Muskrat Falls Filing Shrouded in Secrecy: Liberals

1/28/2013

(Halifax, NS) Liberal energy critic Andrew Younger says Emera’s promise of a fully transparent process around the Muskrat Falls project didn’t materialize as several important sections of the documentation filed with the UARB earlier today have been redacted.

“Much of what Emera used to compare the Muskrat Falls project with other alternatives has been blacked out – this raises some serious questions about the legitimacy of the comparisons themselves,” says Younger. “If Emera won’t show us the proof that Muskrat makes the most sense for Nova Scotia ratepayers, how can we truly know if due diligence has been done here?”

Younger says the redacted portions of Emera’s filings seem to be the very same assumptions John Dalton based his $85,000 untendered study of the Muskrat Falls project on.

“Part of the problem with Dalton’s report on Muskrat is that it seemed incomplete and that it relied too heavily on information provided to him by Emera, the very company behind the multi-billion dollar project,” Younger explains. “Now it seems Emera is intent on keeping those same assumptions hidden from public scrutiny.”

“It’s not how a decision of this magnitude should be made – this is a 35 year project and one that is going to cost ratepayers billions of dollars. Let’s get this right and let’s not make this decision in darkness.”

Younger believes too much of the information around Muskrat Falls has been kept from ratepayers. That’s why the Liberal caucus is officially intervening in the upcoming proceedings at the UARB.

“The Dexter government has locked the people of this province into a 35 year deal with no escape clause, yet can’t tell us the price we’ll pay for the power flowing from Muskrat Falls,” says the Liberal energy critic.

“It’s time for a fully public, fully independent review of the Muskrat Falls project – our energy future depends on it.”

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For further information, contact:

Kyley Harris
(902) 223-2387
harriskz@gov.ns.ca