Shawn Graham renews call for second nuclear reactor to guard against energy crisis
NB Telegraph-Journal | News - As published on page A1 on July 26, 2006
By Charles Mandel

FREDERICTON - The New Brunswick Liberal party says it will introduce a three-pronged platform of conservation, research and development, and investment to combat high oil prices and guard against a provincial energy crisis.

"Similar to what Frank McKenna did in the innovation and information technology sector, I want to position New Brunswick on the leading edge with the energy sector," Liberal Leader Shawn Graham said Tuesday.

Some of the details Graham divulged of the Liberal party's forthcoming platform includes streamlining the Efficiency NB energy conservation program and backing research into alternative fuel sources such as hydrogen and cellulose ethanol from wood waste.

The latter would help wean New Brunswickers away from gas, Graham said. "These types of possibilities excite me."

Graham hinted the Liberals would also renew calls for a second provincial nuclear reactor. He said the Liberal platform will promote continued diversification of the province's traditional energy supply.

"That's why we were pushing quite strongly for the feasibility study for a second nuclear reactor in New Brunswick, which would minimize the need for fossil fuels in our province."

It's widely expected Premier Bernard Lord will call a provincial election this fall. With anger over gas regulation, the recent controversy over the management of the Public Utilities Board, and - most recently - warnings the province is ill-prepared to withstand higher oil prices, energy is shaping up to be one of the major battlegrounds.

Graham criticized the government for a lack of leadership. "The province of New Brunswick is not prepared to face the problems of a future energy crisis. As we continue to see the price of crude oil escalate and volatile world markets, we have not put in place public policies that will allow our province to meet these challenges head-on."

Provincial Energy Minister Brenda Fowlie declined to comment.

Graham was responding to a recent paper that warned Atlantic Canada is poorly prepared to weather spikes in energy prices and subsequent shortages.

Larry Hughes, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Halifax's Dalhousie University, set forth a dire scenario in a recent paper on energy security in which he suggested Atlantic Canada is "energy insecure." He writes that the arrival of peak oil - where world demand outstrips supply of the commodity - will trigger major problems for the region.

David Goodstein, vice-provost of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and author of Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil, said Tuesday the current price of oil at $75 a barrel implies the peak is near. Goodstein said he couldn't predict when the peak might occur, but that if the price of oil dropped, it could take as long as two decades for the balance to tip.

"That's a very short time on the scale of history."

One of the greatest impacts of peak oil will be on Atlantic Canadians' ability to heat their homes, according to Hughes, who noted about 60 per cent of residential energy use is for space heating. "Any increases in the price of refined petroleum products will affect most residents of Atlantic Canada."

Hughes called for retrofits to existing houses to make them as energy efficient as possible.

David Coon, policy director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, agrees provincial residents and businesses must reduce their overall energy use to buffer themselves against sudden oil-price surges. "The emphasis has to be on shrinking energy demand in the province through energy efficiency and conservation."

Coon said while the province created Efficiency NB - an agency that promotes energy efficiency - it hasn't followed through with a policy framework to support the agency and to set clear targets to reduce the energy requirements of the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.

Graham also said the agency could be more effective. He noted only 600 homes have signed up for the provincial government's energy conservation program through Efficiency NB. He called the program cumbersome and said the process must become more accessible and aggressive, encouraging New Brunswickers to put in place new doors, windows and insulation in order to save energy.

"The cheapest form of energy is the energy you don't use," he said.

In his paper, Hughes remarked that the age of Atlantic Canada's housing means the energy efficiency of the region's residential sector is much lower than in other parts of the country. "Upgrading these houses to meet minimum EnerGuide standards will be a costly exercise."