Irving Wallboard offered special, secret rate to rejoin natural gas system
CBC
J.D. Irving Ltd.'s wallboard plant in Saint John may be rejoining New Brunswick's public gas distribution system after a seven-year absence, but the return hinges on it getting a price for service that is lower than rates offered to other large gas customers.
How much lower is a secret.
Gilles Volpé, vice-president of Liberty Utilities, the operator of New Brunswick's gas distribution network, said in an interview a confidential rate for the Irving plant will help the company keep competitive information private. He said that's not uncommon in the natural gas industry.
"We know of at least several dozen other utilities in North America that have these special kinds of arrangements," said Volpé. "Actually, Heritage Gas (in Nova Scotia) has something similar."
In an application before the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, Liberty is proposing to create what it calls a "large industrial contract service," or LICS, rate.
If approved, it will serve only Atlantic Wallboard Ltd., which also operates under the business name Irving Wallboard. It is a subsidiary of J.D. Irving.
In its evidence, Liberty says it is satisfied the wallboard plant's "use of natural gas would be uneconomic" under any other pricing category Liberty offers its current customers.
Liberty has provided the EUB with documents showing what the proposed new rate will be and how much lower it is than what other customers pay but has asked for that information not to be made public.
"The documents contain proprietary financial and/or commercially sensitive information in relation to not only Liberty but also other potential customers of Liberty," Liberty lawyer Len Hoyt wrote in requesting secrecy.
J.D. Irving declined to comment on the proposal Monday, saying the application for a special rate for the wallboard plant belongs to Liberty.
According to the Energy and Utilities Board, any party can file a claim for confidentiality on documents filed with the body, although any other party may file an objection and ask for a ruling. No objections to confidentiality requested by Liberty have been filed in the current application.
Atlantic Wallboard was once the single largest customer on New Brunswick's public gas distribution system but left the network in 2015 in a dispute over pricing.
The wallboard plant began using compressed natural gas trucked to the plant instead after the New Brunswick government under former premier David Alward loosened rules to allow it.
Previously, customers of natural gas within reach of the distribution system had to use it, except for six large users with specific exemptions.
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