We can do better: Cancel the Tantramar gas plant now and replace it with battery storage systems

Dear Premier Holt,

Yesterday, January 14, 2026, I attended a public hearing about the Tantramar gas plant at Mount Allison University. The auditorium was crammed full of concerned citizens like me, plus many others attending online. Brad Coady from NB Power was accompanied by others from his team as well as representatives from PROENERGY.

Over the course of the evening, we heard from many different people: Residents living adjacent to the gas plant who are desperately trying to get answers about the impact on their water, seniors fighting for a better future for their kids and grandkids, young people frustrated and angry about the disregard for their future.

Elder Jean Nye from Amlamgog First Nation spoke about our damaged relationship with nature, our duty to plan ahead for seven generations, and how young people deserve hope and answers, earning her a standing ovation from the audience. Our MLA Megan Mitton also spoke with passion, repeating firmly what people had been saying to NB Power all evening, “You do not have social license to build this project here.”

We know there are better alternatives out there: renewable energies and battery storage systems.

Yesterday, Coady kept repeating “the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun goes down at night.” Obviously. but what Coady didn’t seem to want to accept is that wind and solar energy, though intermittent, can provide reliable energy if it can be stored. This simple fact makes NB Power’s entire argument tumble down like a house of cards.

Building gas turbines is nonsensical, outdated, and a slap in the face to young people like me who are seeing our futures set on the line simply because acting now is just too expensive, according to Brad Coady. We can’t ask people to pay more on their energy bills right now, he suggested.

This attitude deserves to be challenged: the price of battery storage systems fell by 40 per cent in just one year; NB power’s argument that battery storage costs too much does simply not stand up to scrutiny as prices keep plummeting. An analysis by Moe Qureshi, PhD, presented to Tantramar’s Climate Change Advisory Committee, found that battery storage systems would in fact cost less over time. 

My question is, did Brad Coady ask New Brunswickers whether they want a gas plant? Did you?

Because I heard the answer from Tantramar yesterday. It was loud and clear, and it was unequivocal: “NO.”

We can do better!

I am calling on New Brunswick to step up and ensure a viable future for everyone. This means immediately canceling the Tantramar gas plant and replacing it with a battery storage system paired with synchronous condensers to attain the grid stability and renewables integration that is needed and that fulfills NB Power’s mandate.

The future is here, and let’s leave fossils behind.

Mira Dietz Chiasson has been concerned about climate change ever since she can remember. She is a resident of Tantramar and lives on the marsh among the black ducks and ring-necked pheasants.