Despite public opposition and evidence that battery energy storage systems would cost less, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick approved power plants that will burn gas and diesel for the next quarter century. Now, Prince Edward Island faces the same choice.

While experts say the three Maritime provinces would benefit from a coordinated regional electricity grid rather than planning separately, those conversations remain in their infancy as one-off approvals continue to move ahead.

Nova Scotia

On June 27, about 200 people gathered in the small, northern Nova Scotian town of New Glasgow to protest the province’s plans for two 300-megawatt peaker power plants in two small rural communities in Pictou County, which would burn natural gas and diesel for  25 years.

Their banners and posters carried messages for Premier Tim Houston and energy minister Marco MacLeod, whose ridings fall within the county, and for the federal government: “No gas plants in our watersheds,” “Solar Wind and Batteries, not Diesel and Natural Gas for 25 years,” and “Not too late to explore alternatives.”

“On top of climate concerns over locking us into fossil fuels for about 25 more years, citizens and NGOs are concerned about the destruction of wetland habitat containing endangered species and the detrimental effects on the watersheds of two important salmon rivers,” says Living Ecosystems and Power (LEAP), the community group that organized the rally. “It just doesn’t make sense in 2026 when grid-forming batteries can now do the job for almost half the cost with far less harm.”

The two gas plants have faced public and First Nations backlash since Nova Scotia’s Independent Energy System Operator (IESO) proposed them in late 2025. Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman approved both projects in just 59 days.

In May, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) pre-emptively decided it would not undertake a separate federal impact assessment, reasoning that existing federal and provincial regulations would address any adverse effects from the project. This, despite overwhelmingly critical comments from the public, First Nations, environmental, and health groups to the federal regulator.

Speakers at Saturday’s rally said the provincial environmental assessments for the plants lacked field and aquatic studies, and called for a federal review.

Others pointed to “really poor decisions” made in the past in Pictou County, which have left a terrible environmental and human legacy—including pulp mill pollution in Boat Harbour next to Pictou Landing First Nation, and the Westray coal mine where 26 men lost their lives in an explosion in 1992.

LEAP member Ruben Irons said the rally was to try and prevent the province from making another costly mistake.

“We believe we can do better for Pictou County and for all Nova Scotians, who will bear the brunt of the costs to build and run these expensive, polluting plants,” LEAP said

The group points to Ontario, where three battery projects totalling 640 megawatts beat out gas plants on both cost and emissions in a recent competitive auction for grid capacity.

Asked why Nova Scotia was pushing ahead with the methane- and diesel-burning peaker plants when other jurisdictions are turning to battery storage, Energy Department spokesperson Michelle Lucas told The Energy Mix, “The right mix for Nova Scotia’s system will not necessarily be the same as another province.”

“Ontario’s electricity system has significant firm capacity from its nuclear generators and gas-fired power plants already in place, and the additional capacity they are now seeking can be provided by energy storage.”

Pictou Municipal Warden Robert Parker, who opposes the NS peaker plants, told The Mix residents have tried to communicate their concerns to energy minister MacLeod.

“I’m not saying he hasn’t listened, but he hasn’t heard.”

“They talk about experts, that IESO is the expert, we have to listen to them,” he added. “The real experts are the people whose families have lived here for generations. They’re the people who know the environment.”

New Brunswick

Saturday’s rally mirrors growing opposition to a 500-megawatt gas and diesel power plant in Tantramar, New Brunswick, on the low-lying Isthmus of Chignecto that links the province to Nova Scotia.

The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board approved the plant—which utility NB Power calls the Renewable Integration Grid Security (RIGS) project—despite rebuking NB Power for its handling of the approval process. The plant will still require a provincial environmental assessment and is expected to start operating in 2028. NB Power selected Missouri-based ProEnergy to develop and operate the facility.

District war chief Jason Augustine of the land defence group Mi’kmaq Warriors Society warned that if RIGS goes ahead it could result in a tense confrontation like the one in 2013 over fracking in New Brunswick.

