Latest news with #N.L.Hydro
CBC
09-04-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Muskrat Falls lines failed 6 times since January
Social Sharing The Muskrat Falls transmission lines failed six times during the first quarter of 2025, although Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says the problems had no impact on electricity customers. The problems took on average nine hours to repair, according to the Crown utility, which is still unable to shut down the heavy oil-burning Holyrood Thermal Generating Station because of ongoing concerns about the reliability of Muskrat Falls power. N.L. Hydro revealed the outages on the Labrador-Island Link (LIL), the vast 1,100km transmission system linking the Muskrat Falls dam to eastern Newfoundland, in a three-page letter sent to the Public Utilities Board (PUB) last Thursday. According to the document, the LIL, a system carrying electricity over two independent lines or "poles," was completely offline during only two of the six incidents. During the other four incidents, one of the two poles was still online and able to continue carrying Muskrat Falls electricity toward the Soldier's Pond substation outside St. John's. What's to blame? N.L. Hydro spokesperson Jill Pitcher said in an email that problems with weather and "control system component issues" caused the lines to trip three times in January, once in February and twice in March. "Trips are experienced on all transmission lines," she said. "Transmission lines are designed to trip in response to a variety of system and/or weather conditions. The trips specific to the Labrador-Island Link in Q1 did not interrupt or impact our ability to supply our customers with electricity." Since coming into service, the Muskrat Falls lines have experienced a series of problems, notably related to ice and high winds. Repairs have sometimes taken weeks, as some towers are located in isolated areas and difficult to access depending on the time of year. N.L. Hydro has, however, repeatedly emphasized in recent months that the Muskrat Falls lines are becoming increasingly reliable and that new assets will always experience problems in the first years after commissioning. In 2023, the utility announced a four-year program of repairs and upgrades to the LIL, pegged at $28 million. It said thousands of pieces of equipment had to be replaced or installed, including 1,308 turnbuckles used to regulate voltage and cable length. The 824-megawatt dam is not currently operating at full capacity, as one of its four generating units needs to be completely dismantled, given a hydrogen embrittlement issue. Unit 2 will be out of service until May, according to separate correspondence with the PUB. 22 days ago Duration 1:04 The Holyrood Thermal Generating Station, the second largest industrial polluter in Newfoundland and Labrador, should have closed after the commissioning of the Muskrat Falls project, but will remain open until the beginning of the next decade, given continuing doubts about the reliability of the LIL. N.L. Hydro promises to close the plant in the early 2030s, when it will have built a new combustion turbine at Holyrood and an eighth generating unit at the existing Bay d'Espoir dam. Those projects are expected to cost just shy of $2 billion, according to the Crown utility. A recent independent report stated that keeping the existing Holyrood plant open just five years beyond its potential 2030 retirement date would cost N.L. Hydro more than $700 million. The Muskrat Falls project was expected to cost $7.4 billion when it was approved by the Newfoundland and Labrador government in 2012. By June 2023, the bill had risen to $13.5 billion.
CBC
02-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Minister 'extremely frustrated' over PUB rejection of diesel generating station in southern Labrador
Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster is voicing her frustrations after the province's Public Utilities Board rejected a proposed diesel power generating station in southern Labrador — saying the provincial government might need to intervene. On Monday the PUB rejected an application made by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to build a $110.9 million regional diesel generating station and interconnection in southern Labrador. "I am so, quite frankly, fed up. Out of patience," Dempster told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning on Wednesday. She says the rejected plan hits close to home. Dempster lived near Charlottetown's diesel-powered generating plant, which burned down in 2019. The towns in the area now rely on mobile generation. "I cannot believe that instead of opening up a new plant, giving residents reliable power, that [Monday] we came to a full stop again. I'm extremely frustrated," Dempster said. The proposed plant, which would have operated in Port Hope Simpson, would power and interconnect six communities in the region. It also would have replaced several existing small diesel plants. Dempster said N.L. Hydro and the PUB need to get to a table to talk and get beyond the impasse. She says she's also frustrated that, more than a year ago, N.L. Hydro submitted thousands of pages of documents for the PUB to review on the proposed generating station, but the rejection only just now happened. Green energy The PUB's decision noted it had a lot more commentary from the public than usual, and that people wanted environmentally responsible solutions. Dempster understands where those concerns are coming from. She was recently named the minister of Environment and Climate Change during a cabinet shuffle over the summer. Still, she said, the region needs a reliable source of power, pointing to the area's volunteer firefighters who feel the pressure when power outages happen. She says outages occur four times more than on the Avalon Peninsula. "I believe we've got to look to get reliable power back in a community that's been on mobile units, a temporary fix, for almost six years," she said. In the meantime, Dempster says she has spoken with N.L. Hydro president Jennifer Williams, but a meeting she requested with the PUB was rejected. "We cannot continue to be at this impasse for an indefinite period of time," she said. NunatuKavut 'pleased' But Todd Russell, president of the NunatuKavut community council, wrote in a statement on Wednesday that he welcomes the PUB's decision, pointing to a section that says N.L. Hydro should satisfy its duty to consult with the NCC. "We are pleased that the PUB recognizes N.L. Hydro's responsibilities stemming from Canada's Constitution and as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," wrote Russell. The NCC claims to represent about 6,000 self-identifying Inuit in southern Labrador, including Dempster. The NCC isn't recognized as Inuit by any other federally recognized, rights-holding Inuit collective, including the Nunatsiavut government in northern Labrador and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami — the national organization representing Inuit across Canada — who both say the group is a settler organization.
