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New Brunswick Power’s application for a pair of steep rate hikes is forcing it to pay higher subsidies to pulp and paper mills this year and next year to help the plants cope with the increases. But the utility says it is not allowed to provide similar relief to any other customers who might be in need, including low-income households. …But restrictions on subsidising power costs do not apply in one case. In evidence presented at the hearing, N.B. Power has outlined plans to spend $26.3 million over the next two years to help pulp and paper mills with their electricity costs. It is a 36 per cent increase over the previous two years. The subsidy, called the Large Industrial Renewable Energy Purchase Program, involves N.B. Power buying renewable electricity generated by the mills at high prices and reselling it back at low prices.

BELLEVILLE — The Ontario government is investing $445,252 in a new action centre to help the 180 workers impacted by the closure of Cascades’ manufacturing plants in Trenton and Belleville connect with services and training they need to get back to work quickly. David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, said “Our government is investing in the Cascades Action Centre to ensure that these workers have access to resources and opportunities to land better jobs.” Run by Unifor, the Cascades Action Centre will operate until April 2025 and support laid-off workers represented by Unifor Local 1470 and the Independent Paperworkers of Canada Local 7. The action centre will host workshops and seminars, provide peer-to-peer support and job search assistance, teach financial management and computer skills.

ST. THOMAS, Ontario — Expansion of the Element5 manufacturing plant in St. Thomas, has firmly established the nine-year-old company as one of North America’s leaders in the design, fabrication and assembly of contemporary mass timber structures. Founded in 2015 in Ripon, Quebec, Element5 built a 130,000 square foot St. Thomas facility in 2020 on 40 acres of land in the city’s north end. It generates about 50,000 cubic meters of cross-laminated timber (CLT) a year. Work on the St. Thomas expansion started in 2023 and increases the Element5 footprint to over 350,000 square feet, set to produce another 50,000 cubic meters of glulam a year starting in 2025. …In February, The Hasslacher Group, of Austria, made a strategic investment in Element5 to fuel growth in the North American market and support the St. Thomas expansion. Element5 now calls St. Thomas its headquarters. Element5 recorded 2023 sales of about $30 million and the company is forecasting $40 million in 2024, and $100 million in 2030.

Jeff Carruthers

WELLAND, Ontario — Fonthill Lumber, a building concern since it was established in 1951, has also been a growing concern for much of the past three years. Completion of that ambitious and massive growth, from a 2,320-square-metre facility on Highway 20 in Fonthill to a sprawling, four-building complex about four times larger on Woodlawn Road in Welland, will be celebrated with a grand opening on Thursday. That’s when Mayor Frank Campion, headlining a guest list of dignitaries, builders and customers from both sides of the Canada-US border, is scheduled. …“Right now, we have the capability of having seven lines to make seven different sets of trusses, plus a four-truss table as well,” manager Jeff Carruthers said. Besides a manufacturing facility for trusses and an administration building that includes a retail out, the 16.2-hectare site also has what the manager calls the “sawmill.”

TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec — Unifor announced the conclusion of a historic agreement in principle between the employees at the Kruger plant in Trois-Rivières and the company’s management, putting an end to the strike that began on May 30, 2024. Union members overwhelmingly approved the agreement at ratification meetings held throughout the week. This new four-year collective agreement marks a major milestone for employees, with unprecedented wage increases and substantial improvements to benefits, vacation, pension and the introduction of an overtime bank for production employees. …From May 1, 2024, employees will benefit from an 8% salary adjustment and an additional 3% increase. In 2025, wages will be further increased by $1.30 per hour. For 2026 and 2027, employees will receive a guaranteed increase of 2.25% or more. …Employees will return to work at 11 p.m. Wednesday evening, allowing the plant to resume normal operations.

New Brunswick Power executives faced pointed questions early at a New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board hearing that is reviewing plans to raise electricity rates 20 per cent over the next two years, nearly half of which is already being collected from customers. N.B. Power president Lori Clark and CFO Darren Murphy both denied a suggestion from the forestry company J.D. Irving that the utility is exaggerating how poor performance at the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station is likely to be to justify raising rates more than necessary. “The performance metrics that N.B. Power is forecasting for Point Lepreau are not in fact improvements. It’s a forecast of worse performance,” said Glenn Zacher representing JDI. …J.D. Irving is N.B. Power’s largest private-sector customer. It is fighting a request by the utility to raise rates an average of 9.25 per cent this year and next year, including 9.8% on residential and large industrial customers. 

NEWFOUNDLAND — The Corner Brook Pulp and Paper mill’s failure to maintain its boiler’s pressure safety system could have resulted in a disaster, says a boiler expert. In April, operations ceased at the mill for a couple of weeks after the provincial government found that Corner Brook Pulp and Paper had failed to comply with safety regulations. In May, documents obtained by CBC revealed that the company, a division of Montreal-based Kruger, had neglected to inspect the facility’s boiler system’s pressure relief devices. Seventy-eight devices had not been serviced in over 30 years. “It can be catastrophic,” said Desmond Saldanha of the Canadian Boiler Society, a group of energy and environmentally concerned companies in the boiler industry. …The documents obtained by CBC News found that the Corner Brook paper mill had significant code violations.