Delivering Natural Gas to New Brunswickers from My Perspective
at Enbridge Gas New Brunswick, shares his thoughts about natural gas in New Brunswick, an excerpt from a speech given to the Real Estate Association of NB AGM.
Right now, natural gas is travelling through thousands of kilometers of pipelines that connect millions of people in Canada to their communities and to the quality of life that is recognized as one of the highest in the world. Here in Fredericton where I work (and live with my family), I am surrounded by natural gas – in fact the breakfast I enjoyed this morning was thanks to natural gas!
But I truly feel that natural gas is the most misunderstood, underappreciated energy source in New Brunswick and I want to help clear the air.
Can you guess how many New Brunswickers benefit from natural gas? Well Enbridge has 12,000 customers, but close to half a million actually benefit from natural gas – that’s 2/3 of New Brunswickers!
How? We are in all the public schools and hospitals in southern New Brunswick. We are in retail shops, hockey rinks, churches and malls. We are in the universities.
This was not the result of the luck of the draw. These building owners all chose natural gas.
And of course, we are in homes. Homes that are typically higher in value with the luxuries of modern natural gas appliances.
A drive through subdivisions like mine, or West Hills on Fredericton’s north side, will show you the many families that enjoy the comforts of natural gas.
It is the most versatile and reliable energy source available. Period. There are no ‘buts’. There are no exceptions.
Let me explain: pretend I’m a real estate agent and I’m walking you around a house…
We start by pulling into the driveway – it’s got great curbside appeal. A nicely manicured lawn, paved driveway and a wrought iron lamp post on the boulevard. Natural gas provides the lamp light, and it’s providing radiant heat beneath the driveway to help melt the snow.
We walk in through the front door into the front hall, where an energy efficient, smart thermostat is monitoring the room temperature, and communicating with the natural gas furnace to adjust accordingly.
The natural gas fireplace in the living room is a central feature and as we walk past it, we enter the kitchen, where a top of the line natural gas stove-top and oven, prompt you to talk about the dinner parties you love to host.
Then you spot the view, through the sliding doors, into a great backyard, including the patio, with the natural gas barbeque and natural gas fire table. As we approach summer, who isn’t dreaming of BBQ season?
The natural gas fueled generator is on stand-by. And let’s not forget the in-ground pool and accompanying hot tub, both heated by natural gas that arrives by underground pipeline straight into our homes.
There are no deliveries, no storage tanks and no interruptions. Extreme weather, such as hurricanes, blizzards and Bay of Fundy gales do not disrupt natural gas service.
I think that is an important thing to remember as we here in New Brunswick plan for future extreme weather conditions, like the ones we’ve experienced in recent years!
Enbridge has experienced its own extreme conditions in recent years with the regulatory environment in NB…but we are proud to have weathered the storm to be stronger. To date, Enbridge has invested over $500 million in New Brunswick to build the public natural gas system – without any government capital, subsidies or tax breaks.
More importantly, the total cost of natural gas has been LOW and STABLE for the last few years. Although the total price of natural gas has fluctuated since 2001, it has consistently remained less expensive than other energy alternatives and we intend to keep it that way.
As an employee AND a customer, I sure am happy about that!
And I know ALL our customers – residential, small and medium-sized businesses, institutional and large industrial – are happy about that too.
When I stop to think about it, and think way back to 2004 when I started here, it feels pretty cool to be involved in delivering the reliable, affordable, clean energy that businesses, government and residents need to be successful here in New Brunswick!
Paul Volpé
Regulatory Affairs Manager