FREDERICTON, N.B. - The province's energy minister says the proposed sale of NB Power assets to Hydro-Quebec would save taxpayers at least $275 million on the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.

Jack Keir says if the project remains 18 months behind schedule, the cost of replacement power for that period will be $400 million.

But if the sale agreement is signed by the end of March 2010, he says New Brunswickers will only be responsible for $125 million of that, with the rest to be paid by Quebec.

Keir has called on the federal government to assume the cost overrun because the work is being done by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a federal Crown corporation.

The refit of the reactor was supposed to have been complete by the end of September.

Last week, the New Brunswick and Quebec governments announced a proposed deal that would see Hydro-Quebec assume the key assets of NB Power, including Point Lepreau, for almost $5 billion.