Moving energy from Eastern Canada prioritized at first ministers’ meeting

The meeting between the prime minister and the premiers focused on moving energy from Atlantic Canada.

A plan to generate and transmit energy from Eastern Canada to other markets has been prioritized as a “nation-building” project, following a meeting with the premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The Eastern Energy Partnership would link hydro and wind power from Atlantic Canada and Quebec to destinations in Western Canada and U.S. states in New England.

An initial cost of $8 billion has been tagged for transmission infrastructure.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said a portion of the plan, dubbed “Wind West,” would send energy from the province’s offshore wind zones via a transmission cable.

“Nova Scotia’s Wind West project can produce enough energy that is the equivalent of powering up to 27 per cent of the country’s needs,” said Houston in a social media video post Monday evening.

“This energy is very valuable. New England has massive extra energy needs and they’re certainly not alone.”

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she was “really happy” to see the Eastern Energy Partnership emerge as a top priority at the first ministers’ meeting, held in Saskatoon on Monday.

“The provinces have a role to play, the federal government has a role to play,” said Holt to reporters. “They’ve expressed a strong desire to see those connections made between provinces to have an integrated grid that contributes to New Brunswick and to Canada being an energy superpower.”

Oil pipelines were a focus during the first ministers’ meeting, with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressing interest for potential pipeline routes that would bypass Quebec.

“I think what New Brunswick is most interested in right now is natural gas and extending a natural gas line that stops in Quebec City, a couple hundred kilometres to the border of New Brunswick,” said Holt. “And then through New Brunswick to the different places that I mentioned: Belledune, down the west and connecting in at Fredericton and the Maritimes and northeast pipeline.

“That source of natural gas is something the industry wants. And then we can take it further and look at what we do with our LNG terminal in Saint John, if there’s a reliable source of gas to put back into a liquefaction plan.”

Holt responded to questions about Smith’s pitch for an oil pipeline from Alberta to Hudson Bay to reach eastern markets, and what role New Brunswick could play.

“I think the timeline on a project like that is extensive,” said Holt. “Probably a bit longer than it would take to build a couple hundred kilometres of natural gas line from Quebec City down.”