“Anything that is there to destroy our land, warriors will always oppose it,” said Augustine.

The Mix asked New Brunswick’s Department of Energy if it would consider putting the plans for the plant on hold while it explores alternatives. Spokesperson David Kellydefended the decision as a way to meet increased demand “and balance the increasing number of renewables being added to the grid.”

“Based on the department’s knowledge of RIGS, the RIGS project is designed to provide capacity for up to a 36- to 72-hour period when wind isn’t available to support generation,” Kelly added. “The cost of battery storage beyond four to eight hours increases exponentially and would not be cost competitive with the RIGS project.”

Toby Couture, who provided expert testimony to the NB Utilities and Review Board on the RIGS project, countered that NB Power appeared “to be using outdated numbers and assumptions to make its case” that battery storage would be more expensive than the proposed RIGS plant. Couture said NB Power relied on figures from a 2023 tender, but the cost of battery storage has decreased by 59% since then, and is expected to halve again by 2035.

Batteries have another important advantage over gas, Couture adds [pdf], helping to integrate renewables and mitigate their curtailment. He writes that by NB Power’s own 2023 analysis, curtailment poses a significant problem that is likely to grow in the coming years as new wind capacity is added.

Nova Scotia has agreed to take 100 MW from the plant, and to put up US$170 million as a loan guarantee for the project.

Prince Edward Island

Maritime Electric, the private power provider in Prince Edward Island, is also proposing two new 50-MW fossil fuel-burning turbines to increase electricity reliability on the island. However, a report for the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) shows gas turbines are not the only viable or even the most cost-effective solution—batteries are.

Stacey Miller, spokesperson for PEI’s Department of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Energy, told The Mix that IRAC is now reviewing “all the evidence” so it can “make an independent decision based on that evidence.”

“Each electrical grid is unique, and PEI’s capacity situation is not comparable to Ontario’s,” Miller said. “While PEI is a leader in renewable energy generation, current production is not sufficient on its own to maintain a reliable and stable grid.”

She added that “the province will continue to support renewable generation and explore other solutions. Today, more than 40 applications to provide backup battery storage are under review.”

Regional Energy Integration an Option

Battery storage and peaker plants are not the only options for increasing electricity reliability in the Maritimes, Thomas Arnason McNeil, senior energy coordinator with the Ecology Action Centre, told The Mix in an interview.

Arnason McNeil pointed to a new study that recommends creation of a coordinated power grid in the three Maritime provinces to improve reliability, lower costs, and increase renewable energy integration. He said the three provinces should analyze what is needed across the region, then decide whether any gas plants are warranted after an integrated resource plan (IRP) has been prepared.

“Until we’ve done that, and had those conversations, as experts have been saying to governments for 55 years, then I don’t think any province or any systems operator can say with absolute certainty that they are doing right by ratepayers, that they’re pursuing the cheapest option as it relates to maintaining reliability.”

Arnason McNeil said a recent independent review of NB Power recommended “an immediate discussion regarding the potential establishment or sharing of responsibilities of a Maritime Independent System Operator.”

Regional grids have operated well in the United States for decades, he said. Since the launch of its integrated marketplace, the California Independent System Operator reports US$7.8 billion in savings for ratepayers from improved real-time trading.

Coordination Still Just Talk

The Mix asked energy departments in all three provinces if talks to create a regional independent system operator are under way, and if plans for fossil gas plants should be paused.

Nova Scotia’s energy department referred to comments by Energy Minister Marco MacLeod June 18. At the time, he said conversations with New Brunswick and PEI have begun, but “it’s early on.”

NB energy department spokesperson Kelly said the talks at this point were “exploratory” and “informal.” PEI spokesperson Miller said the province is “actively engaging with Maritime provinces and the Government of Canada about regional collaboration to find answers to energy challenges.”