Author: CREDNB

PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia’s MOU marks an important step towards doubling grid capacity

In July, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance Maritime regional electricity cooperation and system integration — marking an important step towards a deeper regional electricity system. 

The agreement between the three provinces establishes a process to develop a transmission roadmap, exploring how greater coordination of electricity planning, transmission, generation and emerging energy resources can strengthen the region’s energy system. It also opens the door to exploring new approaches to regional grid operations, including the potential for a Maritime Independent System Operator.

While the final model is yet to be developed, the MOU represents a meaningful shift toward breaking down provincial silos and finding new ways to improve reliability, make smarter infrastructure investments, and build a stronger electricity system for the region. 

Read the full statement by Climate Action Network Canada HERE. CRED-NB is a member of the national network.

CRED-NB signs submission to government on Major Projects proposal

CRED-NB, a member of Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac), signed the network’s submission to the federal government on its proposal: Getting Major Projects Built in Canada.

The submission states that streamlining regulatory assessments will not solve the problem of project delays, often caused by economic factors like unstable commodities markets, and will not increase the certainty of a project’s economic benefits. Moreover, dismantling environmental protections at this scale will result in lower public trust and loss of social licence, which will make it harder to build major projects in the long run.

Read the full submission HERE. CRED-NB is a CAN-Rac member.

Indigenous financial stake not essential for Tantramar gas plant: NB Power executive

CRED-NB is a member of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition that is fighting a proposed fossil gas and diesel plant in Tantramar. NB Power’s agreement with ProEnergy requires the American company to establish “a partnership and consultation with Indigenous communities.” In the latest development about the project, an NB Power executive said an Indigenous partnership is not essential.

Read the article by Bruce Wark in the NB Media Co-op HERE.

Coalition Files Court Challenge to Tantramar Gas Project

The Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC) filed an application for judicial review of the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board’s approval of the proposed Renewable Integration and Grid Security Project (RIGS) in Tantramar.

The EUB approved the project in May that includes a proposed 400-megawatt dual-fuel generating facility and an additional 100-megawatt expansion intended to supply power to Nova Scotia. The project’s capital cost is expected to exceed $1 billion, and if it goes ahead, it will raise electricity rates. This is a story written by Jim Emberger of the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance. Read the full story and download a copy of the PCIC petition on the NBASGA website HERE.

CRED-NB is a member of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition and NBASGA is a CRED-NB Champion.

Stability will come from investing in clean energy, not uncertain fossil fuel exports

Climate Action Network Canada issued a statement in early July responding to Alberta’s application for a pipeline to the Major Projects Office. In part, the statement includes: “[W]e find ourselves in a treacherous moment of geopolitical instability. But in 2026, stability for our economy, for our communities, and for our planet will come from diversifying not only from an unstable trading partner, but from volatile fossil fuels. The “biblical weather” that delayed the announcement made the point for us: climate change itself is a growing source of instability. Continuing to expand fossil fuel production when Canadians are already living with climate chaos is simply dangerous.”

Read the full statement HERE.

Nuclear Energy Strategy a “Cash Cow” for the Nuclear Industry

Ottawa – Critics from civil society organizations and academia are calling out the Nuclear Energy Strategy for Canada released by the Federal Government as a cash cow for the nuclear industry and a hubris-driven attempt to grab world “energy superpower” status based on past-Century technology.

The Strategy, released on June 22, is an ambitious agenda to spend public funds on new nuclear reactors to the detriment of readily available clean renewable sources, and to short-circuit independent oversight of nuclear projects.

The document reads like a wish list of nuclear developments, including the goal of 10 new large reactor projects in Canada by 2040. It parallels a US announcement made the next day, also promising 10 new large reactor projects and standing to benefit some of the same corporations.

Read the full media release HERE.

Action alert by July 22: Say goodbye to independent assessments of nuclear projects

Given the considerable pushback to the federal government’s discussion paper to reduce regulatory oversight of many types of projects, the deadline for feedback is extended until July 22. Action alert and more info HERE.

The federal Discussion Paper, Delivering on Big Projects in Canada outlined the plan to shorten and reduce environmental impact assessment. The plan will hit nuclear projects particularly hard, handing the assessment process over to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.  The deadline for comment is July 22, and it’s expected that new legislation will follow later this year.

Opponents vow ‘fight is not over’ after EUB approves gas plant

CRED-NB is a member of the Coalition to Protect the Chignecto Isthmus (CPIC) that is fighting the development of a fossil gas plant that was given the green light this week by New Brunswick’s Energy and Utilities Board. This article by Bruce Wark in the NB Media Co-op, HERE, has the reaction of CPIC, New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance and the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

CRED-NB’s statement on the EUB approval of the Tantramar Gas Plant

CRED-NB is deeply disappointed by the approval of the 500-megawatt gas-and-diesel plant proposed for Tantramar by the NB Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) on May 28.

While the plant threatens the sensitive Chignecto ecosystem, human health from toxic and climate-changing emissions, and aenergy affordability, the EUB is not required to consider the added costs these impacts would impose on the public.

As Megan Mitton, MLA for Tantramar, observed, the EUB is only required to determine if the project is “reasonable financially.”

It’s hard to see how approving a project that will contribute to rising electricity bills and increasing costs for health care and climate-related emergency response is reasonable financially.

Despite this setback, opponents are considering next steps, including launching a legal review of the EUB’s decision.

The power of the provincial government to overturn a decision by the EUB was removed by legislation in 2013.

In its decision, the EUB rebuked NB Power for filing insufficient information in support of its application for regulatory approval. In a CBC article, Lisa J Griffin, organizer of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition, noted that when Prince Edward Island’s energy regulator faced a similar difficulty during its ongoing hearings for gas plants from ProEnergy, the same company building the Tantramar project, it commissioned a study from Synapse Energy Economics of Massachusetts. The study concluded that battery storage was cheaper than gas plants and brought added benefits.

Why didn’t the EUB commission such a study when it found NB Power’s information on alternatives insufficient? Was it because ProEnergy had set June 2 as the deadline for regulatory approval, failing which it would walk away from its contract with NB Power?

Would pausing the hearings to commission a study have fallen outside the EUB’s mandate? In either case, the regulations governing the EUB have not served the public interest. Reform of the EUB Act should be considered. When the information supplied to support the project is insufficient, the EUB should not be bound by proponent “deadlines” and instead be able to extend the timelines to gather sufficient information to make an informed decision.