Latest news with #TomVernon
STV News
25-04-2025
- Business
- STV News
Green hydrogen project granted planning permission by council
A green hydrogen project said to be the largest in the UK has obtained planning approval from Aberdeenshire Council. Statera Energy says the Kintore hydrogen facility could deliver £400m to the Aberdeenshire economy and support the transition of industrial clusters like Grangemouth, as well as providing thousands of jobs. The facility will produce hydrogen through electrolysis, using surplus wind power which would otherwise be turned off to balance the grid. It is initially planned to have a storage capacity of 500MW before scaling up to 3GW. Statera says hydrogen produced at Kintore could be supplied to the UK's most carbon-intensive industrial clusters through existing gas transmission pipelines. The UK-based company says the project will result in around 3,000 jobs during construction and 300 permanent jobs once it is operational. Planning permission in principle was granted by a full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council on Thursday. A report which went before councillors noted the 'significant' impact it would have on the local landscape but said the benefits in offsetting carbon emissions outweighed these. Tom Vernon, chief executive of Statera Energy, said: 'We are delighted to have secured planning approval for Kintore. 'Over the coming years, the sheer volume of wind generation coming on to the system in the UK will make electrolysers critical for harnessing wind energy that would otherwise go to waste. 'Kintore Hydrogen is designed to fully capitalise on the potential that hydrogen has to offer. 'The location and scale of this project means it can make best use of surplus wind power, significantly lowering hydrogen production costs. 'It will help balance the grid, contribute to the UK's energy security, and support the decarbonisation of the UK's hard-to-abate industries and power sector.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Kintore hydrogen facility in Aberdeenshire approved
The facility will produce hydrogen through electrolysis, using surplus wind power which would otherwise be turned off to balance the grid. It is initially planned to have a storage capacity of 500MW before scaling up to 3GW. Statera says hydrogen produced at Kintore could be supplied to the UK's most carbon-intensive industrial clusters through existing gas transmission pipelines. The UK-based company says the project will result in around 3,000 jobs during construction and 300 permanent jobs once it is operational. READ MORE: Planning permission in principle was granted by a full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council on Thursday. A report which went before councillors noted the 'significant' impact it would have on the local landscape but said the benefits in offsetting carbon emissions outweighed these. Tom Vernon, chief executive of Statera Energy, said: 'We are delighted to have secured planning approval for Kintore. 'Over the coming years, the sheer volume of wind generation coming on to the system in the UK will make electrolysers critical for harnessing wind energy that would otherwise go to waste. 'Kintore Hydrogen is designed to fully capitalise on the potential that hydrogen has to offer. 'The location and scale of this project means it can make best use of surplus wind power, significantly lowering hydrogen production costs. 'It will help balance the grid, contribute to the UK's energy security, and support the decarbonisation of the UK's hard-to-abate industries and power sector.'
