The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board approved a 4.29% rate increase across all customer classes on April 13, 2026. The new rates took effect overnight on April 14. NB Power had originally applied for 4.75%. The EUB modified the application down, and earlier rejected an interim April 1 increase outright in March.
For residential customers, the per kWh rate moved from 14.76 cents to 15.39 cents. For a typical Southern NB household using roughly 1,350 kilowatt hours per month, the increase adds about $9.83 per month, or approximately $118 per year.
That number on its own is manageable. The story underneath it is not. This is the third NB Power increase in three years. The 2024 and 2025 increases were 9.7% each. Compounded with this year's 4.29%, residential rates have climbed roughly 25% over three years, on track to the 50% increase over six years that the EUB hearings have been flagging.
A home inspection does not perform an energy audit. But it does identify the conditions that directly affect how much heat your home loses and how hard your heating system works to compensate. Air leakage around penetrations, compressed or absent insulation in accessible attic and crawl spaces, moisture intrusion that has degraded insulation value over time, heating equipment running well past its expected service life. These show up in inspection reports every week across Southern NB. In a 25% and climbing rate environment, those findings are no longer abstract.
Agent takeaway
For any client looking at oil heated stock between now and June 30, the OHPA registration deadline (covered in the Seasonal Spotlight below) is a real number on a real calendar. Buyers who line up a Home Energy Evaluation during their conditional period can confirm eligibility before they close, get quotes from approved contractors, and know exactly what their conversion will cost. Buyers who close first and figure it out later will likely miss the registration window.
