A convoy of
fuel tanker trucks are seen heading out from the Come By Chance Oil Refinery to
the Holyrood Generating Station. The cavalcade persists 24 hours per day; day
after day. Their mission: to rescue the electrical grid of the Avalon Peninsula
from collapse.
Nalcor has
already planted its preferred narrative with the media: historically low
reservoir levels have imposed a higher demand on Holyrood for power than ever
before.
Yet, there
is a larger narrative at play, one that depicts the parade of tankers as proof,
as much as metaphor, of failed energy policy, incompetent operators of the
province’s electricity assets, and a group who play fast and loose with the
truth.
Unfortunately,
that is not obvious to the Consumer Advocate; but he will be dealt with in a later post.
Nalcor is
seeking approval from the PUB to levy $33.3 million on ratepayers for the cost
of thermal (diesel) generated “stand-by” power. This is power supplied by thermal plants other than Holyrood, which are called upon when Holyrood can’t meet demand.
