Brighton Mountain and all its inhabitants urgently need residents' help. Blasting is scheduled for the month of December 2025 for roads, foundation excavation, and quarries related to a massive industrial wind farm.
Concerned citizens are not NIMBYs. The views of turbines are not a concern (even though it will impact the picturesque landscape of the region on some ridges).
The concern is the protection of water, forests, habitats, and wildlife."
"Stephanie Mae Thornton
The site at Brighton Mountain near Hartland will supply 200 megawatts of energy into the provincial grid
Author of the article:John Chilibeck • Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Published Dec 22, 2025 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
NB Power and J.D. Irving, Limited, have signed a deal to supply wind energy. POSTMEDIA ARCHIVES
Article content
NB Power has signed a deal to buy electricity from the controversial wind farm that J.D. Irving, Limited is building at Brighton Mountain, near Hartland.
The power purchase agreement was announced Friday in a news release just before the public utility became very busy with a major windstorm that hit the province and knocked out electricity to one in four households and businesses.
The deal is for 200 megawatts of wind that will be produced from 38 turbines in the sparsely populated area, enough to power the equivalent of more than 100,000 homes.
That’s nearly one-third the output from huge generators in NB Power’s fleet, such as the Mactaquac hydro-electric station near Fredericton or the Point Lepreau nuclear plant near Saint John, which produce more than 600 megawatts each at full capacity.
Very few details of the agreement were released, such as when it would start, how long it would last, and how much money would change hands.
NB Power didn’t immediately answer questions from Brunswick News.
In other power purchase agreements, NB Power has agreed to pay the developer an undisclosed sum for 25 years of electricity, a cost that’s passed on to ratepayers.
NB Power says it can’t publicly disclose the cost of such projects for ratepayers because the private developers want to keep their trade secrets. The Crown corporation argues the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, entrusted with safeguarding the public purse, reviews the private details before giving its approval.
A photo posted on the Brighton Mountain wind farm project website shows a bird’s eye view of the area that would be developed. SUBMITTED
JDI has said the wind project will cost it $550 million to build on the land it owns at Brighton Mountain, but it remains to be seen if that entire price will be passed along to NB Power ratepayers.
“We are pleased to see such a strong interest to add renewables to our grid and to proceed with this shovel-ready project,” said Lori Clark, the CEO of NB Power, in the release.
“With our province facing an energy shortfall as early as 2028, this agreement and strategic partnership will help us integrate additional renewable power into our systems at an expedited rate.”
JDI referred questions to NB Power.
The wind project has not been well received by some of the people who live nearby.
A small group of protesters disrupted JDI’s plans to blast rock by walking onto the construction site, forcing work stoppages in early December.
Led by Knowlesville resident Jean Arnold, the group argues the industrial project will hurt the forests, wildlife, and waterways.
Faced with a multi-billion dollar refurbishment of Mactaquac and potentially hundreds of millions to get Lepreau running properly, NB Power has recently charted a different course, asking private interests to build power plants and wind farms and maintain them at a pre-set price that would make costs more certain for households and businesses that buy electricity.
Ratepayers have bucked at NB Power’s rate increases, with the price going up 23 per cent over the last three years. The public utility is about to go before the regulator in March asking for another increase, this time 4.5 per cent, to take effect April 1.
The sharp rise in the price of electricity is happening while Lepreau has suffered breakdowns, and Mactaquac, now in its 55th year of operation, continues to crumble well before its intended lifespan of 100 years is over.
Since 2024, NB Power has entered into power purchase agreements for 675 megawatts of renewable energy with different firms. It is still in talks with 14 other bidders, with plans to put another 200 megawatts of wind energy on the grid.
This photomontage presented by J.D. Irving, Limited, shows what its Brighton Mountain wind farm would look like from an ATV trail on the property about 20 kilometres east of Hartland. SUBMITTED
JDI also has plans to add another 150 megawatts to the Brighton Mountain windfarm, which is supposed to be up and running by 2027.
Article content
Telegraph-Journal is part of the Local Journalism Initiative and reporters are funded by the Government of Canada to produce civic journalism for underserved communities. Learn more about the initiative
Share this article in your social network"
Facebook page update: Carleton Country Wind Farm Updates & Concerns | Facebook
More here: Brighton Mountain Wind Farm
and here:
No comments:
Post a Comment