CBC
10-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Travel nurse company launches lawsuit against Vitalité
A travel nurse company is suing Vitalité Health Network over alleged breaches of contract, including non-payments, as well as anticipatory breach of contract. Canadian Health Labs filed its lawsuit with the Court of King's Bench in Saint John on March 21 — two days after the provincial government introduced legislation to get out of the contract with the Toronto-based company and avoid facing legal or financial penalties. That legislation has not yet been passed. Vitalité cancelled the remaining shifts of travel nurses employed by Canadian Health Labs (CHL) on Jan. 30, even though its controversial contract with the private staffing agency wasn't set to expire until next year. In its statement of claim, Canadian Health Labs alleges it has suffered loss and damages, and will continue to suffer "irreparable" harm to its reputation. It is seeking damages in a number of areas, including for alleged unpaid invoices, for breach of the duty of good faith, for "unjust enrichment," and for "intentional interference with economic relations," as well as costs. The claim is also asking for pre-judgment interest at a rate of seven per cent. WATCH | Premier Holt says she's 'quite confident' in proposed legislation to get N.B. out of contract: New Brunswick wanted to avoid getting sued over travel nurses — but lawsuit now filed 4 hours ago Duration 1:45 In addition, the company is seeking a declaration that its contract is valid and legally binding, and a permanent injunction to prevent Vitalité from soliciting the company's nurses to work directly for the regional health network instead of another travel nurse company it deals with. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Vitalité has not yet filed a response. In an emailed statement Thursday, an unidentified spokesperson for the regional health network said it not been served "with any statement of claim or other originating process before the Court of King's Bench. "We recommend that you contact CHL. We are not in a position to speak to their legal actions or intentions." Canadian Health Labs declined to comment through spokesperson Tom Vernon. No plan for public inquiry The Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment but Premier Susan Holt addressed the lawsuit during her weekly update on U.S. tariffs in Fredericton on Thursday. She called the timing of the lawsuit "interesting" and vowed to fight to defend New Brunswickers against what she called "a bad contract." " I feel quite confident in the legislation that we've put forward. I think it's strong and it will do what we need it to do," she said. "I think our case against CHL is strong. In the face of a bad contract, I don't know how they can defend it, but we're putting the mechanisms in place to protect New Brunswickers." Although the Liberals called for a public inquiry into the travel nurse contracts while in Opposition, Holt said her government has no plans for one "at this point," but they do plan to get to the bottom of how this contract happened. Vitalité's three contracts with the company, which covered from July 2022 to February 2026, totalled $98 million, according to Auditor General Martin. The company charged about $300 an hour per nurse — roughly six times what a local staff nurse earns. While the health system was facing dire staffing shortages in 2022 when the authority signed its first contract with Canadian Health Labs, the deployment of travel nurses in Vitalité's hospitals "did not correlate with staff absences due to COVID-19," Martin found in June. "The contracts with private nursing agencies were not reflective of best practices and did not demonstrate value for money," he said. Terms of the contract According to the statement of claim, the parties entered a contract on Dec. 2, 2022, where the company would supply Vitalité with human health resources to "fill critical staffing gaps" in its hospitals. The contract was slated to end on Feb. 5, 2026, "subject to rights of extension or early termination set out in the contract," the document states. Under the contract, the company was to deploy human health resources in teams, with each team consisting of an agreed upon ratio of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and administrative and management staff. The contract required Vitalité to meet certain deployment levels measured in "team days" — a certain number of hours being worked by the collective team per day. Generally, Vitalité was to compensate the company by way of a fixed fee per team day. Vitalité was also responsible for paying Canadian Health Labs' expenses, including travel and boarding costs for the workers, according to the statement of claim. 'Numerous breaches' The company alleges Vitalité committed "numerous breaches." These include that Vitalité has not paid agreed amounts for services, stopped using CHL nurses before the contract expired, and encouraged nurses to leave the company. Vitalité "repeatedly failed" to meet the payment terms and timelines under the contract, according to the court document. "Several invoices" remain unpaid our partially unpaid, it says. "The failure of Vitalité to pay the outstanding amounts constitutes a breach of the terms of the contract, is evidence of bad faith in commercial dealings by Vitalité and results in an unjust enrichment to Vitalité," the company claims. Canadian Health labs also alleges Vitalité underpaid for some services. The company, "in a good faith effort to help resolve some of the issues between the parties regarding its other contractual relationships … temporarily agreed to transfer certain Teams deployed by Vitalité under another contract between the parties to be used under this contract." No details about the other contracts are provided, but the