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Electricity Vision

About the Electricity Vision

Cleaner electricity can help make us safer, more secure and healthier. We can use it to help make electricity affordable for everyone, reliable for when we need it, and cleaner for our health and for our planet.

Our definition of cleaner electricity has two components. First, cleaner electricity relies primarily on non-polluting sources like wind, solar and existing hydro technologies and it is used efficiently. These renewable technologies have lower environmental impact than electricity generated from coal, oil and natural gas that generate greenhouse gases when burned causing the global heating that is supercharging our weather. Second, our sustainable electricity portfolio needs to be affordable and reliable.

The Electricity Vision is focused on the phase out of coal-fired electricity and ensures our regional electricity system is 90 per cent emissions free before 2030 as required by federal regulation and climate change policy. These first steps will be accelerated by a federal Clean Electricity Regulation due in 2023 requiring a zero-emitting electricity system by 2035.

 

Want to get to learn more?

Explore our energy affordability resources, including an opportunity to sign a petition endorsing our Citizens’ Assembly statement.

Want to get involved?

Sign on to our letter pushing for a strong clean electricity regulation. (Coming soon)

The Atlantic Electricity Vision series is focused on the transition to electricity that phases out coal and ensures our regional electricity system is 90 per cent emissions free before 2030 as required by federal policy and climate change regulations.

Are small modular nuclear reactors part of an affordable, reliable, sustainable electricity future? Find out more here.

As a key part of the Just and Green Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, clean electricity can build green careers, bring health and economic benefits to communities and help us emerge from the pandemic better off than when we began.

Affordable

No one wants to pay more for electricity.

Reliable

We all want reliable electricity.

Sustainable

What does a sustainable electricity system look like?

Featured Study

Why do Wind Energy Projects Fail?

The enduring effects of process and distributional unfairness

Electricity demand is expected to increase significantly in Canada and globally in the coming decades as we shift off fossil fuels to solve climate change. Growth in electricity demand will come largely from increased electrification of transportation, home heating and industrial processes. This shift is already underway with the sale of electric vehicles, announcement of federal and provincial funding of off-oil home heating programs, and industrial use of electricity to make steel and hydrogen.

Given electrification is one of the most important climate change solutions pathways, it is no surprise that the Conservation Council is a proponent of affordable and reliable renewable energy. Our desire for success, however, cannot come at the expense of people and the communities they live in. 

This case study shares what we have learned about why two wind energy projects proposed for northern New Brunswick failed, and offers recommendations to increase the chances for community acceptance of renewable energy projects in the future.

Read the full report here:  English | French

Read the executive summary here: English | French

Download presentation slides here: English | French

Electrifying Our Energy

MYTHS AND FACTS

Households generally spend about three per cent of after-tax income on energy, including home heating and cooling, lights and appliances, and transportation.
Many households spend more, which can be cause for concern. A household
that spends six per cent or more of after-tax income on energy, for example, may face hard choices about how to budget household expenses.

Researchers call this energy poverty.

Building a circular economy is key to addressing climate change. A circular economy makes better use of resources so we create less waste, less pollution, and more sustainable products. It is a departure from the traditional linear economy that follows a ‘take-make-waste’ approach, where resources are extracted, transformed into products, used, and then discarded. A circular economy, on the other hand, seeks to keep resources and products in use by creating closed-loop systems that recover, reuse, and recycle materials.

View our factsheet about building a circular economy in N.B.
View our factsheet about the benefits of a circular economy in N.B.
Read our March 2023 report, New Brunswick’s Waste Reduction and Circular Economy Journey

According to Natural Resource Canada’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Roadmap, if New Brunswick moves forward with SMRs, we could wait until 2030 or later to see electricity on the grid from these experimental projects. To act on climate change, and to reach the global target of reducing warming below 1.5°C, New Brunswick needs to act quickly to phase out coal electricity by 2030 or sooner.

Learn more about our research into small modular nuclear reactors in New Brunswick

The Belledune Generating Station is responsible for 13 percent of New Brunswick’s total emissions. Promoting biomass as a solution to large-scale electricity generation could increase demand, and in turn, increase unsustainable forestry practices. By switching to non-polluting sources of energy like solar and wind instead of singular solutions like burning biomass, we can support sustainable forestry practices that help stabilize our climate.

View this factsheet.

We are told that shipping liquified methane gas to Europe can address energy supply issues due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are told we could convert the Saint John Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant from an import facility to an export facility within three years.

We are told that there could be economic development if we lift the province’s shale gas moratorium to speed up the process and make the conversion more cost-effective relative to other methane gas supply and pipeline options. The Premier also says New Brunswick can advance energy transition by converting the LNG export terminal to hydrogen in the future and that it could “easily be converted.”

But are all these arguments factual?

View this factsheet.

Technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries for electric vehicles require significant mineral inputs. Yet, their associated climate impact. It is crucial that the transition to a sustainable economy is fair for workers and Indigenous communities, here and abroad. A green economy in New Brunswick and Canada should not come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous communities or their land anywhere on Earth.

View this factsheet.

The transportation sector, which includes our vehicles, cars, industrial trucks, and so on, accounts for 29 percent of New Brunswick’s total emissions, but our own personal vehicles account for 70 percent of that total. That’s two million tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from New Brunswick alone every year. By switching to electric vehicles, trucks and transit, we can reduce the amount of pollution in our air and stabilize our climate.

View this factsheet.

School buses in New Brunswick account for 30 percent of the province’s fleet of government-owned vehicles. That’s a significant portion of the provincial government’s vehicle emissions and resulting air pollution that can be prevented every year. By switching to electric school buses, we can reduce the amount of air pollution our children are exposed to and stabilize our climate.

Visit our Electric School Bus campaign page.
View our factsheet on the shift to electric buses in N.B.
View our case study on P.E.I.’s Electric School Bus Build-Up
See our full list of resources on electric school buses in N.B.
Sign our letter calling for a fully electric school bus fleet in N.B.

Affordable

No one wants to pay more for electricity.

Reliable

We all want reliable electricity.

Sustainable

What does a sustainable electricity system look like?

Download the letter from CCNB:

New Brunswickers Deserve Facts, Not Hype, On Liquefied Natural Gas

Premier Blaine Higgs is pushing a private-sector company, Repsol, to convert its Saint John LNG (liquefied natural gas) import terminal into an export terminal for energy security, economic development and energy transition.

We are told that shipping liquified natural gas to Europe can address energy supply issues due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are told we could convert the Saint John LNG plant from an import facility to an export facility within three years. We are told that there could be economic development if we lift the province’s shale gas moratorium to speed up the process and make the conversion more cost effective relative to other methane gas supply and pipeline options. The Premier also says New Brunswick can advance energy transition by converting the LNG export terminal to hydrogen in the future and that it could “easily be converted.”

But are these arguments factual? In a word, no Read the resources below to see why.

Read the full briefing note here:  English | French

Read Dr. Louise Comeau’s commentary on the issue here: English | French.

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