TOP TEN POSTS UNCLE GNARLEY BLOG 2021

The annual ritual of presenting the “Top Ten” posts of the year, based on Google’s counter, is repeated below.

I owe a great deal of gratitude to several writers, especially to Ron Penney and PlanetNL who, especially in the second half of the year, kept the Blog going as I was otherwise engaged. Their ideas and analysis are widely acknowledged. This year David Vardy was busy offering his vast skillset to Moya Greene and to the Premier’ Economic Recovery Commission. The job done he continues to write; his latest contribution is entitled “Muskrat Falls An Unmitigated Disaster”.

We welcomed a post from one new contributor, Catherine Penney. We also mourned the loss of the Bard of Pynn’s Brook, John Tuach; we will miss his poetry and the enormous insights that he inscribed in each turn of phrase.  

MUSKRAT FALLS: The Millstone Reaches A Major Milestone

Guest Post by PlanetNL

PlanetNL41: The Millstone Reaches A Major Milestone

PPA Payments Commenced; Capital Cost Understated; 2022 May Get Rough

A letter sent to the Public Utilities Board from NL Hydro on November 25, 2021 contains sobering news about an important milestone. 

It reported that all four turbines at the Muskrat Falls (MF) hydro generation have passed their initial run-in tests resulting in the plant being considered fully commissioned and in-service.  Ditto for the Labrador Transmission Asset (LTA), the new HVAC line that connects Muskrat to Churchill Falls. With completion of the construction phase for these two major assets, payment is now due for their operation. 

Is this happy news or grim news?  If you’re a ratepayer expected to pay off this unneeded megaproject, likely forced to spend way more on your electricity costs, maybe mad as hell is a more apt feeling. 

NALCOR GONE IN NAME ONLY

Guest Post by PlanetNL

PlanetNL40: Nalcor Gone in Name Only

Misrepresentation of Fact Still A Problem

After the Commission of Inquiry into the Muskrat Falls Project, ratepayers and the public at large might have reasonably hoped and expected that the Utility would change its stripes and try straightforward honest truth for a change.  Apparently, it is a tough ask. 

The recent changes to restructure the Executive ranks and the elimination of the Nalcor side of the business brought a glimmer of hope for real change.  The signals are already there, however, that not much will change in how the utility interacts with the public regarding Muskrat Falls and anything connected to it.  Which just happens to be almost everything they do.