“Running at full output,
Churchill Falls (CF), would discharge about 2000 cubic metres per second into
the Churchill River. Assuming no reservoir draw down, this level of discharge
from CF would by itself provide about 630 MW of production at Muskrat Falls. We
could run MF at a higher output level for a period of time and draw down the MF
reservoir… we could keep it at Muskrat Falls as well as anywhere else.”
That
was Gil Bennett talking a couple of years ago to law student and political Blogger, John Samms, who
is now on staff in the Premier’s Office. Note the word “drawdown” to which I
will return.
At
the time Bennett was telling Samms how Nalcor intended to access surplus power from
the Upper Churchill; the amount that exceeded what Bennett erroneously thought
was the full contractual power commitment to Hydro Quebec. That assumption
didn’t work out too well for Nalcor, the Quebec Superior Court having ruled
that Hydro Quebec is entitled to all the power that the Upper Churchill can generate.
The Water Management Agreement, intended to coordinate the flow of water, was
stillborn too.
