Provincial power deal aimed at N.E. energy markets
10/31/09 | 17 comments

Provincial power deal aimed at N.E. energy markets


The Associated Press

TORONTO — North America’s largest utility company Hydro-Quebec has announced it will pay $4.4 billion for transmission lines of New Brunswick Power, a deal that would help the company secure greater access to electricity markets in the U.S.

Hydro-Quebec announced Thursday that it expects to spend up to $23 billion over the next decade to boost its hydro electric output by 4,500 megawatts a year.

Much of that will be exported to the United States and Ontario since growth in the Quebec economy is not expected to need that much power.

The New Brunswick Power transmission lines will enable Hydro-Quebec to transmit power to the northeastern U.S. Hydro-Quebec and New Brunswick Power are both province-owned.

Quebec premier Jean Charest said in a statement that the agreement creates an unprecedented energy partnership in Canada and provides the company with a strategic geographic position with the eastern Canada and New England markets.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci first learned about the agreement between Hydro Quebec and New Brunswick Power on Tuesday.

The governor, who plans to meet with Charest in the coming weeks, was not consulted about the deal beforehand but is reserving judgment until more details are known, Baldacci spokesman David Farmer said.

“At this point, it’s a very significant transaction and it is too early to tell what the implications will be without a better understanding of Hydro-Quebec’s plans for exporting to the U.S.,” Farmer said. “We also don't understand how this could affect Maine's own goals of exporting energy.”

The president of the New England Power Generators Association said American utilities are not afraid of competition, but would have little chance squaring off against a massive utility like Hydro-Quebec.

“Now (Hydro-Quebec) has control over everything — it’s a monopoly in the purest sense and I don’t think that’s supportive of competition,” said Angie O’Connor, president of the New England power group.

She said Hydro-Quebec, which supplied more than seven percent of New England’s power last year, already has the advantage of using a limited, less-transparent regulatory process in Canada.

Pierre-Olivier Pineau, an energy expert at Universite de Montreal’s business school, said Hydro-Quebec’s cleaner, cheaper electricity has a competitive advantage over many power producers in the U.S.

He noted that New Brunswick’s transmission line to Maine connects with New York City, establishing access to an “interesting and lucrative” market.

“If you are a power producer, you’re never happy to see another competitor come in with a cheaper source of electricity, which is the case with Hydro-Quebec,” Pineau said.

“If you are consumers, or if you operate the market, then you’re happy to see an additional player with a different source of electricity.”

Pineau added that the transmission line has a limited capacity, effectively capping Hydro-Quebec’s exports to New England.

“Hydro-Quebec is a big player in the states, but it’s not a dominant player,” he said.

BDN reporter Kevin Miller contributed to this story.

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Comments
17 comments on this item
On 10/31/09 at 6:37 AM, BigDog wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Our govenor should not sign on with the canadians and wait for the right agreement with our own Wind Power. .Canada is not looking out for us only them.

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On 10/31/09 at 6:53 AM, Buckweet wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Nice, clean, renewable electrical power. No CO2 emissions. Fewer windmills covering the high ground and negatively impacting peoples' homes. At 4500 megawatts, that equates to between 1500 and 3000 of these monsters. And that is at their "rated capacity." In reality it is more like 5,000 to 10,000, when you factor in their effective capacity. And the water flows continuously, generating reliable, uninterrupted power. Unlike fickle wind, that's the kind of performance that can allow the shutdown of old fossil fuel facilities. A much, much greener solution....not to mention cheaper.

It'll be interesting to see how the Guvnuh and the NEPGA handle this one.

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On 10/31/09 at 8:15 AM, wallyo wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

THE WATER DOESN, T FLOW SO WELL IN THE WINTER IN THE TUNDRA , UNLESS WE ARE GOING TO BE SAVED BY GLOBAL WARMING.

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On 10/31/09 at 8:34 AM, RubyRose wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The Govorner must be shaking in his boots right now! LOL SAVE MAINE FROM INDUSTRIALIZED WIND!!! This is the answer!

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On 10/31/09 at 9:17 AM, rockstars wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Mars Hill wind farm sells power to Canada.

Fort Fairfield , a bio mass power plant, in northern Maine had to sell because. ISO New Enland COULD BUY THE POWER CHEAPER FROM CANADA.

Gov Baldaci is worried that ME is getting competion from other wind farms before he, Iberdrola and First Wind can pull off their scam.

