An unexpected change in furnace oil prices.
The interrupter clause kicked in overnight on Wednesday, and the maximum cost is up 5.8 cents a litre.
The price for furnace oil now sits at around $1.74.
Another price adjustment is expected at midnight on Thursday, when the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board makes its weekly price adjustments.
The price of regular self-serve fuel and diesel remained the same.
Power rates in New Brunswick could be on the rise again.
NB Power is seeking an order allowing for a temporary rate increase while it waits for the Energy and Utilities Board to rule on an application made in October.
The motion for an interim order outlines two requests.
First, allowing a temporary increase of 4.75 per cent beginning April 1.
Failing that, the second request is to “allow NB Power to recover any loss in revenue associated with a delay in implementing new rates after April 1, 2026, over the remainder of fiscal year once the decision has been rendered on the GRA (general rate application).”
In a release from the utility, it is stated the measure is necessary due to the delayed hearing date of the GRA.
NB Power said the delay is the result of a scheduling issue caused by the Renewables Integration Grid Security project that is moving through the EUB regulatory process, with hearings set for Feb. 9 to 13.
“Typically, a GRA hearing and decision would have occurred in time for any new rates to take effect at the start of the utility’s new fiscal year, April 1, 2026,” the release said.
NB Power claims any delay to the start date of a rate increase “will significantly impact the utility’s revenue and its ability to make critical investments or improve its financial health.”
The proposed 4.75-per-cent increase would apply across all rate classes.
According to the utility, the average residential customer using 1,350 kilowatt hours per month would see an increase on their bill of approximately $10.90 per month.
The funds would go directly toward upgrading essential infrastructure, ensuring a reliable supply of power for homes and businesses and supporting a transition to clean, modern energy solutions.
If the interim rate motion is accepted, the rate would be in place until the EUB makes a final decision following the planned GRA hearing in March.
If the alternative motion is approved, the EUB would permit NB Power to recover lost revenue resulting from the delay in setting new rates through a separate charge.
The charge would only be applied after the GRA is finalized and would only be in place until March 31, 2027.
According to NB Power, the primary drivers for the rate change request are a need for improvements in reliability and station performance to address an infrastructure deficit, as well as inflation, market prices and customer support.
On its website, NB Power stated specific investments would be made in generating station reliability, vegetation management, cybersecurity and energy efficiency programs.
Breaks across the board for fuel this week.
The maximum for regular self-serve is sitting at around $1.49 on Friday morning, which is down one cent a litre.
Diesel dipped 4.3 cents to around $1.79.
Furnace oil decreased 4.6 cents to $172.4.
The Energy and Utilities Board made weekly price adjustments overnight.
In Nova Scotia, regular self-serve ranges from $1.36 to $1.40 per litre, while diesel is selling for between $1.66 and $1.70 per litre.
On Prince Edward Island, the price for regular self-serve is around $1.46 per litre, diesel costs around $1.72 per litre, and home heating oil is selling for a maximum of $1.22 per litre.
The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board adjusts prices every Friday at 12:01 a.m.
Premier Susan Holt expressed frustration after the Energy and Utilities Board blocked her government’s decision to cut the cost of carbon adjuster from the price of gas.
The EUB announced Friday the planned removal of the adjuster, scheduled to take effect Dec. 1, would be negated by an interim order increasing wholesale margins by an equivalent amount.
In a statement late Friday, Holt said the government’s priority has been making life more affordable for New Brunswickers.
“That is why our government moved to eliminate the cost-of-carbon adjuster,” she said. “People deserve genuine relief.”
Holt said the adjuster was supposed to a temporary measure when the Higgs government put it in place three years ago.
She criticized the EUB’s decision after emergency hearings involving gas retailers and wholesalers who have claimed the cut would result in closures of some gas stations around the province.
“It is the EUB’s job to ensure the lowest possible price for consumers,” Holt said. “The carbon adjuster remains unsupported by evidence and consumers should not be forced to absorb costs the industry cannot prove.”
But the Progressive Conservatives took a different view of the decision.
“(Friday’s) interim decision by the EUB comes nearly 14 months after Premier Susan Holt made an uninformed and irresponsible election promise,” Tory energy critic Kris Austin said in a statement.
Austin said the decision granted a reprieve until next February for rural New Brunswickers and local suppliers of fuel.
Austin said those suppliers have warned the provincial government that their livelihoods and the rural fuel supply would be at risk if the retailers and wholesalers became responsible for the carbon costs.