New BrunswickNB Power announced in July that its Renewables Integration and Grid Stability project would be built near Centre Village. Since then, many residents and environmental groups have been vocal in their opposition, but their municipal council won’t join that opposition.Defeated motion called for lobbying premier, asking NB Power to go with clean energyErica Butler · CBC News · Posted: Sep 25, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoTantramar Coun. Michael Tower made a motion this week that council come out in opposition to NB Power’s proposed natural gas plant in Centre Village. It was defeated in a 5-4 vote. (Erica Butler/CBC)In a tight vote Tuesday evening, Tantramar councillors rejected a call to officially oppose a proposed natural gas power plant in a rural part of the southeastern New Brunswick municipality. NB Power first announced in July that its Renewables Integration and Grid Stability (RIGS) project would be built near Centre Village, a rural area outside of Midgic. Since then, local residents and environmental groups have been vocal in their opposition.On Tuesday, Coun. Michael Tower followed through on a request from the local Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant group with a motion asking council to write to Premier Susan Holt and call for the project to be cancelled. The motion also asked that NB Power instead prioritize wind and solar energy generation, supported by battery energy storage systems. But after a discussion about the municipality’s role, and the costs and benefits of the major project, Tower’s motion was defeated in a 5-4 vote. Midgic resident Juliet Bulmer said she was “absolutely disappointed” with the decision, questioning concerns expressed by Mayor Andrew Black and some councillors that weighing in on the project would be outside their mandate.Bulmer said the Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant group will now wait to hear Holt’s response to letters delivered in person last week.Outside municipal mandate?Black told council that despite his personal concerns, taking a stance on the project was outside the scope of a municipal council. “Municipalities need to stay in their lane,” he said. “This motion is urging the immediate cancellation of the project — a power that local governments do not have the authority to dictate.”Steve and Juliet Bulmer are residents of Midgic who oppose the Renewables Integration and Grid Stability natural gas power plant that is being proposed for the Centre Village area of Tantramar. (Erica Butler/CBC)Deputy Mayor Matt Estabrooks, who was elected in Tantramar’s Ward 5, which includes Centre Village, shared Black’s concerns over council’s role. “We, as elected officials, cannot assume the role of activists,” he said. “I hope that this council fully understands the implications of taking a public stance and writing letters against this project.”Some councillors disagreed. It is part of our mandate to protect our citizens.— Coun. Michael Tower”As an elected official, I do have the right to speak my mind on behalf of the people, and represent them and how they feel about this project,” said Coun. Bruce Phinney.Tower told council he heard a similar “stay in your lane” argument when he wanted his fellow municipal councillors at the former Town of Sackville to speak out on the threatened reduction of services at the Sackville Memorial Hospital.”I was told, ‘It’s not in your mandate.’ And if health isn’t part of your mandate, then there’s a problem,” said Tower. “It is part of our mandate to protect our citizens.”The Bayside natural gas generating station (right) is part of NB Power’s Courtney Bay generating complex in Saint John. The utility wants to build another natural gas power plant in a rural part of the southeastern New Brunswick community of Tantramar. (Robert Jones/CBC)Sackville’s council eventually took an active role in the health-care issue, providing funding and appointing a council member to liaise with a local community group. The town went on to become part of the amalgamated Municipality of Tantramar in 2023. Potential merits and downsides discussedThe debate over Tower’s motion on the natural gas plant also included discussion over the merits of the proposed project, and its potential impact on the region. Tower said he had concerns about how wells in the area would be affected by the significant water requirements of a power plant, and about the emergency response capabilities of local authorities in case of fires or other accidents at the plant.He also cited issues with trust over the information shared by NB Power and ProEnergy, the American company selected to build the plant. I don’t like to think that I am a NIMBY kind of person. I don’t think this should be in anyone’s backyard. But I am elected to look after this backyard, and I do not want this here.— Coun. Allison ButcherThe latter concern was shared by several councillors, including Allison Butcher.She said there has been “misinformation” about the support of Indigenous communities for the project and over the labelling of the project as green, despite the role of fossil fuels as the source of power. Butcher said that after speaking to many residents, she not heard from anyone in support of the project.”I don’t like to think that I am a NIMBY kind of person,” said Butcher, referring to the acronym for ‘not in my backyard.’ “I don’t think this should be in anyone’s backyard. But I am elected to look after this backyard, and I do not want this here.”‘Municipalities need to stay in their lane,’ said Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black, shown in a photo from earlier this year. (Victoria Walton/CBC News )Estabrooks spoke extensively against the motion to formally oppose the proposed plant, citing the potential economic benefits of the project, which proponents have said could be between $350 million and $400 million over the next 25 years. He said the NB Power project is “a necessity” for the province, adding: “It is going to happen somewhere… If we close the door on it here, then the benefits will fall to another community.”Estabrooks said that despite those benefits, his support would require that all environmental concerns at the federal and provincial levels are met.”We need to let that process happen,” he said.What’s next? Waiting on provincial decisionBut exactly what that process consists of is still up in the air. A number of community and environmental groups, along with Tantramar’s mayor and area MLA Megan Mitton, have called for the province to level up its environmental impact assessment for the project. There’s confusion as to whether the province has ruled out a comprehensive review, something normally used for “large-scale projects like mines, refineries, nuclear power, etc.,” according to Environment and Climate Change Department spokesperson Vicky Lutes.Black told council on Monday and again on Tuesday night that the province had refused his request for a comprehensive environmental impact assessment. However, in an emailed statement Wednesday, Lutes said a decision on a comprehensive review has yet to be made, and will come after the department’s review process is finished. On Sept. 19, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada ruled that no further assessment would be required at the federal level, after collecting 272 submissions online, mostly expressing opposition to the project.ABOUT THE AUTHORErica Butler is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick. She lives in Sackville and works out of the Moncton newsroom. You can send story tips to erica.butler@cbc.ca.
Tantramar council turns down call to officially oppose proposed natural gas power plant
