NB Power review: few details and no climate action requirement

Ongoing concerns about energy poverty and spikes in NB Power bills sparked public protests earlier this month. On Monday, Premier Susan Holt and Minister responsible for Energy René Legacy, held a media event short on details but full of promises that changes are coming to the troubled public utility.

The government revealed that the public review of NB Power announced three weeks ago will take place this year and wrap up with a government decision no later than March 2026. More details are promised “later this spring.”

The review, to be led by three expert leads supported by steering and advisory committees, will engage with stakeholders and the public and focus on financial sustainability, governance and utility structure, investor attractiveness and strategic partnerships, and customer expectations.

Despite the link between energy generation and the climate crisis, the review will not include any guidance or requirement that the solutions proposed align with the province’s climate action plan. Minister Legacy said he thinks that “groups will come forward and ask about anything to do with clean energy, so that will come up as a focus.”

Holt stressed that New Brunswick cannot any longer put off major decisions about the future of the utility. “We can’t keep kicking the can down the road, as many previous governments have done, transformative change is required,” she said.

NB Power’s problems are well-known, including a massive 94 per cent debt to equity ratio that exceeds the legislated requirements in the province’s Electricity Act.

The high debt-to-equity refers to significant problems with the power generators on the electricity grid, including the Mactaquac hydro dam that needs costly repairs, the Belledune plant that needs to stop burning coal in 2030 to meet federal climate targets, and the poor performance of the Point Lepreau nuclear plant which is the main reason NB Power loses money almost every year.

For the past two years, stories have surfaced about a partnership or joint ownership of the nuclear plant with the public utility Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which owns all the other nuclear power reactors in Canada. OPG currently manages the New Brunswick reactor under a three-year contract with NB Power. At the media event, the premier said, “we’re very keen to explore all the types of partnerships through this review.”

The premier stressed that all options are on the table: “We don’t know what the recommendations will be, how dramatic they’ll be, whether they will include a sale [of NB Power] or not.”

The province will be sharing more details on its website when available.

Susan O’Donnell is on the NB Media Co-op board of directors and the lead researcher for the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University.