Commentary: Telegraph Journal – Dec. 18, 2025
By Lisa Griffin
A Sunday, December 14 Brunswick News article quoted Premier Susan Holt claiming there are “no alternatives” capable of meeting New Brunswick’s electricity needs by 2028. That statement is misleading and risks locking the province into an outdated, harmful decision that can still be avoided.
New Brunswickers want reliable power – but they also want clean air, protected wetlands, safe drinking water, and a future that does not mortgage public health for short-term convenience. These goals are not mutually exclusive. Suggesting that fossil-fuel peaker plants are the only solution is both inaccurate and irresponsible.
The claim that renewables cannot meet near-term demand ignores established facts. Wind, solar, and battery storage are not experimental technologies. They are widely deployed, rapidly scalable, and significantly more energy-efficient than fossil fuel generation when losses from extraction, transport, and combustion are considered. Battery energy storage systems can be deployed faster than gas plants, respond instantaneously to peak demand, and do not require proximity to gas pipelines – the real reason Tantramar has been selected.
The suggestion that Scoudouc was rejected due to the presence of a pileated woodpecker raises serious concerns. Industrial sites are designated through rigorous provincial planning, environmental review, and public consultation processes intended to prevent precisely this kind of after-the-fact justification. Environmental protection must be comprehensive and consistent – not selectively invoked when convenient. Wetlands, water tables, and human health deserve the same level of scrutiny.
Industrial zoning exists to ensure heavy industry is located appropriately before projects are proposed. In the RIGS case, this process has not been respected. The people of Tantramar – residents and council alike – were blindsided and are now being rushed through a project that lacks prudence on financial, environmental, and socio-economic grounds.
When NB Power speaks of “peak demand,” the public deserves clarity. Peak demand refers to short, infrequent spikes, often measured in hours per year – not continuous baseload. Building a large fossil fuel plant to address these brief peaks is like buying a semi-truck to do a bicycle’s job. Modern grid management, demand response, distributed renewables, and strategically located battery storage are designed for exactly this purpose.
Across North America, peaker plants are becoming obsolete. Jurisdictions far larger than New Brunswick are meeting peak demand using batteries paired with renewables – often at lower cost and with greater reliability. Even NB Power’s own Integrated Resource Plan identifies battery storage as the preferred option in most future scenarios. Claims about battery costs omit critical factors such as energy arbitrage, presenting a distorted comparison.
Outdated fossil infrastructure carries documented health risks, including respiratory and cardiovascular illness, and compounds environmental damage over time. At a moment of accelerating climate impacts, choosing technologies that increase emissions is not prudent governance – it is willful neglect.
Wind, solar, and battery solutions are available now. Batteries could be installed quickly in existing industrial areas like Scoudouc without disturbing wetlands or requiring a gas pipeline. That fact alone proves the Tantramar RIGS project is unnecessary.
There are alternatives. What is lacking is not technology, but the political will to fully understand it – and the courage to choose better.
Lisa Griffin is the resource and development coordinator for the Atlantic Wildlife Institute.