Latest news with #NicolePoirier
National Post
6 days ago
- Business
- National Post
NPCC Appoints New Board Members to Support Continued Reliability of the Bulk Power System in Northeastern North America
Article content NEW YORK — The Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. (NPCC) has appointed two new members to its board of directors. Article content 'We are excited to welcome Nicole Poirier and Nicola Jones to our board to support the continued reliability of the bulk power system across the Northeast U.S. and Canada,' said Charles Dickerson, NPCC President and Chief Executive Officer. 'Their combined insights and expertise will complement our board and provide valuable new perspectives to foster NPCC's long-term success as we continue to identify, reduce, and mitigate reliability risks.' Article content Nicole Poirier Article content is the Vice President of Operations for New Brunswick Power Corporation. In her role, she is responsible for the strategic development of initiatives that help deliver electricity to customers. She leads a team that ensures reliable service to the province of New Brunswick through the management of regular maintenance and capital programs while ensuring safety, training, and day-to-day operations. Article content Ms. Poirier has 36 years' experience in the electric utility industry providing oversight on all matters related to transmission and distribution, conventional generation, and system operations. During her career, she has driven process improvements with a clear focus on customer centricity and reliability. She has also worked to develop strong leadership teams to support the business. Article content Nicola Jones Article content is a Chief in the Office of Rates and Tariff at the New York State Department of Public Service. She has 20 years' experience in the utility industry. During this time, she has developed programs, projects, and processes to meet New York's energy goals and address legislations that impact utility rates, tariffs, and regulations. She has also monitored and investigated the safety, reliability, and emergency preparation and response of utilities, as well as their projects, programs, and long-term plans. She has evaluated utility compliance with codes, service standards, and regulations, as well as provided guidance and testified on utility rate and tariff revision filings. Article content About NPCC Article content Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. is one of six Regional Entities located throughout the United States, Canada, and portions of Mexico that, in concert with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, seeks to assure a highly reliable, resilient, and secure North American bulk power system through the effective and efficient identification, reduction, and mitigation of reliability risks. NPCC's geographic area includes the six New England states, the State of New York, the provinces of Ontario, Québec, and the Canadian Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Overall, NPCC covers an area of nearly 1.2 million square miles, populated by approximately 62 million people. Article content NPCC carries out its mission through: (i) the development of regional reliability standards and compliance assessment and enforcement of continent-wide and Regional Reliability standards; (ii) coordination of system planning, design and operations, and assessment of reliability; and, (iii) the establishment of Regionally-specific criteria and monitoring and enforcement of compliance with such criteria. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
NPCC Appoints New Board Members to Support Continued Reliability of the Bulk Power System in Northeastern North America
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. (NPCC) has appointed two new members to its board of directors. 'We are excited to welcome Nicole Poirier and Nicola Jones to our board to support the continued reliability of the bulk power system across the Northeast U.S. and Canada,' said Charles Dickerson, NPCC President and Chief Executive Officer. 'We are excited to welcome Nicole Poirier and Nicola Jones to our board to support the continued reliability of the bulk power system across the Northeast U.S. and Canada,' said Charles Dickerson, NPCC President and Chief Executive Officer. 'Their combined insights and expertise will complement our board and provide valuable new perspectives to foster NPCC's long-term success as we continue to identify, reduce, and mitigate reliability risks.' Nicole Poirier is the Vice President of Operations for New Brunswick Power Corporation. In her role, she is responsible for the strategic development of initiatives that help deliver electricity to customers. She leads a team that ensures reliable service to the province of New Brunswick through the management of regular maintenance and capital programs while ensuring safety, training, and day-to-day operations. Ms. Poirier has 36 years' experience in the electric utility industry providing oversight on all matters related to transmission and distribution, conventional generation, and system operations. During her career, she has driven process improvements with a clear focus on customer centricity and reliability. She has also worked to develop strong leadership teams to support the business. Nicola Jones is a Chief in the Office of Rates and Tariff at the New York State Department of Public Service. She has 20 years' experience in the utility industry. During this time, she has developed programs, projects, and processes to meet New York's energy goals and address legislations that impact utility rates, tariffs, and regulations. She has also monitored and investigated the safety, reliability, and emergency preparation and response of utilities, as well as their projects, programs, and long-term plans. She has evaluated utility compliance with codes, service standards, and regulations, as well as provided guidance and testified on utility rate and tariff revision filings. For more information on NPCC, visit About NPCC Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. is one of six Regional Entities located throughout the United States, Canada, and portions of Mexico that, in concert with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, seeks to assure a highly reliable, resilient, and secure North American bulk power system through the effective and efficient identification, reduction, and mitigation of reliability risks. NPCC's geographic area includes the six New England states, the State of New York, the provinces of Ontario, Québec, and the Canadian Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Overall, NPCC covers an area of nearly 1.2 million square miles, populated by approximately 62 million people. NPCC carries out its mission through: (i) the development of regional reliability standards and compliance assessment and enforcement of continent-wide and Regional Reliability standards; (ii) coordination of system planning, design and operations, and assessment of reliability; and, (iii) the establishment of Regionally-specific criteria and monitoring and enforcement of compliance with such criteria.
