Nova Scotia's Energy Minister says he's concerned about how the province will be affected by the deal between Hydro-Québec and New Brunswick's NB Power.

Bill Estabrooks said he would need to see the details of the sale and added that a similar takeover could not happen in Nova Scotia.

"We want to be in charge," he said Thursday. "We want to have as much input into our own utility here locally so that we make sure they're putting the best interests of Nova Scotians at heart."

There is legislation that prevents non-Nova Scotia entities from owning more than 25 per cent of Nova Scotia Power. It also forbids any one person and the person's associates from holding more than 15 per cent of the company.

"I don't know why New Brunswick would be going down this route — for obvious reasons of politics and finances, but that's not something for me to surmise," Estabrooks said.

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham and Quebec Premier Jean Charest signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday that would see Hydro-Québec take over the majority of New Brunswick's generating stations for $4.8 billion, the size of NB Power's debt.

The deal will mean lower power rates for New Brunswick industry and a five-year freeze for the province's residential customers. In return, Hydro-Québec gets the transmission lines and long-term access to more U.S. customers.

"The new transmission investments that are going to be made will facilitate the transmission of power from Quebec into Maine," said Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter over the phone from Toronto.

He could not say whether there would be lines available for Nova Scotia to export energy.

Impact on renewable energy

A local tidal-energy company warned the deal could mean higher electricity rates in Nova Scotia.

Minas Basin Pulp and Power is involved in developing hydro-electric energy in the Bay of Fundy, a project that may be affected if transmission lines through New Brunswick are no longer readily available.

John Woods, head of the company's tidal and renewable energy division, said Wednesday that Hydro-Québec's control of the lines could affect what consumers pay for power in the future.

"The only way they are going to reduce is if we work as a team to share the resource: the wind, the wave, the tide. And transmission is the connector of everything: it makes winners and losers. So it's a significant issue for Minas Basin Pulp and Power and for the electricity ratepayers," he said.

The president and CEO of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, a regional think-tank, said renewable energy projects that have struggled to find financing could be looking at new costs to export their product.

"Here's something that's going to shift the cost structure even further," said Elizabeth Beale. "It doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad thing; it simply means that all of a sudden, the game has changed dramatically."