News from Groups

From the Conservation Council of New Brunswick

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2026

Traditional territory of the Wabanaki Peoples/Fredericton – New Brunswickers are stuck holding a costly bill after the Energy and Utilities Board approved the expensive and high-polluting Tantramar diesel and gas plant.

“This decision will expose residents to higher power bills, more pollution, and decades of dependence on fossil fuels”, said Dr. Moe Qureshi, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick’s Director of Climate Research and Policy.

This plant is projected to be among the top polluters in New Brunswick, producing cancer-causing air toxins linked to respiratory illness and climate change, threatening the quality of life for New Brunswickers. New Brunswick ratepayers will bear the financial burden of a project expected to cost more than $1 billion, resulting in an estimated 5% increase in electricity bills. At the same time, the facility will be owned by the U.S.-based company PROENERGY, meaning ownership and profits will largely flow outside the province.

NB Power’s own comprehensive review acknowledged that the province cannot continue with the status quo. Yet this decision doubles down on the same fossil fuel approach that continues to create affordability and climate challenges. At a time when we should be transitioning to renewables, we are locking ourselves in for at least another 25 years of fossil fuels and increasing energy costs for ratepayers.

Families already struggling with rising costs are now being asked to bankroll a polluting facility that threatens public health while driving the province further away from its climate commitments.

Cleaner, more affordable alternatives are already being successfully deployed across North America. Battery storage systems are helping utilities meet peak electricity demand, lower costs, and reduce emissions without increasing dependence on fossil fuels. Yet N.B. Power chose to move forward with a polluting diesel and gas project rather than seriously pursuing these cleaner, more cost-effective solutions.

“People want affordable, reliable, clean energy, not another massive fossil fuel project that increases pollution and leaves ratepayers holding the bill,” said Qureshi.

A rushed project
N.B. Power is rushing this plant, failing to consider more efficient, cost-effective and future-proof options.

Why? The federal government published the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) in 2025, which limit the CO2 emissions fossil fuel generators can produce. Planned units that have started construction by 2027, however, will not be subjected to the CER until 2050. That means this plant could avoid stricter emissions requirements for decades.

This project shows a determination to stick with the same ideas that continue to fail this province. Yet N.B. Power’s own comprehensive review emphasizes that we cannot continue with the status quo. But that is what they are doing — making the same mistakes over again.

New Brunswickers deserve an energy system built for the future, not one that doubles down on pollution and financial risk.