Local economist questions Muskrat plans #nlpoli
From the CD Howe Institute: NEWFOUNDLAND’S ELECTRICITY OPTIONS: MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE REQUIRES AN EFFICIENT PRICING REGIME Jan. 11, 2012 – James P. Feehan Newfoundland should hold off on plans…
Muskrat Falls
Locke and Muskrat Falls: some quick points #nlpoli #cdnpoli
Memorial University economist Wade Locke delivered a presentation on Tuesday night about Muskrat Falls, a project he had already endorsed publicly. The Harris Centre at Memorial University, the Atlantic Provinces…
Seven Habits of Spectacularly Ineffective Politicians #nlpoli #cdnpoli
“Run government like a business” is an old line. Some people use it as a rallying cry for success and innovation. Others think of it as a recipe for disaster.…
Whose camp is it anyway? #nlpoli
Leo Abbass, mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Regular readers will know him already. Quoted this time by Voice of the Cabinet Minister about a controversial work camp a company wants…
Christmas Goodies #nlpoli #cdnpoli
A couple of provocative articles turned up online over the holidays. Now that everyone is getting back into the work-a-day groove, check them out. Energy consultant Tom Adams took a…
Connies grinch consumers on Muskrat review #nlpoli
Anyone who thinks the governing Conservatives in Newfoundland and Labrador are interested in anything but ramming their megadebt Muskrat Falls deal down the public throat, well, those fine people are…
Muskrat Falls: the PUB review story #nlpoli
The Telegram has the best account of the unsuccessful effort by the public utilities board to get an extension on its review deadline for Muskrat Falls. The whole thing is…
Undisclosed risk: putting the plan into action #nlpoli
The provincial government is dropping $11.3 million to string fibre optic cables from Goose Bay to western Labrador. The federal government will plunk in $3.0 million with $9.7 million from…
Muskrat Falls PIFO #nlpoli
Q: When is an independent review not independent? A: When the project proponents control the timetable for completing the report. Or, as voice of the cabinet minister reports: The provincial…
Nalcor and the Muskrat alternatives #nlpoli #cdnpoli
Nalcor’s capital works submission to the public utilities board for 2012 included a last-minute addition of an upgrade to the power lines that connect the Avalon peninsula to the rest…
Muskrat Falls deal will succeed: Nalcor boss #nlpoli #nspoli
“I’m optimistic the project is going to succeed,” Nalcor Energy chief executive Ed Martin told the Chronicle-Herald recently. The delay in finishing the negotiations means that, as the CH put…
A grain of salt #nlpoli
Around this time of year the country’s major banks issue their economic assessments of the current year and their forecasts of the coming one. Royal Bank issued the most recent…
Danger: Lawyer at work #nlpoli
The public utilities board review of the Muskrat Falls project may be a set-up but the lawyer for the board is certainly making Nalcor pay for every single inch of…
The price of hydro exports #nlpoli
Via National Public Radio (New York) comes a series on the cost to Americans of importing electricity from Canada. The second instalment – aired December 6 – focused on Labrador…
Irresponsibly managed electricity #nlpoli
Energy expert Tom Adams takes about five and a half minutes to explain why “buying at high prices from local generators and selling vast amounts of power to neighbouring utilities…
Emera buys NL line service company #nlpoli
Via CNW: “HALIFAX, Dec. 5, 2011 /CNW/ – Emera Utility Services Inc. (EUS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA.TO -News), today announced the acquisition of the utility line…
Dazed and Confused, Muskrat proponents version #nlpoli
Premier Kathy Dunderdale and Emera chief executive Chris Huskilson. Par for the course for the former to be dazed and confused. Somewhat surprising to find the latter a bit off.…
Muskrat Falls Friday Trash Dump #nlpoli
The provincial government waited until late Friday afternoon to issue a bulletin that Emera had registered the Nova Scotia interconnection with the environment department for review. That’s weird because Friday…
With friends like these, Muskrat Falls version #nlpoli
Federal natural resources minister Joe Oliver answering a question from Liberal Gerry Byrne during Question Period on Wednesday in the House of Commons. Byrne wanted to know why the federal…
The Muskrat Morass Deepens #nlpoli
Kathy Dunderdale, Ed Martin and their supporters have a basic problem. In 30 seconds, opponents of the multi-billion project can give a simple, coherent, and unassailable reason why they oppose…