P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz says he's setting up a team to negotiate an electricity deal with Hydro-Québec.

Ghiz said Friday that his chief of staff has been working with Quebec Premier Jean Charest's chief of staff to see if there's a way to buy cheaper power for Islanders.

Preliminary talks were so successful it was felt the next step should be to set up a formal negotiating team, Ghiz said. Energy Minister Richard Brown is not part of the team.

Speaking at an energy conference in Boston on Friday morning, Charest confirmed the stepping-up of negotiations. He said a deal could create a strategic energy hub in Eastern Canada.

Ghiz said Quebec could be interested in sending its hydro power through P.E.I. and across to the Magdalen Islands through an underwater cable.

"We have, of course, our strategic advantage with the province of Quebec … that are for negotiations," Ghiz said. "And I'm not going to tip my hand on the negotiations and let you know everything that we're going to be talking about with the province of Quebec."

Hydro-Québec reached a tentative deal last month to buy New Brunswick utility NB Power's nuclear and hydro generating stations, its transmission system and other assets for an estimated $5 billion. That deal will provide Hydro-Québec with new energy corridors to sell electricity to the United States.

Ghiz believes that deal also opens opportunities for P.E.I. to buy from Quebec.

Mike Currie, P.E.I.'s energy critic, has his doubts about how those negotiations might go. He described P.E.I. as being in a captive position when it comes to buying energy.

P.E.I. gets most of its power from NB Power but was not included in New Brunswick's discussions with Hydro-Québec.

"The fact that I think that the premier in this province was left out by our neighbouring province in regards to any negotiations shows that we're not a big player in this, and we're going to have to pay whatever they choose to charge," Currie said.

with files from The Canadian Press