Power outages NB 2024-2025: a growing risk, real opportunities for Quebec SMEs

The frequency and duration of power outages in New Brunswick (NB) and Eastern Canada are on the rise, directly affecting supply chains, logistics, retail and professional services… and therefore also Quebec SMEs that depend on suppliers, customers or infrastructure in this neighboring province. According to data from the New Brunswick Power Corporation (NB Power), major storms and extreme weather events are on the rise, and the company has had to invest an average of over $100 million a year in grid reliability in recent years. At the same time, the Canadian Energy Regulator reminds us that severe weather events are now considered a structural risk for the Canadian power grid.

For a Quebec SME, these NB outages – sometimes lasting just a few hours, sometimes several days during ice storms or high winds – mean: delivery delays, disruption to partners’ IT systems, communication difficulties and, sometimes, the final touch to customer confidence. Yet this context of risk also opens the door to opportunities: digital optimization, automation, improved customer experience and the creation of resilient offers that set you apart from your competitors.

In this article, we’ll explore recent power outage trends in NB, the concrete impacts for Quebec SMEs and, most importantly, the digital and AI strategies you can put in place – with a partner like Nuaweb – to turn risk into sustainable competitive advantage.

1. Understanding NB outages 2024-2025: a regional issue affecting Quebec

Recent statistics show a clear reality: power outages in Eastern Canada, including New Brunswick, are becoming more frequent and more costly. NB Power indicates in its annual reports that major weather events (high winds, snowstorms, ice storms) are responsible for a significant proportion of service interruptions. For example, a series of winter storms in 2023-2024 left tens of thousands of homes without power for several hours, sometimes more than 24 hours in rural areas. This trend is confirmed on a national level: according to analyses by the CER (Canada Energy Regulator), the increase in extreme weather events linked to climate change is putting increasing strain on grid reliability.

For Quebec SMEs, this phenomenon is not limited to a “local” problem in New Brunswick. Many sectors in Quebec are interconnected with NB:

• Transport and logistics (trucks, warehouses, terminals and transport infrastructure).
• Agri-food and processing (suppliers, processors and distributors in the Quebec-Maritimes corridor).
• Online retail and e-commerce platforms serving the Atlantic provinces.
• Professional services and IT, including remote agencies and digital solution providers.

A prolonged power outage in Moncton or Saint John can slow down a supply chain, delay production, disrupt communications or temporarily block operations at your partners. On a national level, studies of power outages in Canada estimate that power interruptions cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost productivity and property damage, particularly for small businesses with fewer back-up resources.

In this context, the most resilient Quebec SMEs are already asking themselves the right questions:

• How do you keep in touch with customers, even when certain partners or infrastructures are shut down?
• Which business processes should be kept operational first?
• How can we make websites, e-commerce and customer relations more autonomous and less dependent on human intervention in real time?

This is where intelligent digital transformation – AI, automation, CRM, e-commerce – ceases to be a “plus” and becomes operational assurance.

2. Concrete impacts for Quebec SMEs: logistics, sales and customer confidence

Power outages in New Brunswick have a series of cascading effects that reverberate all the way to Quebec. For an SME, these impacts often translate into very concrete, measurable irritants:

• Delivery delays and additional logistics costs: if a warehouse or distribution center in NB breaks down, your products may be held up, delaying deliveries to your Quebec or Canadian customers. These delays may result in penalties, cancellations or claims for reimbursement.
• Interruption of certain services or partner systems: an IT supplier, call center or subcontractor based in NB may lose access to its local servers or work tools, disrupting your operations.
• Difficult communication with customers and partners: when certain players in your value chain are in the dark, the flow of information becomes fragmented. Without automated systems, it becomes difficult to keep your customers proactively informed.
• Loss of customer confidence: for the consumer, it doesn’t matter where the technical problem comes from, it’s your brand that’s on the front line. Repeating too often “sorry, problem with supplier” ends up damaging your image.

However, many Quebec SMEs are now using this regional context as a strategic lever. They are investing in tools that compensate for the vagaries of the network, such as :

• Chatbots and AI assistants capable of automatically answering frequently asked questions, reassuring customers about the status of orders, even when the human team is limited by a breakdown elsewhere. Nuaweb already supports SMEs in implementing multi-channelAI and chatbot solutions.
• Centralized CRM for a clear, real-time view of affected customers, orders at risk and communication priorities. A good CRM management tool enables you to quickly identify the strategic accounts to be informed during NB outage incidents.
• Robust e-commerce platforms capable of displaying context-sensitive messages, adjusted delivery times and alternatives at checkout. A well-configured solution managed in the cloud is generally less vulnerable to local breakdowns at a partner’s site.

In other words, it’s not the outages per se that destroy customer relations, but the absence of a plan, tools and clear communication. Companies that have made the digital shift, and in particular those that have automated part of their customer service and order tracking, are far better able to withstand these episodes of energy instability than those that still operate in entirely manual mode.

3. Digital strategies and AI to turn NB breakdowns into competitive advantage

Rather than endure power outages at NB and their effects on your SME, you can turn them into a real driver for improvement. The idea is simple: use digital technologies, AI and automation to make your operations more resilient, transparent and predictable for your customers.

Here are just a few of the strategies that agencies like Nuaweb are deploying with Quebec SMEs.

