New BrunswickProEnergy Canada president John MacIssac appeared before Tantramar council this week to face questions about the natural gas plant the company wants to build in the southeastern New Brunswick municipality. ProEnergy Canada’s John MacIsaac says councillors should look to N.B. Power for answers Erica Butler · CBC News · Posted: Oct 16, 2025 5:15 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoTantramar council drew a capacity crowd when ProEnergy Canada official John MacIsaac fielded questions about a proposed natural gas plant. (Erica Butler/CBC News)The executive in charge of building a proposed natural gas plant in rural Tantramar told local politicians this week to talk to N.B. Power if they want answers on why their southeastern New Brunswick community was chosen for the project. John MacIsaac of ProEnergy Canada appeared before Tantramar council Tuesday evening to face questions about the project. But councillors weren’t sure they were getting the answers they needed about the plant, which would be capable of generating at least 400 megawatts of power from eight turbines. “Unfortunately, you’re the wrong person to be here tonight, because we should be asking N.B. Power questions, not you,” said Coun. Josh Goguen, eliciting applause from the capacity crowd in Tantramar’s municipal council chambers in Sackville. MacIsaac seemed to agree with Goguen and told councillors they should ask N.B. Power for a copy of a report on how Centre Village was chosen over other possible sites such as the Scoudouc Industrial Park. “I had asked them to put together an executive summary on the siting process,” MacIsaac said. “I’d encourage you to go and ask them for it.”Last month, councillors decided against becoming an official opponent of the plant, which was announced last December. Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black called for N.B. Power to make an appearance at a future council meeting. “A lot of these questions need to be asked directly to that company,” Black told council. “I think if N.B. Power had actually invested in renewable energy, like people have been telling them [since] 20 to 25 years ago, we wouldn’t be even having this conversation right now.”The components and layout of the Brotman Generating Station in Rosharon, Texas, are similar to those proposed for the Tantramar project. (ProEnergy)Despite the calls to hear from the Crown corporation, councillors grilled MacIsaac for just under an hour. If the plant wins approval from other levels of government, preliminary work could start early next year, and the plant could be running about midway through 2028.Coun. Debbie Wiggins-Colwell asked MacIsaac about the wisdom of locking into “such a big operation,” over a 25-year period. “Maybe down the road, things could be smaller and less intrusive on the environment,” Wiggins-Colwell said.MacIsaac responded by pitching the 10-turbine plant as needed to maintain stability in the N.B. Power grid. “This is predominantly a synchronous condensing facility to enable renewables,” said MacIsaac, referring to the plan to run the turbines 85 per cent of the time without burning gas or generating energy, but simply to provide voltage support to the grid. This need can become more acute with an increased reliance on renewable energy sources, he said.The possible need for turbines to provide grid stability is not mentioned in N.B. Power’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan. The terms “synchronous condensing” or “voltage support” aren’t mentioned either.N.B. Power vice-president Brad Coady told a legislative committee earlier this month why the utility wants the gas plant. (Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick webcam)Brad Coady, a vice-president at N.B. Power, recently told a legislative committee earlier that the proposed gas plant was actually born out of predictions that the utility might run short of base load power by 2028. That “triggered a bunch of activities that led to us doing a request for proposals in the summer of 2024,” Coady said. “And ultimately led us to where we are today, with the chosen technological solution and partner for the delivery of that project.”A number of councillors, including Allison Butcher, expressed mistrust of MacIsaac based on the company’s previous claim to a partnership with the North Shore Mi’kmaq Tribal Council.“There are no Indigenous groups that are backing this right now,” Butcher said. “So when I hear these great news things about how it will work, I can’t, in good faith, believe it.”MacIsaac defended the company with an invitation to “fact-check me.” He suggested council file a formal access to information request for “supporting documents” provided with its response to the utility’s request for proposals. MacIsaac told Tantramar council to look to N.B. Power for answers to some questions. (Municipality of Tantramar/Youtube)When Councillor Michael Tower pressed MacIsaac to explain why company posters at public information sessions stated the project was happening “in partnership” with the NSMTC, he stated simply: “Our public messaging was based on our understanding at the time.”Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton has been a vocal opponent to the gas plant plan, and was at Tuesday’s meeting. Afterward, Mitton said that she had recently learned the plant would cost N.B. Power at least $1 billion over the course of the 25-year agreement with ProEnergy. “Who knows actually how much?” Mitton said. “They won’t tell us how much.”She said she was “floored” by how little information was shared on Tuesday. “It’s really frustrating to see this still, a lack of transparency when that’s one of the key things the community is demanding, in addition to them not building a gas plant.”At the end of their meeting, Tantramar council passed a unanimous motion calling for formal letters to Premier Susan Holt, Beausejour MP Dominic LeBlanc, New Brunswick Environment Minister Gilles LePage, N.B. Power CEO Lori Clark, and MacIsaac, calling for more engagement on the project, as well as a comprehensive environmental impact assessment. 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.
Proponent of natural gas plant to Tantramar council: ‘Fact-check me’
