居民可以看到NB Power出售合同原本

New Brunswickers will get to see the text of the NB Power deal with Quebec before it's signed, said Premier Shawn Graham.

The premier has been criticized for not releasing the wording of the new agreement announced this week, which will see some generating stations and transmission rights sold to Hydro-Québec.

But Graham told the Legislature Friday there's no new text to release.

"There is no new deal. There's no new MOU [memorandum of understanding]," he said.

"We've signed an MOU and we've made some changes that we've laid out very clearly. We're not hiding anything today.

"The full legal detailed agreement will be made public before it is signed, as the minister and I have said repeatedly."

The contract will probably be about 1,000 pages, said Energy Minister Jack Keir.

Graham unveiled the new $3.2-billion, slimmed down deal to sell most of NB Power's generation assets to Hydro-Québec on Wednesday.

He said the revisions were the result of listening to the public after the original $4.8-billion memorandum of understanding was announced in October.

Graham said the revised proposal addresses the concerns of people about keeping the Crown corporation in the province's hands, as well as maintaining control of the transmission system.

But the premier said it also satisfies the desires of the province to reduce electricity rates, lower NB Power's debt and get access to clean power.