For Immediate Release
7 September, 2023
NDP MHA Jordan Brown (Labrador West) is calling on government to focus on the stability of the provincial energy supply and ensure that residents will not see increased costs or the supply of electricity fall below demand in the coming years. The call comes after Liberty Consulting group announced it would stop consulting for the Public Utilities Board, citing, among other things, delays by NL Hydro to commit to action that would ensure adequate supply of electricity to the province.
“The government must ensure that the province has a stable supply of electricity to keep costs for rate payers consistent, and to avoid a Dark NL,” said Brown. “The salary someone takes home isn’t going as far as it used to, and the last thing we want to see is more households struggling to keep their homes heated, or people dealing with the added stress of rolling brownouts across the province.”
Government must act on known for years about the province’s energy supply issues. There is not a reliable transmission of energy from Labrador to the rest of the province, a turbine at Muskrat Falls needs reassembling, communities around the province remain disconnected from the provincial power grid, and industries have been calling for increased and stable supply of energy so their operations can run smoothly and expand where feasible. Brown says that the fallout of an unstable power supply could result in increased costs to consumers.
“Unreliable, unaffordable electricity cannot be the energy future for people in this province,” said Brown. “We need government to do the hard work and tackle some of these realities, instead of coasting and expecting things to right themselves. Government announcements like a Well-Being Week will not heat peoples’ homes this winter.”
-30-
Media Contact: Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, 709.729.2137