NB Power takes questions from council on proposed power plant

There were barely any empty seats inside Tantramar council chambers Wednesday night as NB Power delivered a five-minute presentation on a proposed natural gas p

There were barely any empty seats inside Tantramar council chambers Wednesday night.

NB Power chief commercial officer Brad Coady delivered a five-minute presentation on a proposed natural gas plant and then took numerous questions from councillors.

The 500-megawatt gas-fired plant project was announced in July and will be built by American company PROENERGY.

Coady said the province has experienced tremendous population and infrastructure growth over the past few years and a new power plant is needed.

“We are anticipating running out of power in New Brunswick by 2028 and it’s this project that’s going to help us with that. To solve the gaps that we are foreseeing in our forecast,” said Coady.

The Renewables Integration Grid Security [RIGS] project is an electricity grid support facility that will provide power that the province says is very much needed at a cost of around $1 billion.

Questions from councillors ranged from excessive noise, safety issues, battery storage, water consumption, the impact on the ecosystem and whether or not First Nations communities were consulted.

Afterwards, some residents who attended felt frustrated and deeply concerned about the choice of location and the use of fossil fuels.

Mira Dietz Chiasson felt like many questions weren’t answered.

“We know that we need to transition away from fossil fuels. I’m a millennial, I’m a young person. I’m really concerned about my future. This is exactly the direction that we should not be going. And I’m actually super frustrated that we’re considering in 2025, we’re considering a fossil fuel plant,” said Dietz Chiasson.

Barbara Clayton believes the project should be cancelled.

“I just think that the whole question of why they chose Tantramar when it’s such an environmentally vulnerable area, why that was chosen, even considered in the first place, was never answered,” said Clayton.

Coady said the Tantramar area was the only site that can meet its schedule and there were no other legitimate options.

He did say that an industrial park in Scoudouc near Moncton was considered first, but the province couldn’t make that work.

“I really sympathize with their feelings on this to be honest with you. There’s no ideal site in New Brunswick for a plant like this,” said Coady.

Coady said the project needs to receive all of its environmental permits and finances have to be in place before the proposed plant becomes a reality.

As far as if the proposed plant is safe, Coady said absolutely because the technology, which uses jet engines, is very common and most Canadian provinces and territories are pursuing some version of the same technology.

“We are very much mainstream. There’s nothing special about the project. Nothing remarkable about it,” said Coady.

The project was announced via a news release on July 14, but the municipality was not notified beforehand.

Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black said that was a mistake on NB Power’s part and was sure to let Coady know about it.

Coady said that it wasn’t his decision and things moved rapidly, but NB Power knew it would be a hot button political issue.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” said Coady. “We need to do better next time.”

Tantramar council passed a motion on Dec. 9, expressing opposition to the project.

If it does go ahead as planned, the facility is expected to begin operation by the end of 2028.

Another meeting will be held with NB Power on Jan. 14, 2026.

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