N.B. Power reveals new deals to increase capacity of Tantramar gas plant
CBC
N.B. Power has signed two new agreements that may help the utility make its case for a new gas and diesel plant in rural Tantramar.
But they may also delay the regulatory process considering it.
In documents briefly made public on the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board website Monday, the utility revealed it has reached a deal with Nova Scotia’s Independent Energy System Operator to sell 100 megawatts of capacity from the gas plant over the next 10 years, providing some cost-sharing opportunities for the utility.
That means the proposed plant near Centre Village would be capable of producing up to 500 megawatts of electricity when needed by either N.B. Power or the Nova Scotia system.
The documents also show the utility has amended its 25-year deal with ProEnergy, the company hired to build and operate the gas and diesel plant, which is estimated to cost over $1 billion.
The original contract with ProEnergy required the utility to get regulatory approval by April 2, or the Missouri-based company would have the right to leave the deal. The new agreement sets a June 2 deadline.
N.B Power may need the additional time, depending on how a hearing Friday before the Energy and Utilities Board goes.
Board hearings into the ‘prudence’ of the proposed plant are set to start on Monday in Moncton, but it’s not yet clear if the new documents will be accepted into evidence at the last minute, or cause delays in the proceedings.
N.B. Power must get permission to file its late evidence before the board can consider it, something that will be decided in the hearing scheduled for Friday.
The brief public appearance of the documents on the EUB website Monday was an oversight, board clerk Melissa Curran said in an email.
The documents have now been removed until board chair Christopher Stewart decides whether they are admissible on Friday. N.B. Power has released copies of the documents, which have redactions, to the CBC.
Lisa Griffin said she was surprised by the filing, which first came to her via an email on Monday, during an online conference to consider motions in the case. Griffin is part of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition, a registered intervener opposing the N.B. Power proposal.
Griffin said she’s concerned that if N.B. Power’s new evidence is accepted by the board, then either the hearing will be delayed or the process will be compromised.
If the evidence is accepted with no delays, that will mean “no chance for any of the interveners, or even the board, even to read it, go through it in fine detail, suggest interrogatories,” Griffin said.
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