N.B. Power Has 10 Data-Centre Projects in Its Queue

N.B. Power has applications from 10 data-centre projects to connect to its electrical system. Together they would need about 900 megawatts. The utility says a place in its "connection queue" does not mean a project will be built.

The number came out after N.B. Power officials appeared before the legislature's public accounts committee on Oct. 9. The Telegraph-Journal reported it on Oct. 13, and CBC News confirmed it with the utility on Oct. 16.

"This does not mean the data centres that applied to connect to our electrical system will be realized," N.B. Power spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser-McAllister told CBC.

What the utility told MLAs

President and CEO Lori Clark told reporters after the meeting that the applications don't mean 10 data centres are coming. "I think you'd find many of these data centres that they would be in several utilities' queues," she said, according to the Telegraph-Journal. The utility would not say who applied, where, or how many companies are behind the 10 projects.

The draw is cheap power. "There's been a lot of interest in New Brunswick because we have low rates," chief commercial officer Brad Coady told the committee. He acknowledged that "a lot of the public sentiment sees data centres as a threat, and if not done carefully and properly, they would be a threat to the economics of operating a power system." The utility wants to turn that threat into an opportunity, he said.

His case: data centres could buy power when the grid is lightly used and be asked to step back at peak. "Most of the year we're not in winter heating season and we have a lot of capability in our grid," Coady said. Officials are exploring whether data centres could "help pay greater than their fair share to help offset some of the cost for other customers."

Nothing is signed. "We do not have any supply agreements with any data centres today," Coady said when Green MLA Megan Mitton asked where data centres show up in the utility's numbers. Coady also told the committee that the current load forecast "does not include any data centre load specifically." Clark said N.B. Power has no data-centre pricing model yet, but is "watching what's happening in other jurisdictions." One of those is Quebec, where Hydro-Québec has asked its regulator for a new rate of about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour for data centres above five megawatts, nearly double what they pay now.

Green Leader David Coon asked whether selling power to data centres makes sense when N.B. Power can sell its surplus to the U.S. at higher prices. Coady said the utility's marketing arm now spends more time buying energy from outside the province than selling surplus, because demand at home is growing and "the amount of surplus we have is shrinking."

For scale, 900 megawatts is enough to power more than 700,000 homes, using the Telegraph-Journal's rule of thumb of about 800 homes per megawatt. It is also about a quarter of N.B. Power's all-time peak demand of 3,442 megawatts, set during a cold snap on Feb. 4, 2023, according to the utility's 2022-23 annual report. On a typical summer morning, the province needs only about 1,500 megawatts, N.B. Power has said. The utility is also planning for tighter supply. It has partnered with ProEnergy on a 500-megawatt gas and diesel plant in Tantramar to head off a possible shortfall by 2028. And it has asked the regulator for average rate increases of 5.5 per cent a year for three years.

The projects we know about, and the pushback

Three proposals are public so far:

• Miramichi: Faster Than Light (FTL), based in Fredericton, has pitched a co-location campus that would reach 375 megawatts at full build, with 600 jobs, including 100 office jobs in Fredericton. CEO Josh Vautour told CBC the company is "committed to being as transparent as possible without giving away intellectual property." We covered the pitch here. Miramichi council paused a related zoning change earlier this year.
• Saint John (Spruce Lake): a 390-megawatt data centre from Beacon and VoltaGrid is under provincial environmental review for the expanded Spruce Lake Industrial Park. The registration describes a 190-megawatt natural-gas plant on site plus two transmission lines bringing another 200 megawatts from the N.B. Power grid. Saint John—St. Croix MP John Williamson has called stable power rates an "ironclad condition" for the project.
• Saint John (Cross River): Opportunities New Brunswick confirmed it is in talks with Cross River Infrastructure Partners about another large project, which residents first learned about through documents they obtained.

All three have drawn pushback. Lorneville resident Chris Watson, who leads much of the opposition to the Spruce Lake proposal near his community, told CBC he sees no general benefit for New Brunswickers. "I hope GNB prioritizes brownfield developments," he said, meaning idle land already zoned for heavy industry. He called for projects that "do not destroy sensitive ecosystems" and that deal with health and quality-of-life impacts on nearby communities.

Nick Tsergas, who runs the Hamilton-based group Stop The Data Centre, planned an information session at Saint John's Newcomer Centre on Oct. 17 with local opposition groups. He told CBC he hoped to "lower the temperature" and draw people who support, oppose or are unsure about the projects. His focus is policy gaps that let projects end up using far more power than first proposed. He pointed to a Regina project that started as a 300-megawatt proposal and was later expected to need 1.2 gigawatts.

Policy still being written

Luke Randall, the minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick, said the province is seeing "significant inbound interest from data centre developers," which is why it is writing a policy. He said no proponent has asked for provincial funding.

The province put a draft framework out for comment in September (our coverage). It says data centres must not raise electricity rates, and that developers must pay any new system costs and manage their demand when the grid is strained. The Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour told CBC an update is expected by November.

Sources

• CBC News, Nipun Tiwari — N.B. Power says 10 data centre projects have applications to connect to electrical system (Oct. 16, 2026): 10 applications, ~900 MW, Fraser-McAllister and Clark comments, undisclosed applicants; FTL, Cross River and Beacon/VoltaGrid projects; Watson, Tsergas, Randall and Vautour quotes; Regina example; framework update by November
• Telegraph-Journal — Ten data centre proposals currently before NB Power (Oct. 13, 2026): Oct. 9 public accounts committee; Clark and Coady quotes; Coon and Mitton questions; no supply agreements or pricing model; 700,000-homes estimate; Tantramar plant; 5.5% rate application; Spruce Lake 390 MW and Williamson's call
• Government of New Brunswick — EIA registrations, project 1663: Beacon New Brunswick Inc. and VoltaGrid LLC; 390 MW data centre, 190 MW on-site gas plant, 200 MW from the N.B. Power grid; registered April 14, 2026
• CTV News / The Canadian Press — N.B. utility is proposing rate hikes over next three years (Oct. 7, 2026): 5.5% average annual increase request
• CTV News Montreal — Hydro-Québec to face off against industry actors like Google in data centre hearing (Oct. 1, 2026): proposed 13-cent rate for data centres above 5 MW
• CBC News — Saint John residents concerned about prospect of 2nd large-scale data centre in city: Cross River Infrastructure Partners proposal
• N.B. Power — 2022-23 annual report: all-time peak demand of 3,442 MW on Feb. 4, 2023 (still cited as the all-time peak in N.B. Power's 2026 integrated resource plan)
• N.B. Power blog — New Brunswickers take action to help Beat the Peak (Jan. 2022): about 1,500 MW on a typical summer morning
• N.B. Power — Management team: Clark and Coady titles
• Lori Clark — LinkedIn