CTV News
25-04-2025
- Business
- CTV News
No link between NB Power smart meters and higher utility bills: review
A highly anticipated review of NB Power smart meters is reporting no link between the devices and higher utility bills. Results from the review, conducted by KPMG, were released Friday afternoon at NB Power's headquarters in Fredericton. In its report, KPMG said there were no power consumption increases for customers who changed to a smart meter from December 2023 to December 2024 that can be attributed to the meters. The KPMG review said the cause of higher-than-expected bills in December 2024 were due to: increased power prices higher power consumption levels due to cold weather temperatures longer billing periods fewer power outages compared to December 2023 NB Power gave the same explanation for higher power bills to customers before the provincial government ordered the review in January. The review was prompted by customer outrage over power bills, which in some cases were double or more compared to the previous year. According to the KPMG review released Friday, a random test of 400 meters (181 conventional meters and 219 smart meters) found none were overstating residential power use. A review of 40 additional meters – selected by NB Power in February – also found no discrepancies, according to the utility. KPMG said it tested 100 residential meters, where utility bills increased more than 30 per cent, and found no signs of overstated power use connected to the meters. KPMG said all the meters tested met the Measurement Canada dispute guidelines of three per cent accuracy. NB Power update on smart meters NB Power President and CEO Lori Clark and NB Power Vice-president of Operations Nicole Poirier speak to reporters in Fredericton on April 25, 2025. (Nick Moore/CTV Atlantic) 'We do know that the results from this review will not make it any easier for some of those customers who are struggling to pay their bills,' Lori Clark, president and CEO of NB Power, told reporters on Friday. 'It was very important for us to have an independent third-party review to have that validation from third parties, whether it be Environment Canada, Measurement Canada, KPMG, those groups, to validate the information that customers had on their bill, the billing process, as well that the meters are working properly. 'New Brunswickers should rest comfortably knowing that the audit was done by an independent group and also that in other jurisdictions, whether it's Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, or P.E.I., similar results were found when their reviews were done in those provinces as well.' In a statement, Energy Minister René Legacy said he had given 'a cursory look at the report and its findings, which should help to give New Brunswickers a level of confidence that the equipment and billing processes that NB Power is using is trustworthy.' Legacy said he'd be looking at the report more fully in the days to come. Green Party Leader David Coon said the review was disappointing because the explanations for higher utility bills still remained unclear. 'There are still a sizeable number of consumers, NB Power customers, who have unexplained, significant increases in their power consumption that gave them extremely high power bills,' said Coon. 'And they didn't answer that question.' NB Power says the rollout of smart meters to all residential dwellings should be finished by the end of 2025, totalling 375,000 devices across the province. A full copy of the KPMG report can be found online. More to come... For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
13-02-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Rothesay N.B. Power customers: The unlucky one per cent on Christmas Day
Social Sharing N.B. Power has tried to assure Rothesay-area customers who spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the dark that it's taking a proactive approach to grid reliability, from regular maintenance to modernizing equipment to prompt tree trimming. At a meeting Tuesday night requested by the Town of Rothesay, the utility said stormy weather on Christmas Eve caused snow-laden trees to make contact with distribution lines in the Kennebecasis Valley, causing outages for 2,600 customers by 6:15 pm. The impact was hardest in Rothesay, a town of about 12,000, but customers in Grand Bay, Hampton and St. Martins were also affected. "Fewer than 2 per cent of customers across the province experienced outages on December 24," said printed hand-outs. Another 1,600 customers then lost power on Christmas Day, with some homes sitting dark and cold from around 4 p.m. and overnight into Boxing Day. "It's never a good time to lose power," said Nicole Poirier, N.B. Power's vice-president of operations. "We understood there were concerns, and we actually wanted to come and address that with the public." Already, she said, crews have started clearing vegetation. Tree-cutting budget bumped to $16.8M N.B. Power says it takes a number of steps to ensure reliability. Transmission lines are inspected by helicopter every year and ground-level inspections are done every four to eight years. Methods for controlling vegetation include manual trimming, mechanical clearing and targeted herbicide application — only on transmission lines and under professional supervision. 