Holt Liberals pick 3 leaders for N.B. Power review

The Holt government has announced the names of the three people who will lead a major review into the future of N.B. Power.

Two energy sector veterans and a former legislative watchdog will oversee the process, which will include public consultations and which is expected to wrap up with recommendations by next March.

It's a thorny task that must reconcile the public appetite for affordable power rates with the utility's need to undertake multibillion-dollar power station projects while managing a debt that now exceeds $5 billion.

"I know enough about the people in New Brunswick to know the will and strength of spirit," said Duncan Hawthorne, a former CEO of Bruce Power in Ontario and one of the three review leaders. "We've just to line it up in the right place.

"And the way to do that is to talk about options and have people buy into those, because it cannot be achieved without support. … There's a number of things that people will have to do in every single household in New Brunswick to make this transition work."

But Anne Bertrand, another review leader and a former provincial information and privacy commissioner who later sat on N.B. Power's board, said the recommendations will not be hostage to public opinion.

"The public does not have a veto," she told reporters.

"Comments and opinions will be taken into consideration, and are very important. We need to know what the expectations are. But the expectations can't dictate what the future of N.B. Power will be."

Michael Bernstein, the third appointee and a former CEO and investment fund manager in the energy sector, said the review team would point out the positives and negatives of each of its recommendations.

"Ultimately, it's up to the government and, really, New Brunswickers to decide what direction to take," he said.

Premier Susan Holt launched the review in the wake of a controversy over a perceived spike in the January power bills of some N.B. Power customers.

While that phenomenon has been explained by an independent audit, the utility has acknowledged it faces deeper, longer-term problems. These include the need for a multibillion dollar overhaul of the Mactaquac Dam, west of Fredericton, the utility's largest hydroelectric generating station.

The Point Lepreau nuclear plant in southern New Brunswick has also faced costly shutdowns, and the Belledune generating station in the north must be converted from coal burning to comply with federal climate policies.

Holt has not ruled out selling the utility, as a previous Liberal government tried to do in 2009, as one possible outcome of the review.

"We have not restricted the three leaders on discussing anything," Energy Minister René Legacy said Friday.

"If that's what New Brunswickers want to discuss, then we should have an open discussion about it, and put the subject to bed one way or another." 

WATCH | 'We're very serious': leaders looking at N.B. Power's future:

Meet the 3 people who will oversee the N.B. Power review

8 days ago

Duration 2:00

The Holt government has chosen the experts who will look at what to do with the indebted utility.

Hawthorne, who as CEO of Bruce Power oversaw one of the world's largest nuclear power sites, said the process will not be "a talking shop, where we will tell you what we're doing. We're really going to spend a fair amount of time listening to you." 

Legacy said the review process would be covered by his department's budget, and the government committed to release more information soon about what the three review leaders will be paid. 

Legacy said the review process would be covered by his department's budget.

Each of the three leaders will be paid a maximum of $172,000 plus HST as consultants, plus up to $20,000 for travel expenses.

The government is promising not only recommendations but a decision on those recommendations by March 31, 2026.