NB Power sale ignites debate

On October 29th residents of New Brunswick fell into a state of shock.

Tempers flared through the province when Premier Shawn Graham, alongside Quebec Premier Jean Charest, unveiled an agreement proposing the sale of NB Power to Hydro- Quebec.

New Brunswickers are worried about the sale of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec (Diane Cole photo)

The $4.75 billion deal would see the debt accumulated by NB Power wiped clean and assets in the transmission, generation and customer service areas of the company taken over by the energy giant. Rates for New Brunswickers would also see a five year freeze, and industries would benefit from a 30- 35 per cent rate decrease.

But the idea of selling out to any company, especially the infamously sly Hydro -Quebec, is enraging residents across the province and the Maritimes. But New Brunswick’s Minister of Energy, Jack Keir says people need to put their emotions aside and really look at the deal that’s on the table.

“The province of New Brunswick has owned it for 90 years, it’s ours – people believe it’s theirs. I understand that, I’m a customer of NB Power, I get that,” he says.

“But the sky’s not gonna fall. I want people to look at the facts of this deal and if they disagree on the facts that this is a good deal, I’m okay with that.”

Keir also says he understands the concerns about job losses. With the eminent closure of the Dalhousie Generating Station, residents in many areas of the province are worrying about this. But he says the plant is nearing its end whether the deal goes through or not- it is just too costly to run.

Residents are worries about how many jobs will be lost when the Dalhousie Generating Station closes. The MOU suggests the plant will be shut down within the next year. This not only concerns residents in Dalhousie, but those who live near the Coleson Cove and Belledune plants. All three run on fossil fuel and are at risk of turning into fossils themselves.

Energy Minister Jack Keir ( Diane Cole photo)

But Keir says there is no guarantee that the federal government won’t shut them down if this deal doesn’t go through. If the government imposes a carbon tax, these plants would be forced to stop operations.

But business manager for IBEW local 37, Ross Galbraith thinks otherwise. He’s heard first hand the concerns of his members- the majority of whom work for NB Power. And the most concerned are the folks in Dalhousie.

“They [the government] would plan to phase out Dalhousie and I think that would be a mistake,” he says.

“That’s been a top performing plant and in fact, the three largest fossil fuel plants in the Genco [Generation Company] fleet- Dalhousie, Coleson Cove and Belledune all have modern emissions equipment installed. In fact, they’re three of the cleanest plants in North America.”

Galbraith also says NB Power has been exploring alternate fuel sources to run these plants, and they will come with a more economically friendly price tag. These are options that he says the government isn’t considering.

He also says they didn’t consider his union or NB Power when they negotiated this deal. Both the union and the company were allegedly left out of the discussions with Hydro-Quebec.

But they’re not the only ones claiming to be left out in the cold. There’s been a barrage of complaints from New Brunswickers who say they should have been consulted earlier. As Keir mentioned, many residents believe NB Power belongs to the province and that it shouldn’t be sold.

Since the announcement, the public outcry has raised to new levels. A Facebook group called “NO to the sale of NB Power” formed, and has seen its membership grow exponentially. As of Wednesday afternoon, the group is just over 17,000 strong.

Concerns from those opposed to this deal have been voiced on discussion boards in this group. One man from Saint John wrote this one of the threads.

“This is a very disconcerting attempt to strip New Brunswickers of their energy sovereignty. We will have no political ability to lobby for policy or changes to our energy usage. The lack of transparency and public consultation is very disturbing, and one must question the intentions of our elected representatives as they try to sell off an important part of New Brunswick’s sovereignty to a company New Brunswickers have no influence over.”

Another added this comment to the discussion.

“When you vote for a government based on a platform and they throw that platform in the garbage, how can you trust them? These people that are currently in power can not be trusted at face value. Their word is not their bond and when this occurs, they can no longer be trusted to make the decisions that we are expecting them to make. It does not matter what they say. Even if this was a good deal, which it is not. How can they be trusted. Plain and simple.”

On Nov 17, protesters will gather on the steps of the New Brunswick Legislature. (Diane Cole photo)

Other disgruntled citizens also got their chance to share their thoughts with the Premier on CBC’s Information Morning on Tuesday. Anger and frustration were prominent as callers hit Graham with burning questions on the job issue and the details of the sale.

On November 17th, the tension on both sides of this debate will soar to new heights. Protesters of all ages will be hitting the steps of the legislature in an attempt to sway the government’s decision. It will be timed with the return of the MLAs to the Legislature.

Keir says he will also be on the steps, ready to face the crowd and says he has nothing to hide.

In the past few years in New Brunswick, debate has caused change. The most recent being the debate over changes to the French immersion program within the province. In that case, public opposition forced the government to change their plans.

But Tom Bateman, a Political Science professor at St. Thomas University, says this debate will be different.

“We’re talking about an agreement with a massive corporation housed in another province and willing to take on the debt of a mismanaged corporation. So there may not be too many alternatives for this province. And that’s what may make this different from the other policy reversals we’ve seen by the provincial government.”

Even though the details in the memorandum aren’t presented in the clearest way for the average person, Bateman thinks this issue itself will create the biggest debate of the decade for New Brunswickers.

Short URL: http://www.newbrunswickbeacon.ca/?p=2611

Posted by Diane Cole on Nov 4, 2009. Filed under News, This Week's Edition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.