5 hours ago Duration 3:16 Poirier said a four-week tree-trimming blitz has already started along Grove Avenue, Hampton Road, Highland Avenue, Tennis Court Road and Rothesay Park Road. Provincewide, N.B. Power will spend $16.8 million on tree-clearing this fiscal year. That's a return to spending levels in the wake of post-tropical storm Arthur. In July 2014, Arthur blew through New Brunswick, knocking out electricity to more than 200,000 N.B. Power customers, some for more than a week. The tree-cutting program grew to $15.5 million in 2018 but in following years, spending was cut back, falling to $12.5 million in 2019. Figures supplied by N.B. Power this week indicate continued ups and downs in the "vegetation management budget" starting in 2021-22, when it was $15.1 million. It dropped to $13.9 million the next year but is expected to be $17.2 million in 2025-26. Problems with estimated restoration times Tuesday's information session started at 6 p.m. at the Wells Community Centre and by 6:30, the room was full. The sound was so loud, it was sometimes difficult for people to hear one another as they made their way around to the various information stations. Under this setup, there was no central presentation or opportunity to ask questions in front of the larger group. "I figured this is what they were going to do to avoid conflict," Willie Spence said. "By doing this, you don't have everybody screaming and hollering at them wanting more answers." As a home dialysis patient Spence says he was frustrated by the estimated restoration times posted on the N.B. Power outages web site — estimates that were off, he said, by many hours. "I'm trying to make the decision about whether I've got to leave or stay in my house and try to do my dialysis," he said. "Without having the machine being able to run, I can't do my dialysis. And then I get sick." WATCH | Outages in Rothesay a very rare event, N.B. Power says at public meeting: "You get a quote online for six o'clock. Then you say, OK, I'll stay in my apartment. Then you get a quote that comes back again later that says 9 o'clock. Then the next time, it's 11 o'clock." N.B. Power said it is working toward a smarter grid so crews and engineers can gather more information about where the power is out and why it's out. Over Christmas, however, it still came down to workers walking under the lines, pushing through deep snow, scanning the grid with their flashlights. "You'll see people in backyards trying to find the issue," said Phil Landry, executive director of the project management office and engineering. He said the estimated times of restoration, or ETRs, are based on what N.B. Power crews think the problem is and what it will take to fix it. However, sometimes the failure turns out to be more complicated than they thought. "At times there's more than one problem," Landry said. "That's when you see things will change in terms of our ETRs." Landry says N.B. Power is going to put a communication system on top of the distribution system, which will provide more information on where the faults are. "On top of that, we're going to have smart meters. So with a smarter system in place, when there are outages, we'll be better positioned to see where those issues are. And that will allow us to get to those issues quicker." Dinner's ruined Gina Chiarella said she came to the meeting partly out of concern for her neighbours. She said her apartment building is full of seniors. "Half of them were having kids and grandkids over for Christmas dinner and the power goes off at 4:30. There goes your turkey and everything. What do you do? I think the power came back on at 5 a.m., but we were all in bed. I imagine it ruined a lot of dinners." "Had it been really cold, that really makes a difference," said Richard Hull, who lost power on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He said he and his wife bundled up their Christmas ham and took it to their son's house. They then came home at 10 o'clock and went to bed under extra blankets. "We have a wood stove but the thing is, we have well water. So when we lose power, we've got no water." The town said complaints started escalating after Christmas Day. "We started getting calls and demands, really, that the town needed to advocate on behalf of some of the residents to help them with this issue," said Brett McLean, Rothesay's chief administrative officer. McLean said he's satisfied with N.B. Power's bid to move resources into tree-cutting in the community. "Here we are, only the early part of February, from an outage that happened over Christmas, and and the solution's in the works," he said.
