Guest Post by David Vardy
Recent news reports have disclosed that the November 26, 2021
completion date for Muskrat Falls will not be achieved. No target completion
date has been set. Yet the project continues to accumulate costs. A recent
Tweet put the daily cost of the delay at $1 million a day. This is an
understatement. What is the daily cost, both in total and on a per capita
basis?
In this post we set out the bare facts of the unmitigated and misguided Muskrat Falls project, its costs, without rate mitigation, and how they compare with the cost of Holyrood-generated energy, for which Muskrat Falls was intended to offer a less costly solution. We will also look at how unit energy costs for power sold to Emera compare with the costs imposed by the power purchase agreement on local ratepayers. We will show how the project was a misguided, mistaken choice, and how, through the power purchase agreement, it places an unsustainable burden on ratepayers.
