Opposition continues even as NB Power warns of future energy shortages
NB Power executives spent nearly two hours answering questions from Tantramar council last week about a proposed gas turbine facility planned for Centre Village, but the leader of a local opposition coalition says the presentation did not resolve her concerns.
Lisa Griffin is the coalition coordinator for the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition, a group that began organizing around the project months before NB Power appeared before council.
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Griffin spoke publicly about the proposal in late November, raising concerns about how it fit into NB Power’s long-term planning.
“NB Power has something called an integrated resource plan and this plant is not in it,” Griffin said. “So suddenly we’re taking a giant U-turn and choosing gas plants that are not even in the plan.”
She also pointed to NB Power’s stated climate commitments.
“Their highest priority is to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. These are their words, not mine,” Griffin said.
After that speech, Griffin told CHMA the coalition was still working to understand the technical and regulatory aspects of the project.
“The easy part has been getting sign-ons, because everyone opposes this,” she said. “The hardest part is keeping up with documentation that isn’t in our wheelhouse.”
Griffin also attended Tantramar council’s special meeting on December 17, where NB Power’s chief commercial officer Brad Coady outlined the utility’s case for the project, arguing it is needed to maintain grid reliability as renewable energy expands.
After hearing that presentation, Griffin said her concerns remained.
“What stood out to me was the back and forth on fact versus misinformation,” she said. “A lot of what we do is myth-busting.”
She challenged NB Power’s framing of peak demand, pointing to the utility’s own planning documents.
“Their integrated resource plan shows that peak demand adds up to about ten hours a year,” Griffin said. “You don’t build a 400-megawatt gas plant on a protected wetland to take care of that.”
Griffin also questioned NB Power’s warnings about future shortages, arguing the issue is system management rather than total supply.
“They don’t need power most of the time,” she said. “They need power during peak times, and even then, they don’t need more power. They need to manage the system better.”
She noted that NB Power announced a renewed call for battery storage proposals the same day it appeared before council.
“They just put out an expression of interest for battery storage,” Griffin said. “So it could potentially be an alternative.”
Despite attending the meeting and hearing NB Power’s explanations directly, Griffin said the coalition’s position has not changed.
“This is not a prudent plan,” she said. “It wasn’t communicated in a prudent way, and it’s not financially responsible.”
The Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC) now plans to focus on the regulatory process ahead, including environmental review and hearings before the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board.
Over the weekend, strong winds, not energy shortages, knocked out power across New Brunswick for more than 50,000 customers. During their presentation last week, Brad Coady warned that delays on new capacity could carry consequences.
“If this slips, the consequence is energy shortages starting as early as 2028,” Coady said.
NB Power’s proposed Centre Village project must still undergo environmental assessment and regulatory approval before any construction can begin.
