Crude oil was trading north of US$50 a barrel for about 30 seconds this week.What with the government’s cash deficit being $3.0 billion and all, CBC had someone write up a little story about what that would mean for government finances.You will see a l…
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: How government decides – From Bow-Wow to Basenji #nlpoli
The Liberals’ signature policy initiative is Bill 1.It is so important that it is the only piece of new legislation the Liberals have introduced in this session that is directly connected to their election promises.Bill 1 creates a new appointments com…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Six Rationalisations Pretending to Be Policy #nlpoli
Policy solves problems.At it’s simplest level, policy answers a question.Cancelling Muskrat Falls is a good example. We are facing a financial crisis. Muskrat Falls is a huge expense. There’s the problem. Turn it into a qu…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Rasputisa and the 2016 Budget #nlpoli
The speech finance minister Cathy Bennett read in the House of Assembly on Thursday was as horrible as the reaction most of the province have been having to it.That’s not surprising given that the entire budget communications program was the product of…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Rasputitsa #nlpoli
Before we even get into this, let’s be clear: the EY review commissioned by the provincial government was never, ever about cancelling Muskrat Falls.Not even remotely or theoretically.Dwight Ball said so in December: “cancelling this projec…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Paying for Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
To understand precisely how insane an idea we have at Muskrat Falls, think of it this way.In Quebec, provincial government policy is to maintain a pool of electricity that is very cheap to produce. This is for use inside Quebec so that the …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: How to say little in 34 slides #nlpoli
Consultants have consistently reported that the Muskrat Falls project is well-managed and well-led.Despite that independent analysis, MFP has been dogged by significant cost over-runs, significant problems with performance on meeting project timelines,…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: A tax to build a tax #nlpoli
A tax to pay a tax.Interesting idea, no?Well, that’s what Jim Feehan suggested last week. He told a luncheon meeting of the St. John’s Rotary Club that the government should consider financing the rest of Muskrat Falls through a special tax. …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Muskrat Falls electricity prices… again #nlpoli
The infamous JM is at it again.”Top 10 Muskrat Myths” (via Uncle Gnarley) rebuts 10 of the arguments in favour of Muskrat Falls. All of this has been argued before in several places, but this is a one-stop summary of the key points.One to notice is the…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Nalcor: Generations #nlpoli
Telegram editor Peter Jackson took a hard look this week at the implications of Nalcor’s effort this week to jack up electricity rates.As part of the company’s rate application to the public utilities board, Nalcor said a relatively dry seaso…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Decision-Based Evidence-Making #nlpoli
The government’s “renewal initiative” is supposed to be guided by something called “evidence-based decision-making.”It’s right there, right after “affordable and sustainable public services” as one of five principles listed in the colou…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Old whine still sour #nlpoli
“I’m concerned that we have an aging asset,” natural resources minister Siobhan Coady Siobhan Coady told CBC in explaining the most recent break downs at the Holyrood generating station.About two years ago, in the midst of darknl, then-Pr…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Blind in one EY #nlpoli
The new Liberal administration is firmly, irrevocably committed to completing the Muskrat Falls project regardless of the final cost to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.We know the Liberals will build the MF project because Dwight Ball said prec…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Quick Clay Dam #nlpoli
A very short post by James Gordon at Uncle Gnarley contains a whole lot of information about the dam Muskrat Falls.Gordon is a retired professional engineer with a 60 year career that took him to projects in 15 countries. He knows about hydro-elect…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Bonds of Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
15 minutes.That’s all Tom Marshall said it would take to sell out the bonds on Muskrat Falls.He also said that a federal lone guarantee would lower electricity prices for consumers from Muskrat falls.The price one wasn’t true at all, as it turned o…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The parties and Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
The mighty Muskrat Falls turned up a few times in the leaders’ debate on Monday night. Now that the project’s huge problems are plainer, folks like Earle McCurdy of the New Democratic Party are working hard to capture the anti-Muskrat vote.&…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Methylmercury and Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
Muskrat Falls has been the big issue in two successive elections. In 2011, the parties wanted to talk about the project, while voters didn’t. It never showed up in the list of any Top Five issues for voters. The parties wanted to talk about M…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Scary words #nlpoli
From Newfoundland Power’s rate application to the Public Utilities Board. Uncertainty: The interconnection to the North American grid is a transformative event for the electrical system that currently serves the island of Newfoundland. It also creates significant uncertainties for Newfoundland Power and the customers it serves. How the costs of
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Consumer to pay 19.8 cents for electricity in 2020: Nalcor #nlpoli
Muskrat Falls will ensure consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador pay much higher electricity rates than they otherwise needed to pay. The latest Nalcor estimate is that consumers in the province will see a 53% jump in rates between now and 2020, with rates hitting 19.8 as the project enters commercial
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Alternatives to the Falls #nlpoli
Since people are wondering if Muskrat Falls really is still the cheapest way to make electricity for local use, let’s take a look at it. The tale is actually very simple. Nalcor argued that Muskrat Falls was cheaper than one alternative: an island system dependent on thermal generation using some
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