SMRs axed from New Brunswick Power’s energy plan

Looming integrated resource plan likely to leave out new nuclear, a dramatic change from the last plan the utility released

Adam Huras, Telegraph Journal, Jun 09, 2026 

NB Power’s new plan to meet New Brunswick’s electricity needs likely won’t include any new nuclear power, according to the utility.

It’s a dramatic change from the last plan the utility released just three years ago that relied heavily on adding small modular nuclear reactors over the next decade as a linchpin to meeting demand.

And it’s a move that raised eyebrows when first delivered by NB Power CEO Lori Clark at a major industry forum last week in Saint John set up to push forward new nuclear power in the province.

“In the short term, our integrated resource plan would say it’s gas plants, batteries are part of the solution going forward,” Clark said at the Pioneering New Nuclear in Atlantic Canada forum at the Saint John Trade & Convention Centre. That’s despite her openly backing new nuclear as the solution.

Clark also stated that legislation calls on the utility to pick the lowest-cost option to meet demand.

It means new nuclear power will largely be ruled out in a plan that’s soon to be released.

In a statement to Brunswick News, NB Power spokesperson Tracey Stephenson confirmed a new integrated resource plan, to be released in early fall, “focuses on least cost options” and, as a result, “it is likely that new nuclear will not be a part of the base case.”

Stephenson added that “existing nuclear” will be included in the plan.

“Sensitivities will be provided for new nuclear.”

Clark made clear her interest in pursuing additional nuclear capabilities in New Brunswick………………………………………………………………………..

Regardless, the new plan looks to say something different.

NB Power must release a new integrated resource plan every three years to reflect the changing energy landscape and customer expectations.

It ultimately lays out several likely scenarios NB Power can take in the decades ahead to balance demand for more power, calls from customers to keep rates stable, federal mandates, and provincial government direction.

The plan just three years ago was based heavily on small modular nuclear reactor development.

“SMRs are a critical part of the future of electricity in New Brunswick,” reads the 2023 plan. “They provide a unique opportunity for New Brunswick to offer stable and predictable carbon-free generation.”

Four scenarios developed by NB Power in 2023 banked on at least 450 megawatts of power from SMRs by 2034-35.

That ranged upward to 750 megawatts.

The only analysis that removed SMRs from future projections suggested the need for “extreme volumes of wind and solar builds,” over 4,000 megawatts, would be needed in its place.

Under the province’s Electricity Act, NB Power is legally required to seek out the lowest-cost options for energy generation.

That said, amendments to the act passed into law by the former Higgs government in December 2023 mandated the utility to purchase electricity generated by small modular nuclear reactors, even if it wasn’t the lowest-cost option.

Then-Energy Minister Mike Holland said that may have prevented power purchase agreements with SMR operators.

NB Power said in an email that “the mandate regarding the purchase of electricity from small nuclear reactor technology remains,” while pointing to the provincial government for further clarity.

With the Holt government in power, it has become increasingly clear that faith in small modular technology is fleeting.

Two SMR companies that have set up in New Brunswick have both pushed back timelines.

Amid delays, NB Power has said it’s completing pre-development work at Lepreau to accommodate a wide variety of SMRs working towards commercialization, giving the utility the flexibility to eventually choose a viable winner that might not be a made-in-New Brunswick design.

Energy Minister René Legacy said last October that the Holt government wasn’t interested in building a “first-of-a-kind” SMR at Lepreau, adding they’re “always the most expensive.”

Those words came after the federal government pledged $2 billion toward the building of four small modular nuclear reactors at Ontario’s Darlington nuclear plant, with that model now becoming an eventual option for New Brunswick.

More recently, Premier Susan Holt unveiled what she called an “action plan” in response to an independent review of the troubled utility’s finances and its recent pattern of large rate increases for customers.

That said, it delays decisions on things like splitting the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station into its own separate company, as well as a recommendation to build a second larger nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau.

Clark also stated that legislation calls on the utility to pick the lowest-cost option to meet demand.

It means new nuclear power will largely be ruled out in a plan that’s soon to be released. https://tj.news/new-brunswick/smrs-axed-from-nb-powers-energy-plan

June 17, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, ENERGY