N.L., federal governments to make announcement following talks on rate hikes
Posted February 10, 2020 10:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier and a federal cabinet minister will make a “significant announcement” today after talks about managing rising electricity rates stretched into the weekend.
Premier Dwight Ball, Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady and her federal counterpart Seamus O’Regan will make the announcement in St. John’s.
Electricity rates are expected to skyrocket in Newfoundland and Labrador when the over-budget Muskrat Falls hydro dam comes fully online in 2021.
Ball has said the issue is a top priority for his government and has pledged to keep rates near existing levels.
Talks with Ottawa have dragged on for months, and Ball said Friday that discussions have involved the financing of the Muskrat Falls project and lingering risks related to costs.
A report by the province’s Public Utilities Board released Friday forecast an “unprecedented” 75 per cent increase in average domestic rates for island residents in 2021 and reported concerns from industrial customers about their ability to remain competitive.
Costs of the megadam on Labrador’s Lower Churchill River have ballooned to more than $12.7 billion since the project was approved in 2012, according to the latest estimate of Crown corporation Nalcor Energy.
The dam is set to produce more power than the province can sell, and its financial structure leaves electricity ratepayers on the hook to make up the difference starting in 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.
The Canadian Press
