Brian Dubie on Power Contracts

Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie Hails New Power Agreement Between Vermont Utilities and Hydro-Quebec

(Quebec City, March 12, 2010) – Vermont Lt. Governor Brian Dubie today joined Governor James Douglas and Quebec Premier Jean Charest in applauding a new preliminary agreement, announced today in Quebec City, establishing the framework for a new 26-year power contract between Vermont’s two largest electric utilities and Hydro Quebec.

Douglas, Charest and Dubie meet today with state and provincial officials and utility executives from Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS), Green Mountain Power (GMP) and Hydro Quebec (HQ).

“It’s a pleasure and an honor to be in Quebec City with our friends again,” said Dubie. “Since January, I have been conducting a Jobs Tour around Vermont, and one of the key concerns I hear from small businesses around our state concerns a stable and predictable power supply. This agreement is great news for Vermont businesses, and great news for the Vermonters they employ.”

Dubie recalled that his first official outreach to Canada and Quebec took place in December 2002, a month after he was first elected lieutenant governor, and a month before he took the oath of office.

“I recognized then that Canada and Quebec would be critical to Vermont’s energy future, our border security and our economy,” said Dubie. “So I visited the Canadian Embassy in Washington for a high-level briefing on our relationship. I learned that for a number of reasons, our official relationships were strained. So I made a commitment then to reestablish the lines of communication and repair those relationships.”

Dubie met in Ottawa with the US Ambassador to Canada in March 2003, and in April 2003 sat in the front row at Premier Jean Charest’s initial swearing-in, as the only invited foreign government official. “At the reception following the ceremony,” Dubie recalls, “I met then Hydro-Quebec president and CEO Andre Caille. He offered to show me his dams at James Bay in Northern Quebec, and in August 2003, he did.”

Meanwhile, Dubie worked with the Douglas administration to plan a series of official missions and meetings that soon restored and deepened the relationships.

“It’s very rewarding to see these eight years of cooperation between Vermonters and Quebecers, on many levels, now coming to fruition in an energy agreement that promises a stable, green, renewable energy supply for Vermonters and Vermont jobs,” Dubie said.

Utilities will negotiate final details of the contract by the end of June 2010.