transferred teams had a higher proportion of registered nurses to licensed practical nurses and cost more, yet Vitalité "refused or failed" to compensate the company for the higher-cost teams or correct the ratios. The company contends Vitalité stopped using its nurses on Jan. 30, has indicated it does not intend any further deployments, and refuses to discuss the matter, referring to this as "anticipatory breach of contract." On Jan. 30, Vitalité advised CHL nurses that the contract was being cancelled and that they should seek alternate employment with either Vitalité or another travel agency, This "unauthorized communication" contained "misrepresentations, factual inconsistencies, and confidential and privileged information," according to the statement of claim. It resulted in "significant contractual turmoil" between Canadian Health Labs and its human health resources, significant disruption between CHL and its other logistics support providers, and significant reputational harm, the company contends.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
3 Edmonton ridings to watch during the federal election campaign
Conservatives won all but four of Alberta's 34 ridings in the 2021 election, with three of the four non-Conservative ridings in Edmonton. Now that another federal election has been called, Tom Vernon, a senior consultant with Crestview Strategy, said he'll be looking to see if the Conservatives can take back some of those seats. "The biggest question for the Edmonton area, really all of Alberta, but Edmonton in particular, is can the NDP and Liberals hold on to what they have?" he said in a recent interview with CBC News. Here are three ridings political watchers say will be on their radars over the coming weeks. Edmonton Centre Edmonton Centre, which includes the city's downtown, has long been a battleground riding, flip-flopping between the Liberals and Conservatives. Liberal Randy Boissonnault, after losing the riding in 2019, won it back in 2021. Boissonnault said Friday evening he would not be running as a candidate in the election. NDP candidate Trisha Estabrooks, who has been doorknocking for the past 18 months, hopes to turn the riding orange for the first time. NDP candidate Trisha Estabrooks puts together signs at her campaign office. (Travis McEwan/CBC) The former school board trustee said people tell her every day they are scared — worried about threats and tariffs from the United States and the cost of living — but they are also looking for hope and for something to vote for. "It's exciting because I think people are tired of the flip-flop," she said. James Cumming, the former Conservative MP for Edmonton Centre, said the riding's boundaries have changed in ways he believes favour the Conservatives. Sayid Ahmed is running for the CPC in the riding. Thanks to recent federal electoral district redistribution, Edmonton Centre has gained some north Edmonton neighbourhoods and spread west, losing some of its southerly neighbourhoods to Edmonton West. Edmonton Griesbach Vernon said he expects the NDP will hold on to the riding of Edmonton Strathcona. Strategist Tom Vernon says he'll be watching to see if the Conservatives can take back battleground ridings in Edmonton. (Travis McEwan/CBC) Heather McPherson won the riding, which has been orange since 2008, in 2021 with 47 per cent of the vote. Conservative candidate Sam Lilly came in second place that year with 37 per cent of the vote. North of the river and east of downtown, the Edmonton Griesbach riding could swing, Vernon said. The riding was previously held by Conservative Kerry Diotte, but the NDP's Blake Desjarlais flipped it during the 2021 election, winning by a few thousand votes. Diotte is once again running for the Conservatives in the riding and Cumming said he thinks there's a really strong chance he wins it back. Cumming said though nationwide polls have tightened recently, Conservatives usually do well in Alberta. Former Conservative MP James Cumming says there's a really strong chance Conservatives will win back the Edmonton Griesbach riding. (Travis McEwan/CBC) "I'm still pretty optimistic that I think people want change," he said. No Liberal candidate has been nominated in the riding yet. Edmonton Southeast Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who is running Ottawa's Nepean riding, announced his leadership campaign in Edmonton and appeared alongside Mayor Amarjeet Sohi during a housing announcement on Thursday. Sohi, according to reporting from Radio-Canada, is expected to run for the Liberals again, but he has not yet made a formal announcement, saying only in a statement that he'll have more to say about his political future in the coming days. Carney, when asked about Sohi as a candidate for his party on Thursday, said he is a "big admirer" of the mayor and as a public servant, Sohi will continue to serve Edmontonians, Albertans "and I hope Canadians as well." Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, left, shakes hands with Liberal Leader Mark Carney at an event Thursday in Alberta's capital city. (Emmanuel Prince-Thauvette/Radio-Canada) Sohi served as a Liberal MP in the riding of Edmonton Mill Woods from 2015 to 2019, but that riding is being replaced by two new ones: Edmonton Gateway and Edmonton Southeast. Political analyst John Brennan told CBC's Radio Active on Thursday that he suspects Sohi will run in Edmonton Southeast. "Just recently in the last week or two, the Conservatives have nominated a new candidate in Edmonton Southeast, but there's no Liberal candidate there, and that is squarely in the neighborhood where he used to represent Edmontonians on city council," he said. Sohi would have to beat Conservative candidate Jagsharan Singh Mahal. His former rival, Tim Uppal, the current Conservative MP for Edmonton Mill Woods, is running in the Edmonton Gateway riding.
