11 JUNE 2013

Bill 39, the Electricity Act bill is one objective short of what was promised in the New Brunswick Energy Blueprint, according to the Green Party. It says environmental responsibility was left out of the section of the proposed law that sets out the electricity policy of government. Debate resumes on the bill this week.

“Like the Harper government, the Alward government finds environmental responsibility inconvenient to its agenda, so it has been left out of the proposed Electricity Act,” said David Coon, Green Party Leader. The Green Party wants the Liberals to introduce an amendment to the bill this week that would entrench environmental responsibility as a policy objective.

The Energy Blueprint established low electricity prices, a secure supply of electricity, reliability and environmental responsibility as New Brunswick’s key energy objectives. Bill 39, which will govern the future operation of NB Power, drops environmental responsibility as a policy objective. Part 4 of the bill, which will entrench government policy objectives in law, includes only the first three objectives.