Advocates call for energy-poverty strategy as N.B. Power rates increase

Silas Brown · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 4:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

A tiny radical of protesters gathered extracurricular N.B. Power's office successful downtown Fredericton connected Tuesday, reciting poems and waving signs, calling for the April 1 hike to powerfulness bills to beryllium enactment connected hold.

Nichola Taylor, provincial co-ordinator for the advocacy radical ACORN, said the 9.6 per cent summation successful residential rates is much than the province's astir susceptible tin bear. 

"We conscionable cannot spend it. We cannot spend these precocious vigor rates," she said. 

"It's astatine the outgo of low- to moderate-income people who are truly struggling close present with precocious market prices and the increases successful rent."

Rates person changeable up by astir 30 per cent implicit the past 3 years arsenic N.B. Power has struggled to equilibrium its fund and meet government-mandated indebtedness simplification targets

N.B. Power CEO Lori Clark has assured lawmakers and the nationalist that the inferior has been trying to trim its expenses, but that ultimately, the lone mode it tin summation the gross indispensable to conscionable its operational obligations is to summation rates. 

"The challenges that the inferior has with indebtedness today, we cannot chopped our mode retired of," Clark told a legislative committee successful February.

"Cutting our mode retired of those challenges volition effect successful america not being capable to run our system, not beryllium capable to support our assets, not beryllium capable to bash vegetation management."

Tuesday's complaint summation is expected to make betwixt $160 cardinal and $170 cardinal successful gross this year. The astir caller quarterly results disposable amusement an operating nonaccomplishment of $12 million.

A spike successful depletion implicit the wintertime accrued scrutiny connected N.B. Power and spurred the authorities to bid an outer audit of the billing system, which is expected to beryllium released this month. 

The authorities fulfilled an predetermination committedness successful January with a 10 per cent rebate connected bills for residential customers, but complaints implicit precocious vigor costs person persisted. 

And advocates privation to spot a broad vigor poorness strategy enactment into place. 

"The authorities has to measurement in," Taylor said. "They request to assistance retired people."

Premier Susan Holt told reporters past week that the authorities did look into stopping Tuesday's complaint hike, but couldn't find a mechanics to bash so. 

She said the authorities is readying a nationalist reappraisal process of the utility with the extremity of uncovering a sustainable way forward. 

"We privation to beryllium capable to wage our powerfulness bills, we privation to beryllium capable to make retired industry, we privation to bash truthful successful a mode that's environmentally friendly, we privation to bash truthful successful a mode that's affordable and sustainable successful the long-term," Holt said. 

"We request a solution that's acceptable to New Brunswickers."

Herb Emery, the Vaughan seat successful determination economics astatine the University of New Brunswick, told CBC News determination aren't immoderate casual answers to the challenges faced by the utility. 

"In the abbreviated run, N.B. Power has to run and terms to conscionable the requirements they person nether legislation," helium said successful an email.  

"On the different side, each [the government] can bash is bash immoderate benignant of rebate oregon currency transportation to relieve households and businesses." 

In the meantime, Taylor said those successful the state who are struggling volition beryllium worse disconnected contiguous than they were the time before. 

"It's conscionable not bully enough, and it needs to halt today," she said.