Brunswick News used to have an excellent archive included with its subscription that allowed customers to search all included provincial papers going back to the mid to late 1800s.
A story of a vertical integration pendulum. Starting centuries ago, out of necessity, using water+gravity or wind to power all sorts of mechanical work, such as wheat or lumber mills, etc. In the 20th century, the source of mechanical power could be "outsourced" when electricity distribution became available. Now, especially with hyperscale energy demands (GigaWatt per site), things are swinging back toward being less dependent on the grid (outsourced energy partner) for reasons of cost, cost stability, reliability, and, in the case of AI compute, the ability to manage large load fluctuations that Grids struggle to stabilize voltage/frequency with.
I am not sure if long-term vertical-integration-focused minds at orgs such as JDI have ever been fully dependent on grids. I have always heard of different internal and external generation projects over the past 2+ decades. I hear the "Mills" at reversing falls in West SJ are >50% self powered by burning their own waste products.
Every month, there seems to be a new announcement that AI hyperscalers are buying all sorts of generation assets, including LNG and Nuclear, or making long-term power purchase agreements mostly considered behind the meter. If the Canadian laws allowed it, I am sure you may have had them (Microsoft, Google, etc) knocking at our door to purchase point lepreau :-)
Doesn't Irving already supply some of it's own electricity from wind in Saint John? The problem for NB Power is if it gets too expensive, which in my opinion it already is, people will start shopping alternatives. I don't think there is any law that says we must get electricity from NB Power. This might include going off the grid. Technology is improving all the time that is could be possible to generate power needed for my own home and use fire wood for heating in the winter. What will become of NB Power if rate payers withdraw from the provincial power system? No matter how we look at it the tax payers of this province will be stuck with the $5.6B of debt.
Why we don’t access the abundant shale gas in the province to create a low cost energy regime is beyond me - nimbyism holding us back …
A story of a vertical integration pendulum. Starting centuries ago, out of necessity, using water+gravity or wind to power all sorts of mechanical work, such as wheat or lumber mills, etc. In the 20th century, the source of mechanical power could be "outsourced" when electricity distribution became available. Now, especially with hyperscale energy demands (GigaWatt per site), things are swinging back toward being less dependent on the grid (outsourced energy partner) for reasons of cost, cost stability, reliability, and, in the case of AI compute, the ability to manage large load fluctuations that Grids struggle to stabilize voltage/frequency with.
I am not sure if long-term vertical-integration-focused minds at orgs such as JDI have ever been fully dependent on grids. I have always heard of different internal and external generation projects over the past 2+ decades. I hear the "Mills" at reversing falls in West SJ are >50% self powered by burning their own waste products.
Every month, there seems to be a new announcement that AI hyperscalers are buying all sorts of generation assets, including LNG and Nuclear, or making long-term power purchase agreements mostly considered behind the meter. If the Canadian laws allowed it, I am sure you may have had them (Microsoft, Google, etc) knocking at our door to purchase point lepreau :-)
Doesn't Irving already supply some of it's own electricity from wind in Saint John? The problem for NB Power is if it gets too expensive, which in my opinion it already is, people will start shopping alternatives. I don't think there is any law that says we must get electricity from NB Power. This might include going off the grid. Technology is improving all the time that is could be possible to generate power needed for my own home and use fire wood for heating in the winter. What will become of NB Power if rate payers withdraw from the provincial power system? No matter how we look at it the tax payers of this province will be stuck with the $5.6B of debt.