Guarantee sought
Published Saturday November 21st, 2009
Energy: Premiers of N.L., N.S. want written pledge their provinces will have access to power grid
CHURCHILL FALLS, N.L. - The two Atlantic premiers who object to the agreement to sell most of NB Power says they want a written guarantee that their provinces will have access to the regional power grid if the sale goes through.
But Premier Shawn Graham says it's not necessary to sign a guarantee that Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador can ship power through New Brunswick.
Premier Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter said they want written guarantees as a meeting of the Atlantic premiers ended on an acrimonious note in Labrador on Friday.
Williams said he will be writing a letter to Graham to formally request a signed agreement.
"I told Premier Graham that if he can guarantee us access - whether through upgraded existing capacity or a new corridor through New Brunswick - that would certainly give us some comfort," he said.
Dexter echoed Williams' request, saying he wants a separate agreement that "spells out what exactly the position of New Brunswick will be vis-à-vis new transmission capacity for Nova Scotia."
"We want a written guarantee that we'll have access to a transmission corridor," Dexter said. "It's essential we have something on the table and not just out the window."
Graham said the memorandum of understanding between New Brunswick and Quebec, which sets the stage for the sale of most of NB Power's assets to Hydro-Québec, already guarantees open access.
"The MOU very clearly states that we'll maintain our energy sovereignty," he said. "If more transmission capacity is added to New Brunswick's grid in the future, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are free to bid on it."
The tentative multibillion-dollar takeover of NB Power by Quebec's giant hydroelectric utility has been a point of contention between Williams and Graham since the agreement was signed three weeks ago.
The premiers emerged from the 17th Council of Atlantic Premiers, which was dominated by energy issues, saying they "agree to disagree."
"Our position hasn't changed as a result of the discussions we've had here today," Williams said. "In fact this deal looks like its going to go through and if it does we'll certainly go to the federal Competition Bureau because we have serious issues."
Graham repeated his goal of reducing electricity rates in New Brunswick and eliminating 40 per cent of the provinces debt under the $4.75 billion deal.
"We're working hard to get this deal across the finish line," he said.
The backdrop of the meeting in snowy Churchill Falls - just steps away from one of the largest hydro generating stations in the world - was fitting for the energy talks.
The four premiers toured the facility before being whisked back to their respective capitals in private or chartered planes.
Williams said the generating station served as a perfect setting to underscore the risk of signing a long-term deal with Quebec's utility.
"Hydro-Québec has done a lot of serious damage to Newfoundland and Labrador," he said, adding that "it's obviously symbolic that we're here today at the place where the original Upper Churchill deal was done."
Williams has often criticized the Churchill Falls hydro agreement, which gave Quebec long-term access to discount-priced power from Labrador. While Quebec has earned roughly $22 billion in revenues form the project, Newfoundland and Labrador has only seen $1 billion, he said.
Now that the province hopes to develop a Lower Churchill hydroelectric project, Williams has said is concerned the deal between Hydro-Québec and NB Power would put a "stranglehold" on power exports, especially to the northeastern United States.
"Our issue with Hydro-Québec is the company's behaviour over the last 40 years," he said. "They've blocked our access through Quebec and they're trying to block our own water rights on the Churchill River."
"So if we can have our access problems resolved with a guarantee from New Brunswick and from Hydro-Québec that would certainly give us comfort," he said.
But Graham dismissed those concerns, saying that New Brunswick will continue to operate under both provincial and federal regulations, which require an open-market system.
Prince Edward Island is also in formal energy talks with Hydro-Québec to buy cheap, renewable electricity, Premier Robert Ghiz said.
"We pay the highest electricity costs in the country and we have the worst dependence on fossil fuels," he said. "If we had the option to buy power from Newfoundland in the future that would be incredible."
Williams said he has no problem with the tentative energy deal between P.E.I and Hydro-Québec because it's strictly a power purchase agreement, not an asset sale.
But Hydro-Québec is interested in possibly purchasing the province's privately owned distribution network and building an underground cable to ship electricity to Quebec's Îles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Despite his critique of the agreement between New Brunswick and Quebec, Williams has yet to put an acceptable counter-offer on the table, Graham said before the meetings in Labrador.
"Premier Williams says he's against the agreement, but he has yet to put the figure of $11 billion dollars on the table to surpass the $10 billion that Hydro-Québec has put forward," Graham said.
Williams said he isn't interested in acquiring the transmission and distribution assets of NB Power because he "disagrees with that in principle."
"We can't oppose the Hydro-Québec deal and then turn around and say here's our cheque," he said. "We have ample hydro capacity and electricity that's available to all of Atlantic Canada and it would have been our preference if we could have all pooled together as four provinces."
Nova Scotia fuelled fears that Hydro-Québec has expansionist ambitions in the Maritimes after Dexter said this week that Graham had told him that his province could have had an arrangement similar to New Brunswick's proposed deal with the utility.
But as the regional meeting wrapped up in Churchill Falls, Dexter said a deal with Quebec was not in the works for Nova Scotia and repeated his comments that long term energy deals are "fraught with risks."
"Any kind of long term energy deal comes with risks for all the parties involved," he said. The whole question of whether or not the interests of the provinces would diverge over time gives me cause for concern."
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His claim of 40% reduction in the province's debt has been proven false by out auditor general, our finance minister and three independent rating agencies.
This deal moves NB Power's debt over to Quebec where the residential rate payers will continue to pay for it with our "frozen" rates
Hopefully we'll still have "social assistance" when this deal's true "benefits" come to light....I'll likely need it to have running water!
Imagine two types of users, each one paying $1000 per month for a commodity.
User 1 gets an immediate 30% rate reduction hence from now on they will only pay $700 a month ($300 saving).
User 2 is told, your rates were going to go up to $1300 a month, but we have frozen them at the current level, from now on you will have to pay $1000 a month ($300 savings).
On paper both parties received a savings of $300 a month. Does this appear to be an equal deal for both users?
that's the government's magic accounting. Industry gets real value today, we get imaginary price freeze protecting us against possible future rate increases. You know, the rate increases approved by the Liberal government a few months before they went public with this deal. This is all just smoke and mirrors, in reality it is a real transfer of wealth from the citizens of NB, who own NB Power, to industrial users.
Hell even Jean Charest made sure he got it signed.
"Hydro-Québec is betting that five, 10 years down the road, the price of electricity will increase because there will be stringent conditions on greenhouse gas emissions."
Quoted from a story in TJ today about future Quebec Hydro electricity rates. But we never hear the government or their expensive american spin doctors mention this. Let's hope this deal doesn't go through, because we'll be a have not province forever.
Just like the 2nd refinery, saint john deals with all the pollution health effects and chronic lung diseases. yet it is the eastern seaboard of the US that reaps all the benefits of cheap fuel. Doesn't seem fair does it.
Someone should tell Shaun what sovereignty is, just because you right it in a document doesn't mean you can control it, expectially when you no longer hold the keys!
Still he thinks the Provinces debt is going to benefit! hey "Shaun's assistants", give him the memo already! the only way NB's debt is going to benefit is if he stops spending on stupid sh%$!
Shaun's also still trying to sell this deal is worth $10B to Hydro Quebec... I need some of what he's smoking! I just read the "assessment of rates" document... the deal isn't worth near $10B to NB!, so how the hell would it be worth that much to HQ?
Mr. Williams should have punched him for such a bunch of insults!