The renegotiated but non-binding deal promises to boost energy production at the Churchill Falls hydroelectric facilities significantly
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OTTAWA — Quebec, Newfoundland and Ottawa announced a deal Monday that would see a massive redevelopment and expansion of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric facility and both provinces set aside a decades-long conflict over electricity prices… for now.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Quebec and Newfoundland counterparts Christine Fréchette and Tony Wakeham were in Newfoundland to announce the new deal on Monday afternoon.
“After months of occasionally tense but always positive negotiations, we have achieved a rare win-win-win,” N.L. Premier Wakeham said, calling the original 1969 energy deal between Quebec and his province “one of the darkest chapters” of its past.
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“What a great day it is for Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador,” Fréchette added.
The renegotiated but non-binding deal promises to boost energy production at the Churchill Falls hydroelectric facilities significantly, as well as commits to build a long-debated new production facility at nearby Gull Island.
Plans to expand existing facilities and building the Gull Island power project as well as an onshore wind energy project and new transmission lines to Labrador in Quebec would triple the generating capacity of Churchill Falls to 14,000 megawatts of renewable power, Carney said.
In the renegotiated deal, Hydro Québec will also pay slightly more per kilowatt hour on average compared to a 2024 deal (7.4 cents versus 5.9 cents), though Fréchette argued the price remained vastly below the average cost for energy.
Both provinces noted that the deal would not have happened without significant federal government investment. The new projects will cost an estimated $50 billion, with Ottawa is committing up to $10 billion and promising to expedite approvals for the construction projects by referring it to the new Major Projects Office, according a news release.
