N.B. Power should focus on reducing power demand, not on building new supply, experts say

Some energy experts are challenging N.B. Power’s claim that a proposed billion-dollar power plant is needed to avoid an electricity shortage predicted for 2028.

Instead, they say, the utility could tackle its predicted shortage by reducing demand.

Demand-side management is a catch-all term for a collection of technologies and programs that help reduce the amount of electricity people use and spread out the times of day they use it. 

It starts with things like “simple insulation” to reduce overall heating demand, said Brendan Haley of Efficiency Canada. Then there’s technology like cold weather heat pumps.

In 2023, about 30 per cent of New Brunswick households still relied on electric baseboard heaters, according to Statistics Canada.

That number has been dropping thanks to programs like N.B. Power’s total home energy savings program, which pays incentives to people doing things such as stalling insulation and heat pumps. 

Nearly 29,000 households have completed upgrades using the program since 2018, but another 31,000 applications are either incomplete or in the pipeline. The program has yet to exceed its annual budget, which will be about $16 million in 2026.

Another N.B. Power program, which targets low-to-medium-income households is facing budget constraints.

The enhanced energy savings program fully covers costs of insulation and heat pumps for households with incomes below $70,000.

The program saw nearly 34,000 applications in the past three years. As of September, 21,000 applications remained incomplete, and there is a two-year wait.

The good news, Haley said, is that a recent study commissioned by N.B. Power shows that the utility could double energy efficiency efforts and remain cost effective.

“It is lower cost over the long term to save that energy than it is to spend on the supply side."

N.B. Power does some demand-side management but could do more, according to Haley.

The utility’s savings target for reducing electricity demand is set to reach 0.75 per cent of electricity sales by 2028.  In Nova Scotia, the province hit about 1.5 per cent in savings this year.