Questions raised about NB Power’s Mactaqauc refurbishment after scathing gas plant report

Concerns are being raised over the cost of the Mactaquac Dam refurbishment in New Brunswick.

A report this week on NB Power’s decision-making process for a $2.8-billion natural gas power plant is raising questions about how the utility will approach a $9-billion refurbishment of the Mactaquac Dam.

New Brunswick Energy Minister René Legacy admits there hasn’t been sufficient information offered to the public about Mactaquac’s refurbishment, but says more information should be made public this fall.

“Mactaquac is a big project so the department is actually looking at how the government is going to follow through on the decision making,” says Legacy. “We’ve seen other projects like this across Canada that have gone awry and we want to learn from those lessons. We’re looking at that point right now.”

Legacy says he spoke briefly this week with NB Power CEO Lori Clark about Auditor General Paul Martin’s report from earlier this week, which said NB Power made rash decisions about its Renewable Integration Grid Security (RIGS) project presenting big risks to taxpayers.

“The process seemed messy,” says Legacy. “They want some tightening up there.”

NB Power declined multiple requests for interviews this week regarding the auditor general’s report, but in a written statement said decisions were made against the backdrop of “heightened system risk.”

Legacy says his understanding is that NB Power will be called before the legislature’s public accounts committee to answer questions about the auditor general’s report.

The gas plant project received approval from New Brunswick’s Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) last week.

On Mactaquac, the Liberals introduced legislation last year to make elements of the dam’s refurbishment exempt from EUB approvals. The province said the legislation would help improve the project’s feasibility.

Green Party Leader David Coon says a lack of information about the dam’s refurbishment may foreshadow the project’s future.

“Inquiring minds want to know what they’re planning, what’s going on,” says Coon. “And of course, it was exempted from the EUB which would’ve given us some information about what’s happening.”

Opposition energy critic and Progressive Conservative MLA Kris Austin says the government must strike a balance between efficiency and transparency as the refurbishment’s timeline closes in.

“You have to be able to ensure projects can move forward without constant barriers to the project,” says Austin. “At the same, you’ve got to make sure there is some oversight to the project.”

The dam, which came online in 1968, supplies roughly 12 per cent of New Brunswick homes and businesses with power. NB Power has indicated concrete portions of the station are swelling and cracking due to an alkali-aggregate reaction.

NB Power management has previously said the refurbishment would be done “piece-by-piece,” so the dam could remain operational during refurbishment.

With files CTV News Atlantic’s Sean Mott

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