In an interview on The Current last week, Anthony Germain asked Premier Kathy Dunderdale why she wasn’t trying to sell Muskrat Falls to people in Newfoundland and Labrador as Danny Williams might have. “If we are going to break Quebec’s stranglehold on the province…” suggested Germain, as he cast the
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Muskrat Ah-Prentice #nlpoli
The local Tories were all twitterpated over the weekend with Jim Prentice’s comments about the Lower Churchill. One suspects, of course, that they were loving it all up for the same reason they love Muskrat Falls in the first place: they don’t know anything except that it is the official
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: So close to a deal they just can’t finish it #nlpoli
As CBC reported on Friday, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter says it is just an “update” meeting. "As you know this is a very important project for both provinces, and the partners have update meetings as needed," Jennifer Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Nova Scotia premier’s office,
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Muskrat Voodoo #nlpoli #cdnpoli
A Canadian Press story on Muskrat Falls this week starts with economist Brendan Sullivan’s recent critique of Muskrat Falls: He said in an interview that the province and its Crown corporation Nalcor Energy are using "voodoo economics" to justify a long-term power purchase agreement. … But Sullivan argues the agreement
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Fun Facts: Hibernia gas and Holyrood #nlpoli
From Stephen Bruneau’s submission to the public utilities board hearing on the Muskrat Falls project: In 2010, the withdrawal and use of natural gas as a fuel for electrical generation and heating was greater for Hibernia alone than was the total oil-fired energy used at Holyrood for the same year.
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Nalcor backs natural gas for electricity #nlpoli
Just for a bit of fun, go back to December 2010 and read about Ed Martin and his views on generating natural gas from electricity. Fascinating stuff, in light of recent discussions. Go back and read it. You won’t be disappointed. – srbp –
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: And in other Muskrat Falls news… #nlpoli
The Telegram editorial: Oh, so now it’s electricity for mining ventures that need the power. So here’s a question for the good minister: Muskrat Falls is supposedly going to increase rates to island customers to some 16.4 cents a kilowatt hour. What rate does Kennedy expect that the mining companies
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: If you ain’t got yer pride, Muskrat Falls version #nlpoli
Natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy, speaking with David Cochrane on this weekend’s On Point with David Cochrane: “What we have to do is put aside ego and pride, put aside political grandstanding…” Now in the coded political language of Newfoundland and Labrador, why might Jerome want to distance himself from
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: A fresh smear of lipstick #nlpoli
CBC’s online version got the story right from the most recent episode of On Point with David Cochrane: Natural Resources Minister Jerome Kennedy says the Newfoundland and Labrador government is not back-pedaling in how it is handling the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, even though the governing Tories are already planning
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Remember these words #nlpoli
When asked in the House of Assembly about the company hired to look at some aspect of using offshore natural gas to generate electricity, Premier Dunderdale said this: Mr. Speaker, this is not a study; it is a report. Just remember those words when Dunderdale inevitably uses the report to
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: And if she was wrong about that, too… #nlpoli
There are two things in this world. There is what actually happened. And then there is what Premier Kathy Dunderdale says. The two have very little to do with one another. Last week, it was federal budget cuts. Kathy said one thing. Reality was something else. This week, it is
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Credit rater gives Emera “negative” outlook #nlpoli
The Chronicle Herald reported Tuesday that credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s had changed its rating for Emera from “stable’ to “negative”. The problem is the capital requirement in order to meet the Nova Scotia government’s green targets. CH quoted Standard & Poor’s analyst Nicole Martin: Meeting that renewables goal
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: If she was wrong about this… #nlpoli
As we told you on Monday, the ever attentive labradore caught Kathy Dunderdale in a pretty outrageous comment last week on the impact the federal budget would have on the province. ‘Not much’ was the thrust of her comment. And it was pretty much her comment to the Telegram’s James
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The PUB and the MFers #nlpoli
Right off the start, the title goes back to a humorous tweet a few months ago. It went something like this: If Muskrat Falls is MF, then does that make its supporters MFers? You gotta laugh at this stuff, folks, because if you didn’t you’d either cry or turn into
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Electricity regulator balks at judgment on Muskrat project #nlpoli #nlpoli
From the report by the public utilities board on Muskrat Falls: The Board concludes that the information provided by Nalcor in the review is not detailed, complete or current enough to determine whether the Interconnected Option represents the least-cost option for the supply of power to Island Interconnected customers over
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Numbers and other information #nlpoli
People aren’t stupid. They just don’t know stuff. Politicians are no different. In Kathy Dunderdale’s case, labradore had an absolutely devastating post last week about the Premier’s reaction to the impact that federal budget cuts might have on the province. The Premier said that there were only 500 hundred or
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Muskrat Three-some #nlpoli
Here are some treats to keep you up with the latest developments on the Muskrat falls front. For starters, CBC’s Anthony Germain interviewed Tom Adams on Thursday about Adams’ contention that the Muskrat Falls project will add a significant debt load on the province. It’s the third audio file from
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Coulda, woulda, shoulda: the Labrador hydro version #nlpoli
Sometimes completely separate events come together in a striking way. Your humble e-scribbler and Jerome Kennedy, the provincial natural resources minister exchanged a couple of tweets on Tuesday. The minister had called it an error that the 1969 Churchill Falls power contract included a clause that said the contract would
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: $#*! politicians say: Jerome! edition #nlpoli
Everyone’s favourite natural resources minister outdid himself last week for saying things that were just so far removed from reality that they were just funny. He said them in the House of Assembly and if that wasn’t good enough he repeated them for this week’s episode of On Point with
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Living after them #nlpoli
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar In his latest post on Muskrat Falls, energy analyst Tom Adams argues that the provincial government wants to finance Muskrat Falls in a way that shifts the costs and the
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