Energy efficiency is central to New Brunswick’s planned $47- to $57-million in climate action spending over the next year. A newly released list of 73 initiatives includes approximately $17 million for energy upgrades in the residential sector to be deployed by NB Power, and another $2.8 million earmarked for projects in government buildings, schools and health care facilities.
Funds will also be directed to climate change adaptation, electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, clean fuel strategies, and climate awareness and education. Although New Brunswick has now switched from a provincially administered carbon tax to the federal backstop model, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves confirmed there is still “fiscal flexibility” to fulfill previous program commitments during his 2023 budget address earlier this spring.
“We remain committed to taking action to address climate change and will continue to prioritize the implementation of the province’s recently released Climate Change Action Plan – Our Pathway Towards Decarbonization and Climate Resilience,” he said.
“Our government remains committed to addressing this issue head-on,” concurs Gary Crossman, New Brunswick’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change. “Many of these investments will help us make progress on items in the action plan.”
Nevertheless, there is an expectation that uptake will fall short on some of the initiatives. “Although the estimated cost for these projects is $57 million, the department (Environment and Local Government) expects under-expenditures over the course of the year will permit the projects to be accomplished for the $47 million budgeted,” the government’s release states.
Some of the key energy efficiency allocations for 2023-24 include: $10 million to support an existing retrofit program targeting low- and moderate-income households, which would also extend funding to cover mini-split heat pumps; $2 million to develop and launch an energy efficiency financing program, such as low-interest loans or on-bill financing; $3 million for initiatives in the non-profit and social housing sectors; $2 million for retrofits in government of New Brunswick facilities; and $1.5 million for programming targeted to First Nations communities.
Smaller expenditures include funds to implement Energy Star Portfolio Manager in Francophone school districts and to upgrade metering, find operational savings and support energy management training in government owned and broader public sector facilities. As well, $500,000 has been flagged for a pilot project to explore approaches for energy performance labelling and disclosure.
Two complementary programs have been allocated a total of $8 million for the advancement of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. NB Power has $4 million to expand the public charging network, with an emphasis on augmenting the number of fast-chargers in “key areas where access bottlenecks exist” and installing a mix of level 2 and level 3 chargers in municipal facilities and hospitality zones. The New Brunswick government will put the other $4 million toward incentives for purchasing EVs and home chargers.
There is also $425,000 to further the installation of EV chargers at Horizon Health Network facilities. That includes the Saint John Regional Hospital, the Moncton Hospital, the Miramichi Regional Hospital and the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton.
