Atlantic Premiers Vow Collaboration on Energy

Excerpt from yesterday's Mop and Pail. Note that the article discusses the province wheeling 740 megawatts of power to external markets. Could it be that the concept of using the remainder of the power inside the province be more than just political rhetoric?

Atlantic premiers vow collaboration on energy

MICHAEL TUTTON
The Canadian Press
January 18, 2008 at 8:01 PM EST

SACKVILLE, N.B. — Atlantic Canada's premiers promised Friday to “collaborate” on energy projects, suggesting there's growing regional interest in bringing Labrador's massive hydro resources to the Maritimes via an undersea cable.

A meeting of four premiers and 24 provincial cabinet ministers wound up in Sackville with the premiers musing over the possibility that electricity from the proposed Lower Churchill Falls project could lessen the Maritimes' precarious dependence on imported fossil fuels.

The energy framework signed Friday calls on the provinces to “strive” to increase the “regional generation of electricity” and for more sharing of information among energy ministers.

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham confirmed he's been talking to Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams about the idea of an undersea cable.

“Premier Williams and I have been working together on the development of the Churchill Falls project, which is the cleanest form of renewable energy,” Graham said during the news conference.

However, although Mr. Williams said the New Brunswick route is a “serious alternative,” he added he's keeping open the option of transmitting the power through Quebec and Ontario.

If Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's proposal to wheel 740 megawatts of Lower Churchill electricity ever becomes a reality, it could mean $25-million annually in transmission fees for New Brunswick's public utility.

Newfoundland's hydro company filed a request last year to wheel the power from the two proposed dams through New Brunswick's power grid and into other markets by 2015.
However, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro has also applied to Hydro-Quebec TransEnergie and the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator to flow the power into those markets also.

Mr. Williams said some of the power from the Maritimes proposal could be sold in P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia while “some could be pushed right on through” to the much larger New England market.

“The energy framework is about all of us working together,” Mr. Williams said. “It's about sharing information, it's about sharing the most modern and innovative technology we can get.”
He cautioned that the premier's agreement was “general” in nature.

There's been a flurry of regional excitement lately over bringing the power from Labrador to the Maritimes by 2015.

One sign of growing interest came Monday when Nova Scotia's utility Emera Inc. announced it signed a memorandum of understanding “to explore the possibility of bringing energy from the Lower Churchill project to the Maritimes and New England markets.” - read entire article.