SAINT JOHN RANKS 1ST in COUNTRY AGAIN IN DOMESTIC GROWTH
18 September 2007
A national report released earlier this week by Transport Canada ranks Saint John Airport as having the highest year-over-year domestic growth of all airports across the country for the month of July. The Airport posted 46.8% growth in domestic passengers over July 2006, setting a new all-time, one-month local record.
The report states that year-to-date growth at 25.8%, leads all airports in the Atlantic region, with Charlottetown ranked second in the region at 12.0%, and ranks second in the country year-to-date, after Fort McMurray.
Earlier this week the Airport announced that they have posted even better numbers for the month of August, breaking the July record with a count at a staggering 45.1% higher than last August. This brings the year-to-date total to 27.9% over the first eight months of 2006. The national report for August has not yet been released.
Officials at the Airport report that the growth can be attributed to extra summer flights offered by Air Canada, as well as the start-up of WestJet daily direct service to Toronto, and introduction of seasonal flights this past spring by SunWing Vacations to Punta Cana and Cancun.
WestJet Airlines recently announced that they will be staying year-round, as a result of the strong support they have seen for the summer flights.
http://www.saintjohnairport.com/
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‘BEST’ OF ALL WORLDS
Expansion Transmission line to pay for itself, as province readies to become energy centre
DANIEL MCHARDIE
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Published Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
Appeared on page a1
FREDERICTON - The New Brunswick System Operator says a surge in bids to use the second international power line from New Brunswick to Maine could act as a catalyst to new electricity transmission projects in New England.
The new power line will start sending electricity across the border in December.
When the province's system operator called for reservations, six different companies put in bids for 793 megawatts, well above the 300 megawatts that the line can carry.
"It sends a signal to New England that there is an interest in Canada in exporting power to meet New England needs.
Hopefully that will drive a greater interest in Maine to get the transmission south of Bangor built," said Bill Marshall, president and chief executive officer of the system operator.
"It reinforces the government's position that New Brunswick is an energy hub. There is an interest in getting projects built here and exporting into New England." The system operator is an independent agency that administers the transmission tariff for using the province's system and it maintains the transmission reliability and co-ordinates system planning.
Hydro Quebec won the open bidding process and will now have the right to use the transmission link to the United States for the next 15 years. For that right, Hydro Quebec will be paying NB Power Transmission $9.6 million a year, which will quickly pay back the utility's $50-million investment in the project.
As well, P.E.I.'s Maritime Electric Company Limited won a 25-year transmission reservation for 30 megawatts from the United States into New Brunswick.
"The reservations from Hydro Quebec and Maritime Electric are essentially going to bring in enough money to totally pay for the line and yet we still gain value in New Brunswick,"Marshall said.
Rules governing the transmission system state that Hydro Quebec must give notice on the previous day that it plans to use that line, if that doesn't occur the capacity is up for bids. When the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station shuts down next April for its refurbishment, having the extra power line will be a huge benefit to the utility.
Michel Losier, managing director of corporate affairs for NB Power, said this new transmission capacity does open new opportunities for the company.
"What has been made clear there is definitely a market for export to the United States that was made clear in this open season process,"Losier said.
"The line is there, it provides significant benefits, it provides reliability, more efficiencies due to less line losses and the line will still be available for NB Power to use. At the same time Hydro Quebec will be paying the mortgage on the line in $9.6 million a year." The Liberal government is positioning the province as an energy hub and an electricity exporter. Part of that plan includes the feasibility study of a second nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau that would see its power shipped to the power- starved U.S. market, especially in New England and New York.
Premier Shawn Graham and Energy Minister Jack Keir have spoken about using a direct subsea connection to New England, bypassing the bottlenecks in Maine, as one option.
If that arrangement isn't followed, there are other projects on the drawing table that could help free up the power congestion that appear south of Bangor.
Among the many options, there is a transmission project being discussed from Orrington, Maine, to Wiscasset, Maine, and a separate proposed line from Wiscasset to south Boston. Those two proposed lines would see new opportunities created for New Brunswick to ship its power into the desired markets.
Keir called the Hydro Quebec bid the "best of both worlds" because NB Power can still take advantage of the new line and another utility is paying the bill. Like Marshall, Keir said he believes the interest in the second power line will spur on transmission projects in Maine.
"That would give a tremendous increase of delivery capability out of New Brunswick and access into the market,"Marshall said of those projects going forward.
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Lepreau II - Bring it on
Energy New poll shows almost three in four Saint John residents are in favour of adding a second nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau
John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Published Tuesday October 2nd, 2007
Appeared on page C1
SAINT JOHN - Almost three quarters of people in Saint John support the construction of a second nuclear reactor, according to a new poll.
Corporate Research Associates says 73 per cent of Saint Johners support a second reactor in New Brunswick, while support in Saint John's bedroom communities was almost equally strong, at 71 per cent.
"It's a pretty strong majority on an issue that has been extremely controversial in the past," said Don Mills, president and co-founder of the polling company.
The survey results come as the provincial government, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and Team Candu conduct a $2.5-million feasibility study that could lead to a 1,100-megawatt reactor being built next to the existing Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. If built, it could be Canada's first new nuclear reactor since 1993.
The poll, done independently by Mills' company between Sept. 6 and Sept. 19, was based on a sample of 400 adult residents. A sample that size would be expected to be accurate within 4.9 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.
Mills noted that a similar, New Brunswick-wide survey done in 2003 showed less support, with slightly over half of provincial residents behind the idea.
Energy Minister Jack Keir said Monday that people in Saint John are no doubt more likely to realize the economic spinoffs of a second reactor; he noted that the previous provincial government received a warm reaction when the refurbishment of the existing reactor was announced.
Keir said the results were "perfect" and that the majority of people he has spoken with have bought into the concept of Saint John as the region's energy hub, complete with an energy corridor to the Northeastern United States. "I think [the public] see all these pieces of that puzzle," he said.
Keir said people not completely on board - 44 per cent "mostly support" the project compared to 29 per cent who "completely support" it - are probably concerned about nuclear waste, which he said is a legitimate concern. He noted in a recent interview that the current reactor is prepared for at least the next 30 years of waste.
Mayor Norm McFarlane was pleased to hear the survey numbers.
"That's another showing that the energy hub is real and it's moving forward when people are supporting these things," he said.
The question was, "All things considered, would you personally completely support, mostly support, mostly oppose, or completely oppose a second nuclear reactor being built in New Brunswick?"
According to a Corporate Research Associates news release, the support for a second reactor rises as education levels increase, with those who have completed post-secondary education the mostly likely to support a second reactor (79 per cent).
The support also increases with income. Eighty one per cent of people earning more than $75,000 a year support the project, compared to 66 per cent of Saint Johners who make less than $50,000 a year.
Seven per cent of Saint Johners "completely oppose" a second reactor in New Brunswick, while 17 per cent "mostly oppose" it.
The remaining three per cent said they didn't know or didn't answer the question.