Attempted acquisition of NB Power by Hydro-Québec
Initially arranged by premiers Shawn Graham of New Brunswick and Jean Charest of Quebec, the deal ultimately collapsed in March 2010 after months of controversy.
[citation needed] In the late 1990s, NB Power signed a supply contract with PDVSA for Orimulsion, a cheap bitumen-based fuel, for its Coleson Cove and Dalhousie facilities.
After investing hundreds of million dollars at Coleson Cove, NB Power learned of the Venezuelan supplier's decision to stop making the fuel, thus breaking the contract.
[2] Meanwhile, NB Power and Premier Bernard Lord's Progressive Conservative government needed to decide whether to undertake the refit of the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.
The nuclear plant, whose mid-life refit had been hotly debated, was authorized in July 2005, and NB Power signed a $1.4bn contract with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).
Lord's successor, Premier Shawn Graham, initiated informal talks on regional electricity issues with Quebec's Jean Charest during a federal-provincial meeting on 16 January 2009.
Outside firms were hired to advise the provinces on legal, financial and public relations issues and by September, the parties were discussing the terms of a memorandum of understanding.
This agreement would have transferred most generation, transmission and distribution assets of the New Brunswick utility to a subsidiary of the Quebec-based Crown corporation, including Point Lepreau, 3 diesel-fired peakers and 7 hydroelectric dams, but was to exclude fossil-fuel-fired plants in Dalhousie, Belledune and Coleson Cove.
[14] The province sole French-language daily, L'Acadie Nouvelle, supported the transaction in a nuanced piece, stressing the "political and financial impasse" facing the New Brunswick utility.
[15] In Montreal, business columnist Sophie Cousineau of La Presse called it a bold deal providing benefits to both provinces, but worried it would face steep opposition in New Brunswick[16] while Jean-Robert Sansfaçon of Le Devoir stated that the proposed deal provided an initial response to those in Quebec who have expressed concerns about recurring electricity surpluses caused by Hydro-Québec's large dam construction program.
[citation needed] The proposed sales of the dam to Hydro-Québec either under the original deal (to sell all of NB Power) or the second deal (to sell only some generating assets including Tobique) also constituted material breaches of these arrangements, leaving Tobique in an unassailable bargaining position to set new terms for access to the river and rights of way used to transmit power from it.
[citation needed] St. Mary's has, in recent years, moved mostly to LED Christmas lights and other energy-efficient displays and there have been proposals to compensate the community in other ways for the use of their traditional lands, in line with other energy demand management deals elsewhere in North America.
[35] On March 24, 2010, Graham announced the deal had fallen through due to Hydro-Québec's concern over unanticipated risks and costs of some aspects such as dam security and water levels.
According to political scientist Don Desserud, the proposed sale and earlier issues gave the public the impression "that this government was doing things that were reckless and without forethought".
