The Coalition of New Brunswickers which coordinated citizens of the province opposed to the selling of assets of NB Power has transitioned itself into the Coalition of New Brunswickers: Public Power for Public Good.

The Coalition’s Statement of Purpose includes that:

·         The citizens of New Brunswick must work together to develop constructive public policy for the public good.

·         Together we can work in the spirit of engagement and partnership with others who seek to apply our rights as citizens for open and democratic process(es).

It was highly predictable that the hike which was scheduled for April 1^st, prior to the conception of the proposed deal to sell assets of the NB Power, would be requested. Postulations that multiple hikes will be required serve to push panic buttons, in the absence of the development of a new energy plan.

Wouldn’t it make better sense for NB Power to resist the knee jerk reaction to close Dalhousie without other options being considered? The Dalhousie facelift is a state of the art generator that can be converted to burn bio mass or other renewable resources.

Premier Shawn Graham, when announcing that the proposed deal with Hydro Quebec was aborted, publicly indicated that he would be seeking to meet with energy experts that surfaced during the public debate on the deal. To our knowledge none of the energy experts who participated in the Coalition’s “Options’ Summit” on February 22^nd have been contacted.

Before any discussions are made the Coalition believes that the public must become engaged in the development of an energy strategy for the province. Without such, it gives rise to the question; “What was the lesson of the public resistance and debate over the aborted deal with Hydro Quebec?”

For further information contact: Auguste Gallant at (506) 577-4686, Jean-Claude Basque at (506) 389-1578 or Tom Mann at (506) 470-9072.