I am pleased to see a deal that helps new brunswickers and get rid of that huge debt. We are getting our money back three fold and securing cheap power rates. This is a once in a lifetime deal.

Will NB Power maintain a seperate identity, and most importantly will the white collar jobs in Fredericton be maintained along with employment levels at plants?

I suspect that Quebec Hydro will have to set up a subsidiary company that will be registered in New Brunswick. It should be subject to NB laws, regulatory oversight, and NB energy policy. Not much will change here.

Selling a taxpayer owned electrical utility because NB Power has over the years mis-managed and plunged the corporation into massive debt is not good for New Brunswick. Where is the "New Brunswick as an energy hub" that Premier Graham and his cabinet have been promoting. For Sale it appears. This Premier has flip-flopped on just about every policy and program they have tried to impliment. We have had enough of flip-flop decisions and bad management by this government and now selling a public owned utility company because of accumulated debt and bad management. There is an election coming in 11 months. Time to get rid of Premier Flip-Flop and his crew before they sell the rest of the province at fire sale prices.

The main concern at this point is service levels. When NS Power was privatized repair service was drastically reduced. When the power went out people went days without electricity as there were not enough work crews. I suspect we'll see a similar reduction in repair service.

When the next ice storm hits and all resources are put towards repair power-lines in Quebec the people of NB will regret this decision.

This sure looks like a sweet deal for Irving et al. They get a substantial cut in their electricity bill, while the average Joe just gets his rate frozen for five years. Industrial rates will be linked to Quebec industrial power rates for ever, after five years our power bills will go up. This looks like a bad deal in the long run for the average taxpayer.

Once again, government decisions are based on the interest of the business community at the expense of the voters/citizens.

Natalie Tapley: Guess what, NS government sold NS Power to Emera which is a US company! So, at least NB Power was sold to a company IN this country. Same goes with NL Power and Maritime Electric which is both owned by Fortis which is a HUGE power company that owns power companies in other countries which isn't Canadian either.

So, NB Power which was the LAST public owned utility in Atlantic Canada is the last to go. AND to a Company within our Country!

We need to rethink how our democracy works. These back room deals which affect citizens forever should not be trusted to politicians which we appoint for a few years.

Deals of this magnitude must be fully debated in public, and either followed by a referendum or an election!

D Ann, Around NB - you missed a very important point. NS Power was privatized. Shares were issued in exchange for ownership. The shares are public traded and the NS Power corp must abide by all regulations which apply to publicly traded companies. At any time the NS government can buy up 51% of the shares and become the majority owner.

In this case NB Power is being sold to an unaccountable utility of another province. There are big differences in accountability and transparency between the two ownership structures. To add fire to this uncertain situation, Quebec has a strong separatist movement. If that province was to leave confederation that would certainly put us in a very difficult position. Power distribution could be used inappropriately to squeeze Canada's eastern provinces into submission to unreasonable demands.

I prefer flip flopping over running with blinders on as you hit the debt wall.