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Premier Susan Holt says she has no explanation for why regulators, policy experts and others charged with regulating gas prices haven't thought of an easy way to lower prices for consumers before the end of 2025.
In an interview with CBC News at the end of the year, Holt acknowledged that this oversight has caused New Brunswickers to pay too much for gas over the past couple of years as a cheaper form of gasoline has become more widely used.
“I think a lot of people reacted that way and asked the same questions I did: How did everyone miss this?” – said Holt.
“We were trying to figure out why he wasn’t caught sooner, but we’re glad we caught him at all.”
The Energy and Utilities Board blocked Holt's first attempt to lower gas prices by defeating the Carbon Cost Adjustment Act, a law that would have required the EUB to pass the cost of federal clean fuel rules onto consumers in the price at the pump.
When the law's repeal took effect Dec. 1, the council replaced the fee—eight cents per liter at the time—with a new surcharge of the same amount to protect gas stations from having to bear the costs of the rules.
According to the prime minister, an employee of her office began to study legislation and regulations in search of some other mechanism that would also reduce the price.
The Prime Minister of the National Bank says that regulators and experts should have found a mechanism to reduce consumer costs.
On December 9, a staff member discovered that cabinet could issue a simple order in council to change the type of fuel used by the EUB to calculate the minimum price.
The order, adopted two days later, replaces the formula with E10 gasoline, which is cheaper because it is diluted with ethanol.
The price of gasoline fell by 7.9 cents per liter.
The Premier said she wanted to know why no one at the Department of Energy or the EUB noticed this under the previous Progressive Conservative government or during the 13 months its Liberals were in power.
“These are the questions we ask to find out: Is there a regular review process or has it just become a habit, the status quo?” she said.
“I'm glad we caught it in time, but I wish the people before us had caught it.”
PC Opposition Leader Glen Savoie disputed the Prime Minister's version of events.
He said an industry official, whom he did not name, told him they told Holt about the option several months ago.
“They were told a long time ago that they could do this, but they still haven’t done it,” Savoie said.
He accused the prime minister of wanting to score political points by abolishing the PC supplement.
“They were focused on adjusting the cost of carbon emissions. They could have focused on that.”
Holt said the change made sense because E10 has become the dominant fuel sold in New Brunswick over the past couple of years.
But this means that consumers were paying an artificially high price for E10 during this period.
Holt said it will be “very difficult” for New Brunswickers to get back any amounts they shouldn't have paid because calculating the amounts – and who should reimburse consumers – will be complex.
But she said the EUB “will need to consider” the issue when it sets rates and profit margins for the industry in the future, so that the inflated price “fits into the balance”.
The board appears to be unable to do this.
“There is currently no mechanism to 'balance out' any differences between E10 prices and regular gasoline prices,” Chief Executive Dave Young said in an emailed statement.
