THe boys from MHI were back in Dalhousie this week. Yoshida and Terry, along with there US rep, Craig, and three other engineers from Japan. They spent almost three days on site. The phase 1 study was reviewed. Seems they found another 30 MW and slightly lower emmisions. A plus for the project. The price has also dropped by several millions. Seems the project would be a go, except for the big bad wolf from across the river. Seems Hydro Quebec has signed a super sweet deal with the seemingly not so informed government in Fredericton. They get most of NB Powers assets, except anything that is not immediately attractive, and New Brunswick keeps the "problems" from HQ. NB gets $5 billion up front, and a royal !@!@# 5 years from now. At least those are the word of NL premier Danny Williams. He should know, NL has gotten the same deal since 1971, and will continue to get it until 2041. A long time to have to take that kind of punishment. HQ should reel in about $100 billion give or take a few billion here or there, over the life of the contract. They took in 1.7 billion last year, and gave 63 million to NL. About 3% if my math is right. Gotta love those sweet steals, I mean deals.
Anyway, in the memorandum of understanding, the Dalhousie plant gets shutdown, basically immediately after the deal gets some formal ink next April 1. We have fuel till the summer, then we don't even get to do a dry lay up, or any decommisioning. We just burn the last gallon of fuel, and the last one out the gate that night slaps on a padlock. See ya later Dalhousie station. We just celebrated 40 years of operation. And having crawled through every hole, nook , and cranny that the old girl has, I'd say we could make her go another 40. But come this time next year, the only inhaitants will be the pigeons, the raccon family, and a couple of cats. No humans that poured their heart and soul into the place. No humans that have worked tireless hours to put her back together when someone from their cushy Fredericton chair called and said " We need power now!!". No one that has paid the ultimate sacrifice of lost spouses, family, and homes all in the name of pride of workmanship. No one that made her a recipient of the Power Plant of the year in 1995. No one that has worked to keep the rates for New Brunswick consumers as low of possible burning whatever garbage for fuel that they sat on the doorstep. From Minto coal, to the different formulations of Orimulsion, to the current black liquid that is passed off as crude oil. All troublesome fuels, all highly corrosive, all difficult to burn, all laden with ash that is a bit of a health hazard to say the least. We burned it all. We provided 15% of the provinces' power whenever it was requested. We never complained. We just made it work.
We were on the cusp of another new adventure. To burn some petcoke, with a little bunker C to keep it lit. Needless to say, it's a little difficult to keep lit as well. It would be another first for North America. Another challenge to prove that the employees in Dalhousie can do what no one else would even consider. Just because we want to go to work in the morning. Just because we want to keep people from freezing in the dark. I hope the current government has the same desire. To keep people from freezing in the dark. There current agreement with HQ may suggest that, but several years from now I know that will not be the case. When the rate freeze runs out, and the residential power rate is adjusted for CPI, for exceedances above the heritage pool, and for any number of issues that I hope to blog about in the near future, I hope the members of the current government that approved this deal have a little slush fund set aside to pay their power bill. And maybe help out the single mother of three next door that is helping make ends meet when her power bill suddenly jumps 10 or 15% year after year.
The memorandum of understanding is quite frought with statements that require much further clarification. Some simple matters are not even discussed. Currently NB Power pays an annual sum of about $50 million to the NB government to basically co-sign the loans. I would assume this payment will stop. The rate reduction for industrial users, and the rate freeze for residential will result in a $5 billion savings to all rate payers in the province. Well by my math, the NB government cannot collect the taxes on this $5 billion, which at 8%, (provincial portion of GST) would result in $400 million dollars of lost tax revenue over the first five years. NB government will also be on the hook for the property taxes that the three largest stations now pay. This is to the tune of $14 million per year. And from the annual report that is posted on the NB Power website, the decommisioning costs of the thermal stations is estimated at $54 million. So the total cost to the government of NB over the first 5 years is about $774 million. So if this money is kept out of the $4.75 billion selling price, then I guess the NB government will not be able to pay off all our debt right away. Oh, by the way, where will the additional $774 million in tax payer dollars come from???? I know one thing, it will not be made up by any transfer of funds from HQ to the NB government.
That's all for now folks. I hope to be back soon with some additional info to add to the $774 million estimate that this transaction will cost the NB government, and eventually you, the ratepayer, and taxpayer.
Married To A Bedouin (9781844082209)
1 year ago
