Expertise from Ontario Power Generation showing results at Point Lepreau: NB Power – New Brunswick [Video]

Officials from NB Power say a three-year contract with Ontario Power Generation is already leading to improved outcomes at the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station.

“If we get to the end of the fiscal year and we don’t have any reason to think that we won’t, Lepreau will have one of its best years in a very long time,” NB Power CEO Lori Clark told a legislative committee on Friday.

Last year NB Power signed a three-year, $2-million contract with OPG that has three employees from the Ontario utility working at Lepreau helping to improve performance.

The facility has been an economic millstone for NB Power for years. Since a $2.4-billion refurbishment that finished in 2014, the facility has been plagued with shutdowns, a number of which related to the non-nuclear equipment at the station.

For example, an unplanned outage in December of 2022 wiped out all of the utility’s profits for the year, ultimately leading to a $43 million operating loss.