DenyAsk

When government agencies engage in self-aggrandizing claims, they really should try to support them with something more than rhetoric. The public awaits PUB approval of a NL Hydro sponsored electricity rate increase of 6.6% in 2018 and another 6.4% in 2019. The PUB has adequate reason to reject at least a part of the request. Hydro�s Rate Application (Vol. I, page 3.5) reads that the rates increases are necessary because:   � Hydro has prudently increased investment in its capital program. In 2016, Hydro spent approximately $204 million on capital work (infrastructure). In 2017, Hydro plans to spend $370 million. These investments, including the new transmission line TL267 from Bay d�Espoir to Western Avalon, are necessary to secure the long-term reliability of the system for Hydro�s customers. � (bold added)   On its face, the reader might think that the Crown�s �regulated utility� � as distinct from Nalcor, which is not subject to PUB rules � has carefully looked after ...

WIND  Offshore mills!  The wind is strong: A grandiose scheme, beat the gong. Beothuk sings a heady song  To let power flow To let  flow to Up-along?  Think Muskrat Falls a precedent,   A template for a cost-ascent That promises our discontent  As heat bills to the heavens sent.   Wind power widely subsidized:  Rates are low, cost high-sized. Many projects ill-advised,  Markets often un-realized.  To fill Brakes Cove, what's the need?  There's lots of wharf, and land in weed Sees little use, that could be freed To development if must proceed.  For short-term jobs, the mayors bray: Assemble mills in filled-in Bay. The public signed for cost to pay? To facilitate power give-away. That old hype pattern on project moot.  We can't afford the bill to foot - The peoples bill! Who gives a hoot? -  - Demand a stop to our cash input.  John Tuach Pynn's Brook August 18, 2017  

EDITOR'S NOTE:  We haven't heard from the "whistleblower", referred to as the "Anonymous Engineer", in awhile. But it is important to remember that he is the engineer who originally disclosed falsification of the estimates for the Muskrat Falls project on January 30, 2017. His revelations were described in a post entitled  Muskrat Falls Estimates A Complete Falsification   and a second post on February 6, 2017 called  Muskrat: Allegations of Phony Cost Estimates , as well as to the CBC. Writing today, the whistleblower responds to Consumer Advocate, Dennis Browne, whose recent public comments suggest he is confusing "Forensic Audit" and "Forensic Accounting". - Des Sullivan Guest Post by the "Anonymous Engineer "   The letter to the Editor of the Telegram and the concurrent discussion with the journalist Pam Frampton by the Consumer Advocate Dennis Browne of August 19 th , 2017 was a futile exercise in public relations. Mr. Brow...

Introduction Just when you thought the incompetence couldn't get any worse at Nalcor, along comes another scheme to up the ante on deceit and dumb. This blogger has just learned that Nalcor lost $66.9 million following management's decision to place a bet of $1.82 billion - public money - in the �futures� market. Nalcor even tries to put the blame on U.S. President Donald Trump. To add insult to injury, Nalcor and the Ball Government did their best to cover up the failed scheme. The losses occurred in May of this year. An eagle-eyed Nalcor watcher, able to parse Nalcor�s most opaque assertions, brought the contents of the corporation�s last quarterly financial statement to my attention. How the money was lost, and the risky financial tool employed, is not an easy subject to explain. T he �futures� market is an arcane world in which a great deal of expertise is needed to play. Still, most people understand what it means to speculate. And many of them understand the sting of lo...

Guest Post by David Vardy Introduction The sanctioning of the Muskrat Falls project in December of 2012 was a huge mistake, one which has spiralled into a major economic and environmental catastrophe.  The warnings of the joint federal provincial panel were ignored, as were those of the Public Utilities Board. These warnings relate to the lack of a business case for the project, the high risk for a small province, the adverse demographic factors, the lack of export markets and the high unit cost. A Gamble that failed In a Telegram article dated May 25, 2013 the Honourable John Crosbie said that �Muskrat Falls is worth the risk�, quoting T. S. Eliot on the subject of risk: Only those who would risk going too far can possibly find out how far you can go. Since then we have sailed on a sea of risk and reaped the whirlwind.  David A. Vardy The challenge now is to prevent the risks from destabilizing the provincial economy. The risks of operating the project may prove to be just as...