News of the revised schedule for the Point Lepreau Generating Station refurbishment is clearly a huge disappointment for the public. Back in 2005 when the decision was made to refurbish Lepreau, I believed it was the right decision. And today, in 2009, despite the schedule delays, I know it is still the right decision.

Point Lepreau will start again, and when it does, it will provide our youth with career opportunities in a high-tech industry that has good paying jobs for the next 30 years. New Brunswickers will save millions each month for the next 30 years because of its cheaper electricity, all the while reducing our dependency on foreign sources of fuel and without emitting greenhouse gases.

Nevertheless, no one is happy with the current schedule, and sharing in the disappointment over the delays are the 1,800 men and women working on the Point Lepreau Refurbishment Project. Approximately 800 of these employees are members of my local within the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), people who normally operate and maintain the station but who are now involved with every aspect of the refurbishment. Although the project's completion has been delayed, we still believe in this project because of the many benefits it brings to our province.

I also know first-hand that our members, and everyone else working on the refurbishment, are dedicated to completing this project for the people of New Brunswick. Everyone working on this project has made personal sacrifices for the sake of the refurbishment as work goes on around the clock. They are doing everything they can, as safely as they can, to complete this project as soon as they can.

The IBEW members working throughout the rest of NB Power are equally committed to this project and are not only supporting it directly but are also making sure that reliable replacement energy is available for the people of New Brunswick while Point Lepreau is off-line.

Faced with unexpected issues, our members have been rolling up their sleeves to advance this project. Almost a year ago, when the schedule first started to slide, NB Power and IBEW formed a special team to seek out ways to work more efficiently and to develop suggestions to help AECL and the project progress. This was in line with the values of a "Code of Excellence" that the IBEW has developed, in which our members strive to provide the best work and best value to our employers.

Recognizing this exceptional level of co-operation and joint problem-solving that is occurring at Point Lepreau is more useful and productive than the finger pointing by those who are now saying the project has been "mismanaged." They are simply mistaken. From what I've personally observed, the level of commitment and dedication from all levels working on this project has never wavered.

The fact is, this is an enormously complicated job, with an incredible number of complex and potentially hazardous tasks being performed every day. NB Power employees working on the refurbishment recently surpassed 4.8 million hours worked (more than 2,300 person years of work) without a single accident that caused a worker to miss time. That is an incredible and unparalleled safety record for this volume and type of work.

We are not running behind on this project because of mismanagement. We are running behind because of growing pains with the innovative techniques and incredibly complex robotic equipment that is being used for the first time in history by a highly talented and dedicated workforce.

By working together, IBEW and NB Power, along with AECL and their contractors, have found many solutions to complex technical issues. In many cases, work processes and equipment improved. The development and application of innovative solutions have kept things moving forward.

The fact that we are pioneering new solutions and techniques means that we will be helping other AECL CANDU refurbishment projects around the world run much more smoothly. For example, the Korean refurbishment project, which started after we did, is proceeding more quickly because they are learning from us. Quebec Hydro will also benefit from our experience when their Gentilly 2 CANDU is refurbished in the near future.

The bottom line is that the innovations and process improvements we are pioneering here in New Brunswick provide an immeasurable benefit to AECL and to their other customers.

Unfortunately, the time delays caused by the necessity of troubleshooting and revising processes mean that our replacement energy costs are going to be more than we bargained for.

As others have pointed out, since AECL is a federal Crown corporation and is deriving benefit from this, it is only fair that Ottawa provide some assistance to New Brunswick to cover the mounting costs.

I fully support the position of Premier Shawn Graham and Energy Minister Jack Keir, now joined by Opposition Leader David Alward, who feel that Ottawa should come to the table with some relief for the ratepayers of New Brunswick.

Ross Galbraith is the Business Manager of Local 37 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.