Lower Rates NB site

I just posted this on the lower rates site. As I have not said much else lately, I will post it here as well.

I continue to be thoroughly impressed by the questions and comments forwarded on this blog. Not so impressed by the answers, but I digress....

Jack Keir said "It's an open-access opportunity for anybody to get in the business of generating electricity and it would go to the low bidder,"

From my understanding of the partial deregulation of NB Power a few short years ago, this is the way it is now, is it not??? Does not HQ enjoy the fruits of all the NB Power labour in being able to wheel their power through NB and into the US through the new transmission line that was built not too long ago. Seems they own most of this new capacity. Seems that keeping the profit from that deal in NB is the wrong thing to do.

When the wholesale consumer municipalities of Saint John or Edmunston went out for bid for a power supplier, did HQ submit a bid? Are they still with NB Power? Seems large wholesale is allowed to arrange for their power from another supplier besides NB Power, but have they found someone with a cheaper rate in the past? How long will the HQ cheaper rate last?

As for rates in the future, of course the new generation will go to the lowest bidder. I beleive it does now too. But there is nothing that says that the lowest bidder will not be asking 10 times the current rate. Will the EUB be able to refuse someone because their bid is too high, if there is no other supplier. Even HQ could submit an artificailly high bid. I'm quite sure they know the pecking order of the forms of power generation. At the present, doesn't NB Power have the mandate to provide power to all customers in the province. Will HQ have that same mandate, or will, when the rates get too high, the EUB just say " no, we can't afford more power. The rates are too high. We'll just turn the power off to someone so we can stay under the heritage pool allotment."