Irving Oil eyes regional transmission grid

Fort Reliance is seeking to build a regional electricity transmission system that would connect Eastern Canada and New England.

Fort Reliance, the privately held parent company of Saint John's Irving Oil Ltd., announced Monday that the proposal could generate upwards of $2 billion worth of new transmission infrastructure.

Jeff Matthews, a Fort Reliance spokesman, said the idea behind the new grid was sparked in recent months with the debate over the proposal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec. He said the NB Power issue prompted Fort Reliance to think about the need for co-operation regardless what happened to the province's power corporation.

"More than ever before there's a need for collaboration across the region, and what's gone on, or what appears to us, is that the status quo is not necessarily good for the future as we face more challenges," Matthews said.

Fort Reliance has struck a new company, Portage Energy Ltd., to attract investors to the energy transmission project.

Benefits promised

The company said the new transmission system would cut energy costs in the region and help spur economic development.

Fort Reliance has been examining the northeast energy corridor initiative, a proposal announced early in 2009 that would see New Brunswick and Maine co-operate to move electricity and natural gas between the Maritimes and New England.

Premier Shawn Graham and Maine Gov. John Baldacci announced the proposed energy corridor in March 2009 and at the time Irving Oil indicated it was studying the potential construction of a 500- to 600-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant as well as a 1,200- to 1,500-megawatt transmission line.

'We talk a lot more about regional co-operation than we actually do it.' —Steve Carson, CEO of Enterprise Saint John

But in order for the new regional transmission to happen, the company will need investors and co-operation from provincial and state governments.

Family-owned Irving Oil has been successful in the past in bringing large international companies onside with Saint John-area energy projects.

Spain's Repsol joined the Saint John-based company in the Canaport liquefied nature gas facility. Irving Oil also attracted BP to invest in a proposed second oil refinery, a project that was scuttled last year.

'No small task'

Steve Carson, the chief executive officer of Enterprise Saint John, said the concept of a regional transmission grid is new, but it is worth exploring.

"We talk a lot more about regional co-operation than we actually do it," Carson said. "So it's no small task but I think the climate is right, the window of opportunity is right. I think the public is much more engaged in this whole issue than it has been in the past."

There is a new possibility that New Brunswick's transmission grid could be available for a partnership. Under the proposed deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec, the Quebec utility was to purchase the transmission system along with most of NB Power's generation assets. However, the Graham government has confirmed it will reveal a revised deal on Wednesday, and reports have suggested the transmission grid is no longer a part of the package.