(Nov. 13, 2009) Clearwater Seafoods director says proposed sale of NB Power to Hydro-Québec would help province retain and attract business.

HALIFAX – One of the region’s top entrepreneurs says the sale of NB Power, combined with recent tax cuts, would be a “boon” for New Brunswick industry.

On Thursday, fisheries magnate John Risley said the proposed sale of NB Power to Hydro-Québec would help New Brunswick both retain and attract business.

That’s because the tentative deal, if signed, would see industrial power rates in New Brunswick reduced by as much as 30 per cent to match those in Quebec.

In an interview with the Telegraph-Journal, Risley said that rate reduction would couple nicely with the Graham government’s pledge to cut the general corporate income tax rate from 12 per cent to 8 per cent by 2012.

“That will definitely be a big boon for New Brunswick business,” said Risley, director of Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership (TSX:CLR.UN), the Halifax-based seafood producer.

“You guys now have the second lowest tax rates in the country, behind Alberta. And now you’re going to have lower energy costs,” he continued.

“If you’re an international or national business looking to set up in Atlantic Canada, you’re going to look at the cost of doing business. And right now New Brunswick is positioned to take advantage.”

Risley, who founded Clearwater in 1976, said the industrial power rate cut will most benefit the struggling pulp and paper industry – a huge consumer of electricity.

He also said he doesn’t buy into fears that Hydro-Québec will gouge New Brunswick rate powers for the benefit of Quebecers.

Instead, Risley predicts savings on the horizon.

“I’m sure there will be huge savings in the consolidation of these two businesses, which will flow back to shareholders and customers. That’s what you generally do in business when you expand,” he said, following a breakfast speech at the Halifax Club, a private downtown business club.

“I think it’s crazy that every province thinks it needs to have its own utility. That’s absolute nonsense.”

Risley isn’t the first to trumpet the economic benefits of the proposed deal, which would see most of the public utility handed over to Hydro-Québec – in exchange for lower power rates and a wiping of NB Power’s $4.75-billion debt.

Jean-Claude Savoie, president of Saint-Quentin-based Groupe Savoie Inc., recently said the proposed deal would make companies across the province more competitive.

Savoie said his firm will save roughly $260,000 a year on electricity, allowing him to invest in upgrades at his sawmills and offer more security to his 500-plus employees.

“The savings would allow us to invest in new technologies and to ensure our long-term survival,” he said.

Energy analyst Norm Rubin, of the Toronto-based lobby group Energy Probe, previously said the reduction in industrial rates would make it easier for energy-intensive businesses to set up shop in the province.