New BrunswickThe premier’s renewed vow to end the cost of carbon adjuster comes as the province’s energy regulator has already put time and resources into reviewing it.EUB not taking premier at her word carbon adjuster will be gone by year-endSavannah Awde · CBC News · Posted: Oct 20, 2025 9:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoPremier Susan Holt stalled on her election promise to scrap the cost of the carbon adjuster, but recently she said she would follow through by the end of the year. (Mikael Mayer / CBC)The province’s energy regulator is preparing to review a fuel charge to account for the cost of federal carbon regulations — even though the premier and finance minister have promised repeatedly to scrap the levy by the end of the year.This week the adjuster was adding as much as 8.1 cents per litre to the price of gasoline in New Brunswick and nine cents to diesel.During the provincial election campaign Premier Susan Holt promised to end the cost of the carbon adjuster, which allows the cost of clean fuel regulation to be passed down to the pumps. She stalled on following through, after some retailers warned the change would put them out of business, but then said in September she would continue with the promise after all and end the charge by Dec. 31. But that change in course has not made an impression on the Energy and Utilities Board, which has begun a review into what the adjuster should cost consumers next year. At a scheduling conference Friday, the board decided hearings will go ahead on Dec. 16, 17 and 18.Asked about the EUB holding hearings into a charge the province has promised to eliminate within weeks, Energy Minister René Legacy said the regulator is responsible for its own process.Energy Minister René Legacy said in a statement that the province has been clear about its intentions with the adjuster. (Isabelle Leger/CBC News )”Our government has been clear with our intention to proclaim An Act Respecting Petroleum Products Pricing to remove the cost of carbon adjuster before the end of this year,” he said in a statement.While a bill removing the adjuster was passed this year, that legislation has yet to be proclaimed — meaning the adjuster, for now, remains in effect. David Young, executive director of regulatory affairs for the EUB, said changes to the board’s review process would only be considered if changes to legislation are finalized.Board chair Christopher Stewart is unable to comment on current proceedings, Young added.� Progressive Conservative MLA Kris Austin called the circumstances “a real head-scratcher” in an interview with CBC News.Progressive Conservative MLA Kris Austin said the review doesn’t seem a good use of the board’s time and resources. (Chad Ingraham/CBC)He doesn’t believe the adjuster review is a good use of the board’s resources, noting the small office already has to review fuel prices on a weekly basis on top of larger rate applications.“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, in my world,” Austin said.He called the review fruitless, saying if the premier ends up getting rid of the adjuster charges, “it’s all for naught anyway.”Carol Montreuil, the Canadian Fuels Association vice-president and an intervener in the EUB review, said in an interview that he doesn’t understand why the province would “short circuit” its own energy regulator.While he ultimately believes fuel prices shouldn’t be regulated at all, Montreuil said the board does important work in evaluating those price controls.Carol Montreuil, an intervener with the Canadian Fuels Association, said the province should let its energy regulator continue with the review. (Jacques Poitras/Zoom)“It’s a very delicate situation, and we hope again that government will let the utility board in New Brunswick do their job — assess the real cost of this federal regulation, and let prices in New Brunswick reflect that situation,” Montreuil said in an interview.But it’s unlikely the EUB’s review and findings will be complete by year-end, when Holt says the adjuster will be thrown out. Even if that happens amid the board review, Green Party Leader David Coon believes the hearing could still be a valuable exercise. He welcomes a closer look into whether the EUB formula, based in part on commodity prices in the U.S., best captures the actual cost of following federal regulations.Legacy did not respond to a question about whether the province would wait for the review to finish before throwing out the adjuster.ABOUT THE AUTHORSavannah Awde is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick. You can contact her with story ideas at savannah.awde@cbc.ca.
N.B. regulator launches review of soon-to-be-dead fuel charge
