New BrunswickN.B. Power says in a report that it chose rural Tantramar, rather than an industrial park, for its new gas plant because it would cost less and face shorter timelines for regulatory approval. But conservation groups say the proposed Tantramar site lies in the middle of a valuable ecological corridor.Choice of rural Tantramar doesn’t sit well with critics, who point to environmental concernsErica Butler · CBC News · Posted: Nov 05, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesA truck brings a load of gravel for the construction of a 1.5-kilometre access road to a proposed gas plant site off Route 940 in Centre Village. (Erica Butler/CBC)The rationale behind N.B. Power’s controversial decision to build a gas-fired power plant on a 550-acre woodlot is outlined in a recent report from the utility, but critics aren’t buying it.In December 2024, N.B. Power told reporters the major new gas plant would likely be built in the Scoudouc Industrial Park, about 22 kilometres northeast of Moncton.But according to the two-page report, the utility decided just two months later that it would instead go with property near Centre Village in rural Tantramar. N.B. Power and ProEnergy, the U.S. company hired to build and operate the plant, are now building a 1.5-kilometre road to get to the chosen site. WATCH | Local residents want Chignecto Isthmus protected:Woodpecker nests behind proposed power-plant site in Centre VillageTantramar residents and conservationists question N.B. Power’s decision to build in rural rather than industrial area.But local conservation groups say a gas plant makes much more sense in an industrial park than in the middle of the Chignecto Isthmus.“I think that we have to, as New Brunswickers, raise our standards a little bit about where we put these kinds of projects,” said Melanie Jellett, conservation manager with the New Brunswick chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Melanie Jellett, conservation manager with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society New Brunswick, says New Brunswickers need higher standards when locating industrial projects. (Erica Butler/CBC)“A project of this size should not be built in an ecologically sensitive area like this. It’s much better in an area where there’s already industrial development.” The decision to build in Centre Village didn’t become public until N.B. Power formally announced its plans in July 2025, inspiring an outcry from local residents and conservation groups. Scoudouc, Centre Village topped list of choicesIn its “location analysis” report, N.B. Power listed 10 sites that it considered, including Coleson Cove, Lepreau, Millbank, Belledune and Dalhousie. The utility quickly narrowed the field to five worthy of “detailed review.” Eel River, Bayside, and Memramcook were ruled out because of “transmission constraints” and lack of “proximity to natural gas pipelines.” That left Scoudouc and Centre Village offering “the greatest value and most suitable conditions.”ProEnergy plans to build a 10-turbine gas plant in a rural area near Centre Village in southeastern New Brunswick. (Roger Cosman/CBC)Both properties are crossed by N.B. Power transmission lines and the Maritimes and Northeast natural gas pipeline.Both could also “support the 500-megawatt capacity with minimal transmission investment,” and both are in the southeast, where they could address growing energy demand and “support eastward transfers (to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island),” according to the N.B. Power report. An N.B. Power property next to the Scoudouc Industrial Park sits beside an N.B. Power electrical substation and is crossed by the Maritimes and Northeast natural gas pipeline. (Roger Cosman/CBC)N.B. Power says it studied the “regulatory context” for both sites in the summer of 2024, something that would be a key factor in the utility’s decision to go with Centre Village.The report concluded the Scoudouc site has more wetland than Centre Village, which could require Fisheries Act authorization, resulting in a delay of up to 18 months. It also notes the “discovery of evidence of pileated woodpecker nests” on the Scoudouc site. That would mean a 36-month waiting period under Canada’s Migratory Bird Convention Act. N.B. Power said the potential delays at the Scoudouc site were major considerations, and “critical to ensuring project completion by 2028,” when the utility is projecting energy shortfalls in the province. Speed as a deciding factor questioned“The biggest thing that’s pushing them is this timeline,” said Barry Rothfuss, director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute, which lies about four kilometres away as the crow flies. Barry Rothfuss of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute, four kilometres from the proposed Centre Village site, is concerned the utility cares only about timelines, not the environmental impact. (Erica Butler/CBC)“Everything that they’re talking about … has to do with them being able to build an infrastructure project in an expedited manner,” he said. The Scoudouc and Centre Village sites are “not even comparable” from a biodiversity perspective, said Rothfuss. “This is a far more ecologically sensitive habitat.” And the Centre Village site likely contains habitat for important species such as the pileated woodpecker, Rothfuss said. “We’ve had photographic evidence and also GPS co-ordinates sent identifying that there is pileated woodpecker activity on this site,” he said. Centre Village is also a central location on the Chignecto Isthmus, which Jellett said has been identified as an “important area for ecological connectivity” because of wildlife such as moose, bear and lynx that migrate across the land bridge between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Jellett also questioned the report’s conclusions about wetlands, noting that the access road under construction at Centre Village cuts across Harper’s Brook. N.B. Power bought a property beside its Scoudouc substation as a potential location for a new gas plant, then decided against the site. (Erica Butler/CBC)A provincial environmental impact assessment is underway for the project, and a technical review committee has issued 97 comments and questions, some still to be answered by ProEnergy. Even so, Environment Minister Gilles LePage has already ruled out a possible “comprehensive” assessment process. Rothfuss agreed that “there’s no need for a long, extensive EIA process.” “They’ve already started a process that should be ended,” Rothfuss said. “This EIA process is tainted for a variety of different reasons, everything from false information about Indigenous activities to the fact that we’re finding out that the sensitivities that they’re identifying here aren’t really accurate.”Jellett wants more scrutiny of the project, which is expected to cost well over $1 billion. “I would like to know that it’s not based on poor information, and that we’re looking at it from all angles.”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.
Conservationists question N.B. Power decision not to build $1B gas plant at industrial park
