FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, July 6, 2026 — TANTRAMAR, N.B.

Application says Board’s decision lacked adequate reasons and denied the Coalition a fair hearing

Gregor MacAskill, representing the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC), has filed an application for judicial review of the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board’s approval of the Renewable Integration and Grid Security Project (RIGS).

The EUB approved the project on May 28, 2026. It includes a proposed 400-megawatt dual-fuel generating facility at Centre Village and an additional 100-megawatt expansion intended to serve Nova Scotia. The project’s capital cost is expected to exceed $1 billion, and the Board’s own decision notes it will raise electricity rates if included in NB Power’s future revenue requirements.

The application does not ask the Court to re-decide whether the project should proceed. It asks the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick to review whether the Board’s process met the standard New Brunswickers are entitled to: clear reasons, a fair hearing, and a decision that responds to the evidence before it.

Specifically, the application alleges the Board:

• could not, and did not, make a coherent, rational and reasonable decision based on the evidentiary record;
• did not adequately explain how or why it dismissed the failure by NB Power to follow mandatory processes for governing the approval of major capital projects, including the failure to consider plausible alternatives.
• failed to meaningfully consider and respond to submissions made by intervenors, including PCIC; and
• Did not provide PCIC a fair opportunity to participate in a proceeding of this scale and consequence.

“This is not about relitigating the project – it’s about whether a billion-dollar decision that ratepayers will be paying for over the next 25 years was reached through a process New Brunswickers can trust,” states Coalition spokesperson Lisa Griffin. “The public is entitled to reasons they can actually follow.” If the Court agrees, the remedy sought is to quash the Board’s prudence finding and return the matter to the EUB to be decided again, properly. PCIC participated throughout the EUB proceeding as a formal intervenor. It is a coalition of environmental organizations and community members working to protect the Chignecto Isthmus region from fossil-fuel infrastructure expansion.

ATTACHMENT:  Copy of RIGS Judicial Review

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Media Contact:
Lisa Griffin
Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition
506-988-2601
griffin@caravanconsult.com

About the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition:   PCIC is a coalition of community members, environmental advocates, municipal partners, and First Nations allies united in the protection of the Chignecto Isthmus from fossil fuel development incompatible with the ecological, climatic, and social values of this irreplaceable region.