Perth-Andover set to question NB Power on flood problems

Residents of Perth-Andover have long blamed NB Power's Beechwood dam for its flooding problems and the village may soon have its chance to question NB Power executives about that theory, under oath.

In March, Perth-Andover submitted six questions about the dam and its connection to flooding in the area to NB Power in advance of the utility's upcoming rate hearing.

Dan Dionne, the village administrator, says it intends to pursue the questions when the rate hearing begins in front of the Energy and Utilities Board in Fredericton in June.

"We're sure as the hearings progress we'll get additional information and hopefully NB Power will be a bit more open,"  said Dionne.

Perth-Andover claims there is not a single record of even a flooded basement in the village prior to the Beechwood Dam being constructed downriver in 1956.

Since then, the community has endured four major floods in 1976, 1987, 1993 and 2012. It narrowly avoided another major flood this year when a threatening ice jam broke up just in time.

They feel NB Power should use some of the millions of dollars it makes from Beechwood to continually dredge the river above the dam, but both the provincial government and NB Power have been reluctant to do that.

NB Power has already told the village it has budgeted no money for dredging this year.

"They should be expected to maintain the head pond with a portion of those revenues [from Beechwood]," said Dionne. 

"That's the type questions we're asking at the rate hearing, saying, you know, should they not be looking after this system a bit better?"

Beechwood is the second largest dam operated by NB Power and produces over $40 million worth of renewable electricity for the province each year.

NB Power has said many of Perth-Andover's questions about the dam are "not relevant" to its rate hearing, but Dionne says the village intends to ask them anyway to make its case that flooding in the area is man made and fixable.