CBC
27-01-2025
- Business
- CBC
Oversight and negotiating committees announced for Churchill Falls talks
In a series of back-to-back news releases, the provincial government signalled Monday afternoon that it's charging ahead with a proposed new energy deal for the Churchill River. First, Justice Minister Bernard Davis announced the three-member panel that will provide independent oversight of the negotiations. Second, Premier Andrew Furey revealed that the same team that negotiated December's memorandum of understanding between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Hydro-Quebec will lead the effort to reach formal contracts. "We are now moving toward drafting definitive agreements with the leadership of this smart and experienced team that helped get us to this stage. Our goal is to complete the definitive agreements within the timeline outlined in the MOU," Furey said, referring to the spring 2026 target date for a new partnership between the two provinces. The negotiating team includes former Fortis Group of Companies executive Karl Smith, N.L. Hydro president and CEO Jennifer Williams and Denis Mahoney, deputy minister of Justice and Public Safety. The team brings together expertise in industry, utility and law, and will also be supported by internal and external expertise as required. Meanwhile, engineer C. Douglas Bowman and business leader Michael Wilson will join consumer advocate Dennis Browne on a special panel that will provide oversight of the Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding negotiations. " Independent review of the negotiations with Hydro-Quebec was a critical component in reaching this historic memorandum of understanding and will continue to play an important role in getting the most out of future negotiations toward definitive agreements," Justice and Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis said in a statement. By establishing the panel, Davis said the province "can be confident that the important need for independent oversight of this historic deal for our province is achieved. The work of Mr. Browne, Mr. Bowman and Mr. Wilson will be critical to the negotiations process, and I thank them for their commitment." With opposition politicians clamouring for more independent oversight of the historic MOU, the provincial government announced on Jan. 9 that a special oversight panel, led by the consumer advocate, would be created. The oversight structure was established in co-operation with the two members of the New Democratic Party and the two independent MHAs. The 14 members of the Progressive Conservative caucus refused to vote on the MOU following four days of debate in the House of Assembly, saying they were not satisfied with the level of oversight, and that they had outstanding questions about the framework agreement. Browne will chair the panel, which has been tasked with reviewing the Dec. 12, 2024, MOU and monitoring the progress toward formal contracts between N.L. Hydro and Hydro-Quebec. The panel will provide advice to the cabinet of Premier Andrew Furey. There's no mention in the news release to any public release of that oversight. But in a Jan. 10 statement to CBC News, Browne pledged to provide regular updates to the public and the legislature. "Our oversight team will work for the people of the province and provide factual information on which the public will be able to rely," he said. Davis said the panel will provide "reliable and transparent" oversight. Browne is a longtime St. John's lawyer who has served two stints — 1996 to 2004 and 2016 to the present — as the province's consumer advocate. The role of the advocate is to represent rate payers on electricity issues. Browne's selection to lead the oversight panel was criticized by the PCs because of his previous connection to the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, and his supportive comments of the MOU in media interviews. But, Browne said "I have not been involved politically for almost 10 years now," and that he was selected as the consumer advocate through the Independent Appointments Commission. Bowman, meanwhile, is an electrical engineer with more than 40 years of experience in the power industry. His areas of expertise include electricity services costing, pricing and contracts, and power sector restructuring, regulation and markets. Bowman has provided consulting advice to governments, regulators, utilities and consumer groups, and has played a leading role in consulting projects in over 50 countries around the world. Wilson is a chartered accountant with a career that has spanned more than four decades with the professional services firm Ernst and Young. Prior to his retirement in 2013, he was a managing partner in St. John's and senior partner in the Toronto. According to his biography, Wilson has prepared or reviewed numerous commercial contracts in a wide variety of industries, such as power and energy, oil and gas, technology, insurance and construction and transportation.
