Customers wonÂ’t pay blackout costs
The accord offered Islanders an average 14 per cent drop in their electricity bills, but there is also a provision to pass extra costs on to customers if there's a catastrophic event.
"The outages weren't significant enough to warrant this," said vice-president of corporate planning and energy supply John Gaudet.
"The power was restored in some cases in 20 minutes to customers. And the amount of generation that was required was relatively small. We do build in a certain amount of provisional fuel, if you will, to accommodate such circumstances. So, so far so good."
Maritime Electric did incur some extra costs during the blackout, burning fuel in on-Island generators, which is more expensive than the imported electricity it relies on most of the time.
Gaudet said costs would have to go much higher for it to be considered a catastrophic event. Maritime Electric has budgeted for a certain number of outages under the accord.
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Maritime Link almost a reality, as first power cable reaches Nova Scotia
HALIFAX - The longest sub-sea electricity cable in North America now connects Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the company behind the $1.7-billion Maritime Link project.
The first of the project's two high-voltage power transmission cables was anchored at Point Aconi, N.S., on Sunday.
The 170-kilometre long cable across the Cabot Strait will connect the power grids in the two provinces. The link will allow power to flow between the two provinces, and bring to Nova Scotia electricity generated by the massive Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador.
Ultimately, the Maritime Link will help Nova Scotia reach the renewable energy…
