Green Agenda vs. Public Utility Regulation: Newfoundland’s Muskrat Falls Megaproject

The government of Newfoundland has delivered a public rebuke of the province’s Public Utility Board (PUB). In an interview over the weekend, Jerome Kennedy, the province’s Minister of Natural Resources, declared that the provincial government “has no confidence in the PUB.”

The program where Kennedy made the remark was On Point, “The Case for Muskrat Fall” (Nov 2,2012).

The goverment’s case for Muskrat Falls is a loosely defined amalgam of justifications based on theories about peak oil, greenhouse gas emission hysteria, electricity export fantasies, and a load forecast that assumes that declining power sales will soon stage a robust recovery. Key elements of the government’s Muskrat Falls plan, particularly how it will divert Hydro Quebec’s generation and storage resources to deliver power to Newfoundland, have not been disclosed. Earlier this year, PUB concluded its review of the Muskrat Falls project by deciding that it had insufficient information to rule on the application.

Post script: In the St. John’s Telegram article “New legislation coming on Muskrat Falls” (November 6) Mr. Kennedy indicated that the NL government would be introducing new legislation reflecting his government’s lack of confidence in the PUB’s oversight of the Muskrat Falls project.

2 Comments

  1. Has anybody in NL engaged the Lieutenant Governor John Crosbie about this harebrained project ? I know his position is ceremonial and non-partisan, but he doesn’t suffer fools. I would be interested in knowing if anybody has heard his views on this crazy plan that Canadian taxpayers will ultimately pay for after the loan guarantees are triggered.

  2. Pingback: Muskrat Folly | Tom Adams Energy - ideas for a smarter grid

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