Author: CREDNB

105 environment, labour, Indigenous and community groups, including CRED-NB, released a letter today, July 3, calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government to prioritize building out Canada’s east-west electricity grid with renewable energy, while upholding workers’ and Indigenous rights. 

The following is a summary of the priorities listed in the letter. The full letter can be found HERE.

• Commit significant federal funding toward permitting, planning and construction of strategic interprovincial and intra-provincial electricity transmission projects.
  
• The Green Budget Coalition, Green Economy Network and Climate Action Network Canada each identify a funding commitment of at least $20 billion over five years while the Canada Electricity Advisory Council recommends significant investment and reducing barriers for these transmission projects.
  
• Uphold legal and inherent Indigenous rights for Indigenous communities throughout Canada.
  
• Implement key labour supports as a condition for federal funding on electricity projects.
  
• Alongside the work on transmission and generation, the federal government should strengthen its financial support for energy efficiency, demand-side management, energy storage and other electricity system upgrades.
  
• With these priorities in mind, the federal government should update and implement Canada’s Electricity Strategy. This includes implementing the Clean Electricity Regulations, and continuing to advance Canada’s work to achieve a net-zero electricity grid.

See the press release HERE.

In a open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, 131 civil society groups expressed support for renewable energy and  opposition to federal investment in new nuclear reactors. Fourteen groups from NB including CRED-NB were among those signing the open letter which was sent on May 21, 2025.

To see the letter click here.

En français, clique ici.

Commentary by Emma Fackenthall in the NB Media Co-op

As many countries scramble toward a net-zero future, some are betting on nuclear energy to reach their goal. However, a quiet but profound gender divide is growing around nuclear energy. 

While nuclear power is often hailed as a critical tool in the climate fight, a growing body of research suggests that fewer women than men support nuclear power. This divide can be explained by safety concerns, ecofeminist ethics of care, and the nuclear industry’s macho culture. 

The striking gender divide is another reason to question the viability of nuclear energy to attain climate justice and energy democracy.

For the whole article, click here.

CRED-NB is a signatory to the Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) letter to Prime Minister Carney sent the day after the federal election. The letter congratulates Prime Minister Mark Carney and urges him to use this opportunity to build a fairer, more resilient society grounded in reliable, renewable Canadian solutions.

Prime Minister Carney has long been involved in climate initiatives; now, he has the chance to enact change at a national scale to make Canadians’ lives safer, healthier, and more affordable.

Read the full letter HERE.

Before the election, CAN-Rac released Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions: 2025 Election Priorities, setting out its calls to action for federal parties this campaign. See more details here.

In 2018, NB Power partnered with ARC Nuclear (now ARC Clean Technology) to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). That plan is unlikely to come to fruition since ARC has been unable to find a financial partner. Also, the ARC-100 reactor would require high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is only produced in Russia.

On Earth Day, April 22, 2025, the Globe and Mail reported the following from the NB Minister for Energy and Finance, René Legacy.

“The original plan to have one or two of the reactors built for 2030, that time frame is probably not going to happen,” Mr. Legacy said, adding that first-of-a-kind reactors are expensive while acknowledging the province’s fiscal constraints. “So we’re looking at, probably, different options.”

See more details on ARC-100 nuclear here.

New Brunswickers urgently need more affordable, reliable and cleaner electricity as we head into an uncertain future. In response, CRED-NB has developed a plan for electricity generation that includes guideposts and key steps for provincial policy-makers.

Can clean, renewable power be cheap? In a word, yes!

The details are here.

New Brunswickers urgently need more affordable, reliable and cleaner electricity as we head into an uncertain future. In response, CRED-NB has developed a plan for electricity generation that includes guideposts and key steps for provincial policy-makers.

Can New Brunswick have cheap, clean, renewable and secure power? In a word, yes!

The details are here.

What is the best way for utilities to delay the transition from fossil fuels? Propose to build nuclear reactors.

Electricity utilities wanting to “decarbonize” have several options for replacing the fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) plants on their grids: aim to increase energy efficiency and productivity; add new renewable energy and storage resources; consider adding carbon capture and storage (CCS); or propose to build new nuclear reactors.

By objective measures, building new nuclear power plants will cost more, take longer to deploy, and introduce catastrophic accident risks—relative to improving energy productivity, expanding renewables with energy storage, and developing distributed energy resources. CCS suffers from limits of appropriate geology, reduced plant efficiency, and high costs.

However, if the goal is to keep fossil fuel-fired plants operating as long as possible, promising to build more nuclear energy has definite appeal.

Read the complete article here.

Dr. Susan O’Donnell is a core member of CRED-NB, on the board of the NB Media Co-op and adjunct research professor and lead investigator of the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Dr. Mark Winfield is a professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University in Toronto, and co-chair of the faculty’s Sustainable Energy Initiative.

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.”

Read the full article here.

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

Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) has released Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions: 2025 Election Priorities, setting out its calls to action for federal parties this campaign.

The calls to action are based on six pillars:

1. Strengthen Canada’s independence and economy by shifting to clean energy.
2. Build on Canada’s climate and nature progress.
3. Make Canadians’ lives safer, healthier, and more affordable.
4. Center people and communities.
5. Protect our public institutions and tackle billionaire power and greed.
6. Champion international cooperation amidst geopolitical chaos.

See the CAN-Rac press release HERE

CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network.

Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada is a coalition of over 180 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Their membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.