NB's Energy Minister Requests Utility To Purchase 300 MW Of Wind Energy
| in News Departments > Policy Watch |
| Jack Keir, New Brunswick's energy minister, has requested that New Brunswick Power (NB Power) accelerate its mandate of purchasing 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2016, and purchase an additional 300 MW of wind energy immediately. Keir has asked the utility's board of directors to review the plan, and to move as quickly as possible in issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for the additional wind power. "By adding clean energy from wind to the mix, we will be able to offer greater stability for rates in the future, because we become less dependent on the uncontrollable price of foreign oil and coal," Keir says. "Wind generation is also immune to the potential greenhouse gas regulatory costs that other forms of generation may face." The original plan was in response to the Electricity from Renewable Resources regulation that required NB Power to purchase 10% of its sales by 2016. In response, NB Power planned on adding 400 MW of wind over the next 10 years. Recently, Keir joined private companies in announcing a 75 MW project in Albert County and a 25 MW project in the Dorchester area - leaving 300 MW. |
| |
 |
