The New Brunswick government introduced legislation Tuesday that would establish an office to represent residential and small business customers with energy concerns.
But opposition MLAs panned the idea in the legislature.
Energy Minister René Legacy said the office would provide a stronger voice to people and better support navigating the system.
“Too many New Brunswickers and small businesses feel overwhelmed or unheard when it comes to energy issues and rising costs,” Legacy said.
The advocate would work with customers and regulated utilities to help resolve issues, as well as representing the interests of residential and small business consumers before the Energy and Utilities Board.
But Progressive Conservative MLA Kris Austin was not sold on the idea.
“I get lots of calls into my office about NB Power,” Austin said following Legacy’s statement.
“I’ve never once had a call from a resident saying ‘You know, I’d really like to have more energy literacy provided to me. I’d really like to have advocate that could help me better understand the complexity of NB Power.’”
Austin said people don’t care about that kind of thing.
“You know what they care about? Stabilized rates. They care about lower rates,” Austin said. “They care about hope that at some point rates will stop going up.”
Austin called the legislation “ridiculous.”
“They need to rethink their strategy and start lowering rates for New Brunswickers.”
Green MLA Megan Mitton said she’d received similar calls from her constituents.
“I do think it’s insulting to talk about energy literacy,” she said. “Folks know what they need.”
Away from the legislature, the legislation received more positive reactions.
Human Development Council executive director Randy Hatfield said a dedicated voice for residential consumers in front of the EUB is long overdue.
“Particularly for households with the least ability to absorb rate increases,” he said.
The Atlantic vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said moving away from a public intervener model to one where businesses and residential consumers has been a long-standing request.
“With an ever-evolving energy landscape, having adequate representation before the Energy and Utilities Board will be key when decisions are made that could impact stakeholders,” Louis-Philippe Gauthier said.
If the legislation is passed, the advocate’s office is expected to be operational by the beginning of the 2027-28 fiscal year.
