Communication around a leak of heavy water at the Point Lepreau generating station and how it happened is raising questions. CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell is interviewed on CBC Information Morning Saint John about her concerns regarding the way NB Power is sharing information with the public. Listen to the clip HERE.
Author: CREDNB
CRED-NB submission to the West Coast Pipeline consultation
CRED-NB made a submission to the Major Projects Office consultation on the proposed West Coast Pipeline. If built, the pipeline would bring even more oil from Alberta’s tar sands to the Pacific coast for export.
In our submission, we wrote that the proposed pipeline will not strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience, or security. The pipeline will continue to tie the Canadian economy to fossil fuels, ensuring that we remain vulnerable to market booms and busts, and price shocks as the rest of the world builds domestic energy security by committing to the energy transition.
Read the full document HERE. CRED-NB is one of many member groups of Climate Action Network Canada that is opposing the West Coast Pipeline and all new fossil fuel infrastructure during the climate crisis.
Environment Minister issues clarification after saying province ‘on target’ with climate goals
How can a fossil fuel burning power plant be expected to operate while meeting a “net zero” emissions requirement? That’s one of the questions that remains after New Brunswick’s Liberal government announced conditional approval for a planned 500-megawatt generating station in Tantramar.
At a media conference announcing the results of the environmental impact assessment on Aug. 28, Environment Minister Gilles LePage assured reporters that New Brunswick is on target to meet its emissions targets.
In fact, a report quietly published by his own department just one week earlier states that New Brunswick “is not currently on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.” Read the story by David Gordon Koch in the NB Media Co-op, HERE.
Pay hike for NB Power CEO while ratepayers struggle ‘doesn’t make sense’: NB ACORN
Picketers at NB Power’s Fredericton headquarters on Sept. 3 said the government is not doing enough to help the thousands of New Brunswickers struggling to pay their electricity bill.
The 2025 report on energy poverty from the Human Development Council found that more than 37,000 households in the province experience both low income and high energy burden, a rate nearly double the national average.
NB ACORN chair Nichola Taylor organized the picket because she said the government is not doing enough to help these people. “First of all, the announcement that the CEO is getting a huge pay rise while everybody else is paying huge rate increases … it just doesn’t make sense.”
Read the full story by CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell in the NB Media Co-op, HERE.
Update on the proposed Tantramar Gas Plant
The NB Media Co-op and The Energy Mix both have the story of the Government of New Brunswick’s recent approval of the proposed gas plant in Tantramar. Here’s the details:
Province approves Tantramar gas/diesel plant with 45 conditions. (August 31). NB Media Co-op story HERE.
The New Brunswick government has approved construction of a 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village subject to 45 conditions that require the U.S. company PROENERGY to monitor air and water quality and submit a net zero greenhouse gas emissions plan after one full year of operation.
New Brunswick Greenlights 500-MW Tantramar Gas Plant, Subject to Conditions. (August 28). The Energy Mix story HERE.
The New Brunswick government on Friday granted conditional approval for a 500-megawatt natural gas plant that officials say is crucial to avoid rolling electricity blackouts within the next two years. The green light comes after the province completed an environmental impact assessment on the project. The government said U.S.-based ProEnergy would need to meet a series of 45 conditions before building and while running the facility.
‘Do your job’: Federal minister pressed to review Centre Village gas plant (August 18). NB Media Co-op story HERE.
The executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute is renewing his call for federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin to order a comprehensive review of the proposed 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village. “We’re asking her to do her job,” Barry Rothfuss said on August 13 during a telephone interview. “Right now, we have, in my view, an illegal environmental assessment taking place in the province of New Brunswick,” he added.
NB Power’s proposed gas plant in Tantramar: ‘opposites day’ revisited. (August 6). NB Media Co-op story HERE.
Fans of Sesame Street will recall the iconic video “Opposites Day,” in which Bert and Ernie learn all about opposites. Whatever they do, the reverse is intended. Whatever they say, the opposite is meant. Hilarious for adults, educational for the kids. In a stark example of life imitates art, Tantramar Municipal Council and residents were treated recently to their own version of Opposites Day, as NB Power’s Chief Commercial Officer Brad Coady and his entourage appeared before Municipal Council on July 14. The ostensible purpose? To demonstrate transparency about the proposed 500-megawatt fossil fuel power generation plant for Centre Village in Tantramar, to be built, owned and operated by the American firm PROENERGY. But the result? Obscurity, unintelligibility, obfuscation. Opposites Day indeed.
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.