FINDING AN ENDURING FIX FOR MUSKRAT FALLS

Guest Post by David Vardy
Two major events signal the rising tension among the people of this province, fearful of their future. Since 2016 we have had 11 quarters in which the population has declined continuously, from 530,000 to 522,000. This is a measure of the angst over our serious fiscal plight and the prospects of dramatically higher power rates.  

The two events were the release of the final PUB report on rate mitigation and the second was the press conference by the Premier and Natural Resources Canada Minister Seamus O’Regan on negotiations toward rate mitigation. Both events focused on the return on shareholder equity. The PUB recommended that the province forgive payment of dividends on provincial equity. The joint press conference latched onto that option as a cure for Muskrat Falls, namely the writing off of dividends and financial restructuring.