1. Implementation of AI chatbots for crisis management and 24/7 support

During an NB outage affecting your lead times or the availability of a service, customers want one thing: clear information, fast. An AI-powered chatbot, connected to your systems (order status, inventory, carrier notifications), can :

• Automatically answer questions about delivery times and possible delays.
• Send proactive messages when certain zip codes or regions are affected.
• Redirect to alternative options (in-store pickup, substitute products, delivery to another address).

Integrated into your existing site or a new website creation, this digital assistant becomes your first line of defense in the event of disruptions due to NB outages.

2. Intelligent CRM to map the impact of breakdowns on your customers

A modern CRM isn’t just about managing sales; it’s becoming a true resilience dashboard. By linking the location of your customers and partners to outage information (NB areas affected, estimated recovery times), you can :

• Segment customers potentially affected by an NB outage.
• Trigger targeted email or SMS campaigns to keep them informed.
• Prioritize support for strategic accounts.

Setting up such a system, for example via the solutions presented in Nuaweb’s CRM and sales section, enables you to turn a crisis episode into a demonstration of professionalism.

3. Resilient e-commerce: deadline transparency and alternative options

NB outages particularly affect online sales when regional distribution centers or carriers are affected. Awell-configured e-commerce platform enables you to :

• Display dynamic delivery times according to destination region.
• Automatically update estimated lead times based on network and carrier status.
• Propose alternative delivery options (by another logistics partner or to another drop-off point).

Combined with reliable cloud hosting and regular backups, your store stays up and running even if some suppliers are temporarily down. You can even take advantage of these events to promote products or services specially designed for resilience (emergency equipment, teleworking solutions, remote training, etc.).

4. Automate real-time information flows

For these strategies to work, information must flow quickly between your internal systems (ERP, inventory, CRM, e-commerce) and your communication channels (website, email, SMS, social networks). By working with a specialized integration and AI partner like Nuaweb, you can implement :

• Automated workflows that update delivery times as soon as a carrier reports a disruption.
• Internal alerts for your team when certain delay thresholds are reached.
• Pre-configured communication scenarios to inform your customers according to the type of incident.

At the end of the day, it’s not a question of whether the next series of NB outages will occur, but whether your Quebec SME will be ready to respond quickly and efficiently.

4. Action plan for Quebec SMEs: anticipate, automate, stand out

To help you move from awareness to action, here’s a four-step plan that you can adapt to the reality of your SME, whatever your sector (manufacturing, services, retail, agri-food, etc.).

Step 1: Map your dependencies in NB and the Atlantic provinces

Start by taking stock of the operational links between your company and New Brunswick:

• Suppliers, distribution centers, carriers, logistics partners based in NB.
• Key customers in NB and the Maritimes.
• IT service providers, call centers or freelancers in the region.

The aim: to identify where an NB failure can have a real impact on your deliveries, customer support and production lead times.

Step 2: Define your critical processes to be maintained in the event of a disruption

List the processes that absolutely must remain functional or be quickly caught up:

• Order taking (online or by phone).
• Customer communication (information on delays, order tracking).
• Billing and payments.

These processes will become the priorities of your digital resilience strategy.

Step 3: Putting the right digital tools in place

Based on this analysis, you can determine the solutions to be implemented or improved:

• Robust, clear and up-to-date website or customer portal, possibly redesigned with a website design expert.
• AI Chatbot connected to your systems to manage frequently asked questions and crisis information.
• Central CRM to orchestrate your targeted communications according to impacted regions.
• Modern, flexible e-commerce platform integrated with your logistics to adjust delivery times and routes in the event of NB outages.

These elements can be deployed gradually, starting with the quickest wins (for example, a simple chatbot for FAQs, or a minimal CRM setup to track customers by region).

Step 4: Test your crisis scenarios and train your team

Finally, a strategy is only as good as its tests. Organize a simulation exercise at least once a year:

• Imagine a major breakdown at NB affecting your carriers for 48 hours.
• Check how your systems react: site messages, bot, CRM, newsletters, etc.
• Train your team to use the tools already in place (e-mail templates, response scripts, CRM dashboards).

Over time, these exercises will improve your responsiveness and your ability to communicate with your customers in a transparent and reassuring way. In this way, you’ll become a company perceived as reliable, even in the increasingly unpredictable energy context of Eastern Canada.

Conclusion: using energy instability as a lever for modernization

Power outages in New Brunswick in 2024-2025 are not an isolated phenomenon, but reflect a broader trend of energy instability linked to extreme weather events. For Quebec SMEs, this translates into very real risks: delays, extra costs, pressure on customer service.

However, by taking a proactive approach based on digital transformation, AI, communications automation and consolidating your customer data in a CRM, you can turn these risks into a competitive advantage. Companies that invest now in a robust website, a resilient e-commerce platform, an intelligent CRM and AI chatbots will be the ones who inspire the most confidence during the next episodes of NB outages.

If you’d like to assess your current level of digital resilience and discover how tailored solutions (AI, CRM, e-commerce, web creation, automation) can secure your operations in the face of NB power outages, the Nuaweb team can support you from A to Z.

Make an appointment now for a free consultation with a Nuaweb expert by visiting the Contact page. Together, let’s turn NB power outages into an engine of growth for your Quebec SME.