Nb and the April bill that didn’t change: a pause that still leaves families waiting
On Monday morning (ET), in a hearing room at the Fredericton Convention Centre, nb sat at the center of a decision that millions of daily routines depend on: the price of electricity. The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board opened proceedings by rejecting the utility’s request for a temporary, interim increase that would have taken effect April 1.
What happened to nb’s proposed April 1 electricity rate increase?
The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board denied NB Power’s motion for an interim 4. 75 per cent rate increase to begin April 1. Christopher Stewart, chair of the Energy and Utilities Board, delivered the three-member panel’s oral ruling at the outset of the hearing in Fredericton, stating, “The motion is denied. ”
Stewart said the board treats interim rate relief as an “extraordinary remedy” and that the board should grant such requests only in “exceptional circumstances. ” The denial means customers will not see that temporary increase on April 1.
Why did the Energy and Utilities Board say no?
In explaining the denial, Stewart pointed to the idea that delays in implementing new rates were tied to NB Power’s own business decisions. He said NB Power had pushed the general rate application hearing to a later date in favor of hearings about the Renewable Integration Grid Security (RIGS) project, which took place from Feb. 9 to 13 (ET).
Stewart added that NB Power had options to mitigate the risk of delay but did not use them. “An interim rate order is an extraordinary remedy and it is not intended to shield utilities from the known or reasonably foreseeable consequences of their own business decisions, ” Stewart said.
A separate thread also emerged around scheduling: after NB Power failed to persuade the board last fall that it did not require approval for a proposed gas/diesel plant, it sought hearings on that project in February—pushing the broader rate case later. NB Power prioritized those gas plant hearings because it said it had signed a contract with the U. S. company PROENERGY to build and run the facility with specific deadlines, including language that regulatory approval was needed by April 1 or the company could walk away.
NB Power’s lawyer, Leanne Murray, described the dilemma in a special hearing last week as a choice “between your children, ” but Stewart said that was not enough to justify placing the general rate application behind the other matter.
Will electricity prices still rise later—and what does the delay mean for households?
The board’s decision does not settle the broader question of whether electricity rates will rise later. The hearing is intended to decide if the rate should rise sometime later this year, and the denial only addresses the interim request for April 1.
Because of the timing of the hearing, the ruling makes it more likely that any changes to bills for all customer classes would not happen until June or July (ET), creating what the board’s decision described as a temporary reprieve. For households and businesses, that reprieve is real—but so is the uncertainty. The daily cost of keeping lights on, running a refrigerator, or operating a small storefront remains tied to a decision now pushed into the summer window.
The board also rejected NB Power’s request to impose a special charge—described as a rate rider—on the bills of more than 400, 000 customers, residential and commercial, dating back to April 1 if it eventually receives approval to raise prices later in 2026. That part of the decision matters to families because it removes the possibility of a retroactive add-on tied to April 1.
What happens next in the nb rate case?
Hearings on NB Power’s general rate application began Monday and are scheduled to continue through March 20 (ET). The board’s denial of interim relief sets the stage for a longer, evidence-driven process rather than an immediate, temporary increase while the case is argued.
The hearing’s opening moments carried the weight of two competing realities: the utility’s request for faster financial relief, and the regulator’s insistence that extraordinary measures require exceptional circumstances. In the room, Stewart’s ruling was delivered with NB Power executives and intervenors present, underlining that the decision was not abstract—it was watched closely by parties who understand that the eventual outcome will flow into every monthly statement.
Back at the Fredericton Convention Centre, the hearing continues with the knowledge that April 1 will arrive without an interim jump in bills. But the broader question remains unresolved, and that unresolved future is the part customers will keep watching. For now, nb is defined by a pause—one that offers short-term breathing room while the larger rate decision moves, slowly and publicly, toward summer.
