J.D. Irving executive Mark Mosher says a New Brunswick regulator’s April approval for NB Power surplus power sales could cost Irving Paper about $10 million a year and lead to closure.
The Story
A New Brunswick surplus power sales policy approved by the provincial regulator could raise power costs for large manufacturers and force Irving Paper to close, J.D. Irving said, as NB Power denied selling cheap surplus power to outside customers before serving New Brunswick load.
The dispute traces to an April decision that gave NB Power permission to sell cheaper surplus power at market rates to out-of-province customers. The ruling also allowed the utility to prioritize fixed sales contracts with external customers instead of offering discounted surplus rates to local manufacturers, a shift from how NB Power sold excess electricity to large customers in the province at a discount before exporting in earlier decades.
NB Power said it seeks to better align the price of interruptible energy with the cost of providing that variable product, and that it uses revenues from sales outside New Brunswick to help offset electricity service costs for regular customers inside the province.
Mosher, an executive at J.D. Irving Ltd. and vice president of its pulp and paper division, alleged that by prioritizing export contracts, NB Power is effectively selling the previously cheaper surplus power to customers in the United States and other provinces, forcing J.D. Irving and other industrial customers to buy more expensive excess power at higher rates.
In a statement issued late Friday, NB Power denied selling hourly export products to anyone before serving all load, including interruptible power, in New Brunswick. The utility did not answer in the supplied material whether it was selling the same surplus power that it had previously provided at discounted rates to local industrial customers at higher prices to external buyers.
Mosher said the policy change could drive up power costs for Irving Paper by an estimated $10 million annually and lead to the closure of the facility. He also warned the change would have “devastating consequences” for large manufacturers if it is not reversed, according to a statement issued earlier in the month.
J.D. Irving has asked the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board to review the decision, arguing that major employers were not notified of the proposal when the regulator approved the changes in April.
Energy Minister René Legacy said in New Brunswick’s legislature on Tuesday that the surplus market pricing benefits NB Power’s fixed electricity customers, including residents, because the corporation can find profit elsewhere. He said the government could reverse the policy, but that “somebody else would be impacted,” and that the Liberal government would not intervene in J.D. Irving Ltd.’s application to the power board.
Unifor’s Atlantic regional director, Jennifer Murray, said the surplus power change adds to economic pressures already affecting the forestry sector. She warned that higher power bills for J.D. Irving, AV Group, Twin Rivers Paper Company and other large manufacturers could lead to layoffs and shutdowns.
Mosher also pointed to the impact of rising power costs on the company’s workforce, saying Irving Paper closed one of its two paper machines and laid off 140 workers in February 2025 after citing a 10 per cent industrial electricity rate increase at the time. He said successive NB Power rate hikes have resulted in a 38 per cent increase over the last four years, with an additional 17 per cent requested over the next three years. He called the situation “untenable” and said it leads to job losses.
← More stories