Yes to Renewables, No to Fracked Gas
On July 14, NB Power announced their plans to build a new fossil fuel power plant powered by American fracked gas — right in Megan Mitton’s riding of Tantramar. Climate scientists are clear: we cannot afford to build new fossil fuel infrastructure if we want a livable future.
NB Power is calling this a “renewable integration project.” Let’s be clear: fracked gas is neither clean nor renewable. This project would lock us into expensive fossil fuels for at least the next 25 years, even as our neighbours commit to 100% renewables within the decade.
NB Power has a history of costly mistakes, and this is shaping up to be yet another. Instead of fracked gas, biomass, and risky SMRs, we should be investing in wind, rooftop solar, and battery storage — proven technologies that offer clean, affordable power and real energy security.
A recent UN report found that solar power now is 41 per cent cheaper and wind power is 53 per cent cheaper globally than the lowest-cost fossil fuel. In Ontario, a new battery project will deliver the same 400MW capacity as this proposed plant — and be online by 2027. In New England, rooftop solar recently met 22% of demand during a heat wave, helping to prevent blackouts.
In the words of Megan Mitton, “This is for burning fracked gas and diesel. And we should be remembering that we’re in a climate crisis and rather than continuing down the old path of building new fossil fuel infrastructure, we need to see climate leadership and change pathways and implement renewable energy and battery storage and improve our grid energy efficiency. There are lots of solutions. We just need political will.”
With energy efficiency, rooftop solar, and battery storage, we can build a grid that’s affordable, resilient, and fossil-free. Sign our petition today!