New BrunswickN.B. Power says it will be more lenient with some customers who are falling behind on their bills in order to avoid cutting their electricity during the winter. The move comes after a recommendation from the Vulnerable Populations CommitteeSilas Brown · CBC News · Posted: Nov 28, 2025 2:41 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.N.B. Power CEO Lori Clark said her staff is working on putting payment plans in place for customers who can’t afford their bills. (Silas Brown/CBC News)N.B. Power says it will be more lenient with some customers who are falling behind on their bills in order to avoid cutting their electricity during the winter. The program will run from Dec. 1 to March 31 and will require customers in arrears to continue to make some level of payment and to stay in contact with N.B. Power customer service representatives. “In the past … there have been payment arrangements that some of our customers struggled with maintaining,” said N.B. Power CEO Lori Clark. “We’ll be working with our contact centre to ensure that the payment arrangements that we put in place are ones that customers can afford and they may not be nearly as high as they have been in the past.”WATCH | ‘We’re committed to not disconnecting those that continue to work with us’ :N.B. Power to offer easier repayment plans to some vulnerable customersThe change comes from recommendations intended to lessen the amount of power disconnections during winter months. People aged 70 or older who rely on medical equipment that requires electricity or those whose household income is under $70,000 per year will qualify.The recommendation comes from the Vulnerable Populations Committee which was launched in May to help the utility better address the concerns of people living in energy poverty or with disabilities. A release from N.B. Power calls the move an “interim moratorium” on winter power disconnections, but the policy differs only slightly from how the utility handles the issue right now.The program will run from Dec. 1 to March 31 and will require customers in arrears to continue to make some level of payment and to stay in contact with N.B. Power customer service representatives. (CBC News)“We’re committed to not disconnecting those that continue to work with us,” Clark said.“It may be a very small amount on their bill, but a large amount to them so we want to work with those customers to understand and customize those arrangements so we’re aware of what their needs are and we can help them through this winter period.”Energy Minister Rene Legacy described the current process to reporters last week. He said that disconnects during the winter were a last resort, only happen when the temperature is above -10 C and only after repeated attempts to reach the customer.“N.B. Power doesn’t want to disconnect people,” Legacy said. “The problem is sometimes we just can’t contact the customers. Some of those houses are abandoned.”“The only way to get in touch with them is to shut off the power.”Energy Minister Rene Legacy said N.B. Power only disconnects customers as a last resort in the winter. (Silas Brown/CBC)N.B. Power’s website also says that customers in arrears need to keep in contact with the utility and continue payments to avoid disconnection. Randy Hatfield, the executive director of the Human Development Council, sits on the Vulnerable Populations Committee and when asked why he’s satisfied with the policy rather than a full ban on winter disconnects, he said one “shouldn’t let perfection get in the way of the good.”Hatfield advocated for a comprehensive energy poverty strategy at the most recent rate hearing for the utility and has long called for a low-income subsidy, similar to one in Ontario.“This doesn’t address the issue of affordability generally but it deals properly with the consequences that flow from the affordability crisis in New Brunswick.”Green MLA David Coon said last week that he frequently helps constituents negotiate repayment plans with N.B. Power. He says many people with outstanding bills are frightened and less likely to respond to queries from the utility.In addition to a blanket policy against winter disconnections, Coon said N.B. Power needs to do a better job figuring out how to deal with customers so that MLAs don’t need to get involved in order to reach an acceptable solution. “There needs to be a team at N.B. Power who’s trained appropriately to interact with people who find themselves in that situation,” he said.“Because you can’t just apply a cold logic to the situation when you’re dealing with people who find themselves in real trouble.”ABOUT THE AUTHORSilas Brown is a Fredericton-based video journalist. You can reach him at silas.brown@cbc.ca.
N.B. Power to offer more lenient repayment plans for seniors, low-income people to avoid winter disconnects
