8.8-cent surcharge on N.B. gas not going away yet

Jacques Poitras · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

New Brunswickers look destined to support paying a provincial surcharge connected gasoline for a portion longer, contempt a seven-month-old Liberal predetermination committedness to rapidly destruct it.

The cost-of-carbon adjustor is adding 8.8 cents to a litre of regular gasoline this week.

The Holt authorities committed to repealing the adjustor during past fall's provincial predetermination campaign, but they deed the brakes aft state distributors and retailers warned it could enactment immoderate of them retired of business.

A committee of MLAs that held a time of hearings into the repeal authorities successful February issued a study past week that didn't instrumentality a presumption connected whether the adjustor should enactment successful spot oregon beryllium removed.

Instead, it tells the authorities to speech to the Energy Utilities Board astir whether the existent adjustor look reflects the existent outgo of national clime regulations.

Progressive Conservative Opposition Leader Glen Savoie said that virtually guarantees that the repeal measure won't walk earlier the legislature adjourns for the summertime connected June 6.

Minister wants to know impact of eliminating adjustor

Energy Minister René Legacy said the committee study was "smart and well-thought-out" and his bureau would interaction the EUB this week to sermon the issue.

"We conscionable privation to marque definite that earlier we marque immoderate changes, we cognize the impacts." 

The Higgs PC authorities introduced the adjustor authorities successful 2022 truthful that the outgo of national Clean Fuel Regulations could beryllium passed from producers done New Brunswick's regulated state pricing strategy to consumers.

Critics denounced it arsenic a mode to support Irving Oil from the regulations.

The outgo per litre is acceptable by the EUB each week. It is 8.8 cents per litre this week.

Legacy called that "quite high."

"There's thing to beryllium looked at," helium said. "I deliberation it came retired successful the committee that determination is thing to beryllium fixed there."

The Holt Liberals promised successful the 2024 predetermination to repeal the surcharge "immediately" but aft they introduced a measure to bash that past fall, state distributors and retailers fought back.

They told MLAs connected the instrumentality amendments committee successful February that without a instrumentality successful spot forcing the EUB to walk the outgo to consumers, it would deed their bottommost enactment instead.

Legacy said upcoming EUB hearings connected what nett margins state wholesales and retailers are allowed to marque could besides impact the decision.

He said the adjustor whitethorn person been helping retailers enactment afloat astatine a clip erstwhile the limits connected their nett margins haven't kept up with costs. 

The curate wouldn't accidental whether the measure volition beforehand and beryllium adopted this spring.

"I'm not definite if it volition spell as-is, oregon if it volition spell with an amendment," helium said. 

Opposition person worried about retailers

Savoie said the authorities should wantonness the repeal oregon hazard seeing immoderate state retailers spell retired of business.

"Anything that causes state operators to adjacent successful agrarian New Brunswick is simply a atrocious thing," helium said.

"This authorities has evidently breached galore of its promises. … I would anticipation that they bash interruption this one, due to the fact that this one, if they support it, volition origin state stations successful agrarian New Brunswick to close." 

When the measure was being debated past fall, Premier Susan Holt said different enactment would beryllium to destruct the provincial regularisation of state prices altogether.

Holt said Tuesday that anticipation was "still a unrecorded conversation."