holland told the press conference that the province is familiar with the costs associated with wind and hydroelectricity, but said the cost for bringing SMRs up to the anticipated capacity remains unknown.
"We will be looking to the federal government to assist and join us in funding some of the projects, some of the research," he noted. Holland said the province will lean more heavily on energy from wind and small nuclear reactors to decarbonise its economy. The first SMR should be operational by 2031 and the second in 2035, he added.
Opposition leaders described the energy plan as superficial. Green Leader David Coon said doubling the amount of nuclear capacity … “means we’re going to double the debt, double the rates, because it is the most expensive form of electricity on the planet”. Liberal Leader Susan Holt commended the government for bringing in a document that considers different sources of electricity but said it lacks specifics. “Half of it was a review of the past and what was forward-looking was thin, short on details, short on figures, or any commitment to timeline,” she said.
News Release
Natural Resources and Energy Development
Energy strategy released
13 December 2023FREDERICTON (GNB) – The government has released its strategy on how to transition the province to clean energy, while ensuring affordability for New Brunswickers and economic growth.
Powering our Economy and the World with Clean Energy – Our Path Forward to 2035 includes a 12-year road map and supporting strategies for the province to meet national and international clean energy transition targets.
“We have a generational opportunity in front of us, to change the way we use energy to live and work, that will lead to a cleaner environment, more economic growth and, most importantly, an affordable and secure energy supply for all New Brunswickers," said Premier Blaine Higgs. “Our energy strategy balances addressing climate change with the growing energy needs and demands from all users in our province.”
The strategy focuses on four areas:
- affordability
- energy security and reliability
- regulatory reform
- economic growth
The strategy calls for a significant increase in the use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar; more carbon-free baseload nuclear generation with small modular reactors to ensure the province’s energy grid has enough power to meet peak demand; developing new energy sources, such as hydrogen and biofuels; and increasing energy conservation and efficiency efforts.
The strategy outlines how the energy landscape will transition in New Brunswick; how the energy mix will change; the actions needed; economic opportunities being created; and the impact the transition will have on how New Brunswickers think about and use energy.
It also outlines actions and requirements to meet federally regulated 2035 clean electricity and climate goals.
“Climate change and the need to move away from greenhouse gas-emitting fuels are creating a global energy transition,” said Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland. “Our actions will collectively reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half by 2035, putting us well on our way to achieving a net-zero economy and creating new economic opportunities and prosperity for our province.”
An energy transition working group will be established. It will engage with First Nations and key stakeholders to ensure their input is considered in the development of initiatives and plans.
Media Contact(s)
Nick Brown, communications, Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. nick.brown@gnb.ca.
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