Miles says agreement represents breath of fresh air
Published Thursday November 26th, 2009
Goodbye fossil fuels | Closure of two plants already announced
The deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Quebec will cut greenhouse gas emissions in this province by more than 10 per cent, says Environment Minister Rick Miles.
But the Opposition says the same thing could be achieved by purchasing more hydro power from Quebec.
"My staff at the Department of Environment has done extensive research and it's clear that the sale of NB Power will be a good thing for the environment in New Brunswick," said Miles on Wednesday.
"This proposed agreement would help us reduce the province's annual greenhouse gas emissions by 11 per cent," he said.
"These reductions will put us on track to meet or exceed the commitments made in the New Brunswick climate change action plan.''
The Graham government wants to sell most of the assets of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for $4.75 billion - which will be used to pay off the utility's debt - and $5 billion in rate relief.
Under the proposed deal, Hydro-Quebec wouldn't buy NB Power's fossil fuel power plants such as Coleson Cove and Belledune and those facilities could be closed with one year's notice.
With or without the deal, the Grand Lake and Dalhousie power plants will be closed within a year.
Miles said New Brunswick will exceed its 2012 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by one million tonnes due to the decommissioning of Grand Lake and Dalhousie.
He also said air quality in New Brunswick will be improved under the deal to sell NB Power.
"Mercury emissions will be below the 2010 Canada-wide standard for coal-fired power plants set for New Brunswick and will reach the high end of the reduction targets set by the New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers," said Miles.
Sulphur dioxide emissions will be more than two times lower than 2010 targets, he said.
When all of New Brunswick's carbon-based power plants are closed, the annual emissions of sulphur dioxide will be reduced by 33,000 tonnes, nitrogen oxide emissions will fall by 13,000 tonnes, volatile organic compounds will decrease by 6.5 tonnes and the annual emission of mercury will fall by 96 kilograms, said Miles.
"New Brunswick will also be better positioned to sell manufactured products into a lower carbon green economy, with products manufactured using less carbon intensive processes" he said.
"This is incredible news for our provinces and represents a brighter future for clean energy generation.''
But official Opposition Leader David Alward said all these goals could be achieved without selling NB Power.
"The same benefits could be achieved through a long-term purchase agreement with Quebec," he said.
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Amusingly enough, that's exactly what the MOU has us do if power usage ever grows and we get past the heritage pool.
So, why didn't we just do that in the first place to fill in any gaps as we close the older plants? Whats the need in selling at all? (And no folks, don't try to argue the debt. The Auditor General already disproved that and that position carries a lot more weight then Premier Pinocchio.)
Why don't we go in on that, and use the profits from transmitting the power to buy some of it?
At any rate, over to you Mr. Alward for some words of wisdom
Personally, I don't care if the PCs have a plan at this point, as long as the sale is stopped. I would much prefer that they take their time in coming up with a solid plan that is workable and can be achieved, not one that sells out NB and will be devastating for NB like the one on the table now!
In fact, this deal helps NB achieve lower emmissions more quickly. It also opens us up to future markets looking for clean, renewable energy like Hydro.