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On 10/31/09 at 10:18 AM, foulwind1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Duh, Baldacci is seeing how well he has been scammed by Big Wind. Yes, good, reliable Hydro, a base power generator is right next door. Time to listen to reality My Baldacci, and NOT FIRSTWIND, KING and son, Adams, Hinck, NRCM, and the other opportunists on the back of Maine Citizens. Tell Iberdrola to stuff it. Are we friends with Canada or not.? Reliable power, less grid that will be on the back of Maine taxpayers, and a dose of real, non-intermittent, lower cost power, power from Hydro. Maybe our Mills will be able to compete, as well as other businesses without this WIND SCAM.

You might not even have to break our constitutional laws in the state, and might find that the illegal expedited WIND LAW should be removed , and allow the DEP to actually follow its mandate in the state.

Blowtoys are a dead iussue, clean Hydro is one of the REAL ANSWERS. SORRY FIRSTWIND!

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On 10/31/09 at 10:24 AM, foulwind1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Industrial wind technology is a meretricious commodity, attractive in a superficial way but without real value—seemingly plausible, even significant but actually false and nugatory. Those who would profit from it either economically or ideologically are engaged in wholesale deception. For in contrast to their alluring but empty promises of closed coal plants and reduced carbon emissions is this reality: Wind energy is impotent while its environmental footprint is massive and malignant.

This business is absurd. The whole point of modern power systems has been to move beyond the flickering flutter of variable energy sources. Prostituting modern power performance to enable subprime energy schemes on behalf of half-baked technology is immoral. As is implementing highly regressive tax avoidance “incentives" to make it appear that pigs can fly. No coal plants will be shuttered and little, if any, carbon emissions will be reduced as a result of this project—or thousands of them. J Boone

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On 10/31/09 at 10:33 AM, NochigahnehAlnabeh wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Oh yeah, here comes Hydro Quebec with their power from flooded Indian lands. Do you think Baldacci will care, hell no! Just like Transcanada who came to Maine and ripped off the Penobscots. All Baldacci's buddies. The theives of the north are coming again, beware! We will become eastern Canada's economic doormat and access to southern New England's power needs, with open arms, because Baldacci is looking for a place to land when he leaves office! It will be the old , 'Have I got a deal for you!'

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On 10/31/09 at 12:15 PM, jaygee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Governor - with respect to your plan of putting up thousands of 400' tall wind turbines through the pretty Maine countryside with deleterious noise levels, what ever became of your QUALITY OF PLACE initiative?

This Canadian hydro is a way for far more electricity to flow through Maine so that you can collect tax revenues which will help you keep welfare-loving voters in the state. You also should work to build up Maine's own hydro.

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On 10/31/09 at 12:16 PM, jaygee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

UNDERGROUND powerlines please.

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On 11/1/09 at 11:28 AM, BigDog wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

jaygee u sound like an out of stater if so go back where u came from if they will let u back in.

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On 11/1/09 at 4:45 PM, arrogantdan wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

More utilities comming from a country that threatens to block LNG tankers from entering the St. Croix river? Am I missing something? I think there is a fox in the henhouse.

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On 11/1/09 at 10:16 PM, hampdenihost wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I think the bigger concern for Mainers is one of border control and how the power from Canada will flow to the larger New England/New York markets. Maine's grid already needs significant upgrades to handle the additional investment in wind and other alternative technologies. Without that upgrade, we are losing out on market share and capacity. With HQ already controlling a way to market through Vermont, they can now, by controlling NB's enormouse power supply, take it to market through VT and completely bypass Maine. This means the case for investment in Maine's grid upgrades is much more difficult to make. This could have significant ramifications for the larger utility market in Maine, and we should all follow the matter very carefully.

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On 11/2/09 at 1:13 PM, David889327 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Sounds like a potentially favorable plan, if handled wisely.

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On 11/2/09 at 9:47 PM, rockstars wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Wonder if Kibby , Stetson and Cohocton in NY will ever go online then? None of them are. The transmission grid was at capacity before they were ever built. If they are left stuck with nowhere to send the power ....there will be some happy people in ME. Not in Augusta...but we will get cheap power and not have to pay Iberdrola out the ying yang.

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On 11/2/09 at 9:51 PM, rockstars wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Gov Baldaci will go down in history as the Boss Tweed of criminal wind farm corporations.

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On 11/3/09 at 1:01 PM, happycamper1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Wow. Great news ...cheaper hydro power from Quebec! Nowwe can forget about expensive windsprawl ruining Maine's countryside. Mainers could not afford wind generated electricity anyway. FirstWind blow away. You are OBSOLETE! No more of your financial smoke and mirrors. Please take Gov. B back to Mass. with you.

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