New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is back online following a five-month maintenance outage that extended longer than originally planned.

NB Power says the generating station officially returned to service Sunday, after a turbine bearing problem added roughly two weeks to the planned shutdown.

The scheduled maintenance outage began in mid-July, with officials saying crews completed more than 23,000 tasks during the downtime.

When Point Lepreau is offline, NB Power estimates it costs the utility between one and one-and-a-half million dollars per day, as replacement power must be sourced while repairs are carried out.

The station operated only 27 per cent of the time during the 2024–25 fiscal year, underscoring ongoing reliability challenges.

NB Power has previously said that when Point Lepreau is operating well, it has a significant positive impact on the utility’s overall performance.

Another maintenance shutdown is already scheduled for the spring and is expected to last 119 days.