CBC
23-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
3 Edmonton ridings to watch during the federal election campaign
Social Sharing Conservatives won all but four of Alberta's 34 ridings in the 2021 election, with three of the four non-Conservative ridings in Edmonton. Now that another federal election has been called, Tom Vernon, a senior consultant with Crestview Strategy, said he'll be looking to see if the Conservatives can take back some of those seats. "The biggest question for the Edmonton area, really all of Alberta, but Edmonton in particular, is can the NDP and Liberals hold on to what they have?" he said in a recent interview with CBC News. Here are three ridings political watchers say will be on their radars over the coming weeks. Edmonton Centre Edmonton Centre, which includes the city's downtown, has long been a battleground riding, flip-flopping between the Liberals and Conservatives. Liberal Randy Boissonnault, after losing the riding in 2019, won it back in 2021. Boissonnault said Friday evening he would not be running as a candidate in the election. NDP candidate Trisha Estabrooks, who has been doorknocking for the past 18 months, hopes to turn the riding orange for the first time. The former school board trustee said people tell her every day they are scared — worried about threats and tariffs from the United States and the cost of living — but they are also looking for hope and for something to vote for. "It's exciting because I think people are tired of the flip-flop," she said. James Cumming, the former Conservative MP for Edmonton Centre, said the riding's boundaries have changed in ways he believes favour the Conservatives. Sayid Ahmed is running for the CPC in the riding. Thanks to recent federal electoral district redistribution, Edmonton Centre has gained some north Edmonton neighbourhoods and spread west, losing some of its southerly neighbourhoods to Edmonton West. Edmonton Griesbach Vernon said he expects the NDP will hold on to the riding of Edmonton Strathcona. Heather McPherson won the riding, which has been orange since 2008, in 2021 with 47 per cent of the vote. Conservative candidate Sam Lilly came in second place that year with 37 per cent of the vote. North of the river and east of downtown, the Edmonton Griesbach riding could swing, Vernon said. The riding was previously held by Conservative Kerry Diotte, but the NDP's Blake Desjarlais flipped it during the 2021 election, winning by a few thousand votes. Diotte is once again running for the Conservatives in the riding and Cumming said he thinks there's a really strong chance he wins it back. Cumming said though nationwide polls have tightened recently, Conservatives usually do well in Alberta. "I'm still pretty optimistic that I think people want change," he said. No Liberal candidate has been nominated in the riding yet. Edmonton Southeast Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who is running Ottawa's Nepean riding, announced his leadership campaign in Edmonton and appeared alongside Mayor Amarjeet Sohi during a housing announcement on Thursday. Sohi, according to reporting from Radio-Canada, is expected to run for the Liberals again, but he has not yet made a formal announcement, saying only in a statement that he'll have more to say about his political future in the coming days. Carney, when asked about Sohi as a candidate for his party on Thursday, said he is a "big admirer" of the mayor and as a public servant, Sohi will continue to serve Edmontonians, Albertans "and I hope Canadians as well." Sohi served as a Liberal MP in the riding of Edmonton Mill Woods from 2015 to 2019, but that riding is being replaced by two new ones: Edmonton Gateway and Edmonton Southeast. Political analyst John Brennan told CBC's Radio Active on Thursday that he suspects Sohi will run in Edmonton Southeast. "Just recently in the last week or two, the Conservatives have nominated a new candidate in Edmonton Southeast, but there's no Liberal candidate there, and that is squarely in the neighborhood where he used to represent Edmontonians on city council," he said. Sohi would have to beat Conservative candidate Jagsharan Singh Mahal. His former rival, Tim Uppal, the current Conservative MP for Edmonton Mill Woods, is running in the Edmonton Gateway riding.
