New Brunswick Power Corporation (), operating as NB Power (), is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Crown Corporation wholly owned by the Government of New Brunswick and is responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. NB Power serves all the residential and industrial power consumers in New Brunswick, with the exception of those in Saint John, Edmundston and Perth-Andover who are served by Saint John Energy, Energy Edmundston, and the Perth-Andover Electric Light Commission, respectively. History The development of the electricity industry in New Brunswick started the 1880s with the establishment of small private power plants in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton. Over the next 30 years, other cities successively electrified, so much so that in 1918, more than 20 companies were active in the electricity business, which left the province with wildly differing levels of services and prices. In Saint John for instance, the rates fluctuated between 7.5 to 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, depending on the location and the monthly consumption. Interwar period Recognizing the important role that electricity was about to play in economic development, Premier Walter E. Foster proposed the creation of a provincially owned electric company. The Legislative Assembly passed a bill to that effect. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission (NBEPC) was created on April 24, 1920 under the ministry of Peter Veniot (Public Works). Immediately, the commission, headed by its first president, C. W. Robinson, launched the construction of a C$2 million hydroelectric dam at Musquash, west of Saint John. To supply the cities of Saint John, Moncton and Sussex, a long high voltage power line was also built. The new earth dam was completed on time, in 1922. But it could not withstand the 1923 spring flood and collapsed, an accident which shattered a bit of confidence in the new commission. The building of a larger facility in Grand Falls, on the Upper Saint John River, was undertaken in 1926 by a subsidiary of International Paper Company and completed in 1930. Electricity demand increased during that decade and more generation facilities were required to supply the province. The commission decided to take advantage of coal resources in the Minto area and built a plant near the mines. The Grand Lake Generating Station was commissioned in 1931 and then expanded five years later. Post-war era Demand for electricity exploded during World