Vision: Energy minister says Hydro-Québec may invest in energy corridor, which could bring more investment to New Brunswick's energy sector

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Reid Southwick
Telegraph-Journal

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The Liberal government's plans to position the province as a regional energy hub may be fast-tracked under a landmark agreement that would see NB Power sold to a Quebec utility, the energy minister says.

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Cindy Wilson/Telegraph-Journal

Energy Minister Jack Keir says the province remains committed to attracting investment to the province’s energy sector with a prime focus on developing an energy corridor into New England.

The proposed deal would grant Hydro-Québec direct access to New Brunswick's power grid, bringing the major utility even closer to the energy-hungry northeastern United States, Jack Keir said Thursday.

The utility may want to open up those markets by investing in an energy corridor, a development that could encourage more investment in New Brunswick's energy sector.

"We have always said we're looking for investors to partner and invest in New Brunswick in the energy sector and that's what this is," Keir said during a meeting with the Telegraph-Journal's editorial board.

"The whole energy hub concept may happen quicker with Hydro-Québec."

The Graham government's vision of the energy hub concept initially depended heavily on a second oil refinery and nuclear reactor.

But Irving Oil Ltd. announced this summer it shelved the refinery project indefinitely.

And Keir said a proposed second reactor at Point Lepreau is on the backburner because Ottawa has not decided the future of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Crown nuclear corporation, and because of problems with the refurbishment project, among other concerns.

But Keir said the province remains committed to attracting investment to the province's energy sector with a prime focus on developing an energy corridor into New England.

Keir said he had heard critics say the government's proposed deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec for nearly $10 billion may have killed the energy hub concept all together.

But he said the province's energy policies will continue to flow from his department and that government officials would simply deal with Hydro-Québec, rather than NB Power, on those policies. He said he didn't expect any difference in dealing with a new utility.

Moreover, Keir said New Brunswick may now be better positioned to carry out its energy ambitious.

"Quebec just (proposed to spend) $10 billion on acquiring assets to be able to get to New England. Are they going to say no, we don't want an energy corridor? Of course they do," Keir said. "It may be built quicker because they may want to invest in it. They want to get there."

Irving Oil Ltd., meanwhile, has also publicly mused it is studying the potential development of an energy corridor. The first phase of the corridor would involve 1,200 to 1, 500 megawatts of electrical transmission capacity, wind generation and a natural gas fired co-generation plant, Jeff Matthews, Irving Oil's business development director, said recently.

Keir said the plant proposal is an example of the kinds of investments New Brunswick can still attract, even in the absence of a new refinery and reactor.

"Can that still happen? You bet your boots it can, because of the efficiencies of generating that electricity with an LNG plant: you've got the resource right there," Keir said. "You can have the gas-fired plant right beside (the LNG plant) and at a short distance to the border."

Keir said New Brunswick is better positioned to attract investment now than it was in the 1990s, when the former Liberal government focused on the information technology sector.

The energy minister said the province will have the lowest corporate tax rate in the country, an attractive income tax structure and, if an agreement to sell NB Power is approved, some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country.

"I believe we're better packaged, better positioned now than we were then (the 1990s) to take advantage of any large industry that uses a lot of electricity," Keir said.

"The quick answer is the energy hub is still alive and well and kicking."