A serene, picturesque meadow in Grand Lake hides a revolutionary, but dirty, part of New Brunswick's past. The Grand Lake Generating Station was built in 1931 and was N.B.
Power's (then the N.B. Power Commission) first thermal electric generating station.
It was a major landmark in the area and was fed by coal mined in the neighbouring Minto coalfield. While power utilities have generally moved away from coal because of its negative impact on the environment, Moncton historian James Upham says the site, at the time, would've been been beautiful — in a way. "They almost measured beauty in gigantic buildings with huge smokestacks and smoke pouring out of those smokestacks," said Upham.
The Grand Lake Generating Station as it looked when it was still operational. (CBC) "For a lot of people, progress looked like gigantic chimneys with a lot of stuff coming out of them." Sites like the Grand Lake Generating Station were instrumental in bringing large areas of the province out of a literal dark age .
.. at least when it come to electricity.
Before these large stations, power generation was smaller and more local, said Upham. Information Morning - Fredericton 10:01 Roadside History take us to Grand Lake Roadside History columnist James Upham takes us to the Grand Lake Generating Station, or at least where the station once stood, and tells us about the province's first thermal electric power plant. But this station was large enough to power entire communities, and even sent power to.